Gender equality

A generic symbol for gender equality

Gender equality, also known as sex equality or sexual equality, is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality. The issue is women's rights. The idea is that women should have equal rights with men.

Concept

The movement towards gender equality, especially in Western countries, began with the suffragette movement of the late-19th century. Then there was a change in relation to women's property rights in marriage. (See for example, Married Women's Property Act 1882.) In the 1960s, a more general movement for gender equality developed based on women's liberation and feminism. The issue was women's rights. The idea was that women should have equal rights with men. However, actual changes in attitudes continued to focus on specific issues.

The movement resulted in anti-discrimination laws. Changes to attitudes to equality in education opportunities for boys and girls has also undergone a cultural shift. Some changes came about by adopting affirmative action policies. The change has also involved changes to social views, including "equal pay for equal work" as well as most occupations being equally available to men and women, in many countries. For example, many countries now permit women to serve in the armed forces, the police force and to be fire fighters. Also, an increasing number of women are active in politics and occupy high positions in business.

Conversely, men increasingly are working in occupations which in previous generations had been considered "female occupations", such as nursing. Also, in the home, while acknowledging the biological differences between men and women, most notably in relation to child bearing, the role of child rearing is not as widely considered to be an exclusively female role. Another manifestation of the change in social attitudes is the non-automatic taking by a woman of her husband's surname on marriage, as well as a wife being free to pursue her career after marriage.

Many people, feminist and not, still do not regard the objective of gender equality as having been achieved, especially in non-Western countries. A highly contentious issue relating to gender equality is the role of women in Christian churches, and female priests. The issue has caused splits in some churches.

Not all ideas for gender equality have been popularly adopted. For example, the movement for topfreedom rights has remained a marginal issue, though breast feeding rights in semi-public places have been accepted.

Efforts to fight inequality

See also: Gender inequality

World bodies have defined gender equality in terms of human rights, especially women's rights, and economic development. UNICEF describes that gender equality "means that women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections. It does not require that girls and boys, or women and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike."

The United Nations Population Fund has declared that women have a right to equality. "Gender equity" is one of the goals of the United Nations Millennium Project, to end world poverty by 2015; the project claims, "Every single Goal is directly related to women's rights, and societies where women are not afforded equal rights as men can never achieve development in a sustainable manner."

Thus, promoting gender equality is seen as an encouragement to greater economic prosperity. For example, nations of the Arab world that deny equality of opportunity to women were warned in a 2008 United Nations-sponsored report that this disempowerment is a critical factor crippling these nations' return to the first rank of global leaders in commerce, learning and culture.

In 2010, the European Union opened the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in Vilnius, Lithuania to promote gender equality and to fight sex discrimination.

See also

General issues

• Complementarianism
• Egalitarianism
• Feminism
• Gender inequality
• Gender mainstreaming
• Masculism
• Men's rights
• Right to equal protection
• Sex and gender distinction
• Sexism
• Women's rights

Specific issues

• Bahá'í Faith and gender equality
• Female economic activity
• Female education
• Gender Parity Index (in education)
• Gender sensitization
• Matriarchy
• Matriname
• Mixed-sex education
• Patriarchy
• Quaker Testimony of Equality
• Shared Earning/Shared Parenting Marriage (also known as Peer Marriage)
• Women in Islam

Laws

• Anti-discrimination law
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or CEDAW (United Nations, 1979)
• Danish Act of Succession referendum, 2009
• Equal Pay Act of 1963 (United States)
• Equality Act 2006 (UK)
• Equality Act 2010 (UK)
• European charter for equality of women and men in local life
• Gender Equality Duty in Scotland
• Gender Equity Education Act (Taiwan)
• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (United States, 2009)
• List of gender equality lawsuits
• Paycheck Fairness Act (in the US)
• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (United States)
• Uniform civil code (India)
• Women's Petition to the National Assembly (France, 1789)

Organizations and ministries

• Afghan Ministry of Women Affairs (Afghanistan)
• Centre for Development and Population Activities
• Christians for Biblical Equality
• Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (European Parliament)
• Equal Opportunities Commission (UK)
• European Institute for Gender Equality
• Gender Empowerment Measure, a metric used by the United Nations
• Gender-related Development Index, a metric used by the United Nations
• Government Equalities Office (UK)
• International Center for Research on Women
• Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality (Sweden)
• Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (Malaysia)
• Philippine Commission on Women (Philippines)
• The Girl Effect, an organization to help girls, worldwide, toward ending poverty
• Total E-Quality (Germany )

Other related topics

• Global Gender Gap Report
• International Men's Day
• Potty parity
• Women's Equality Day
• Illustrators for Gender Equality

References

Dennis O'Brien (May 30, 2008). "Gender gap clues". Baltimore Sun. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.gender30may30,0,4246291,full.story. 

External links

• United Nations Rule of Law: Gender Equality, on the relationship between gender equality, the rule of law and the United Nations.
• HillarysVillage, Forum for women, minorities, members of the gay community and those who are otherwise marginalized.
• The OneWorld Guide to Gender Equality
• WomenWatch, the United Nations Internet Gateway on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women
• Women's Empowerment, the United Nations Development Program's Gender Team
• GENDERNET, International forum of gender experts working in support of gender equality. Development Co-operation Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Gender at the OECD Development Centre, gender activities at the OECD Development Centre
• Gender Equality as Smart Economics World Bank
• Women Leadership: Yes she can!
• The Local Gender equality in Sweden (news collection)
• Women Can Do It!
• Return2WorkMums For women returners to the workplace
• Sexism Discussion Group
• Sexual Equality and Romantic Love
• Gender Equality Tracker
• Gender and Work Database
• Gender and the Built Environment Database (about gender and the built environment)
• WiTEC - The European Association for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET)
• Gender Equality in Labour & Life - Online Course focus on PA (SET)