妇女地位

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This page looks at the difficulties women face in a changing global economy. Globilization has recast gender relations and altered the status and life condition of women. More women work outside the home in the wage labor force. While this has undermined traditional patriarchy, it has burdened women with a double load of work, exposed them to harshly exploitative conditions in the paid work place, and scarcely improved their material well-being. Women have suffered disproportionately from globilization, while seeing few of its benefits. These materials look not only at women's inequality and oppression, but also at how women worldwide are mobilizing to improve their condition and fight for a more just world order for themselves and their children.

Investing in girls?education has been a major factor behind the Asian economic 搈iracle.?During the past two decades, other poor countries have also succeeded in improving girls?education by building new schools in the countryside, eliminating primary school fees for girls and improving conditions in schools. To help states still lagging behind, NGOs such as Save the Children call for increases in development assistance and debt relief for poor countries. (Christian Science Monitor)
Ten years have passed since delegates at the Fourth World Summit in Beijing made specific pledges to revoke all laws that discriminate against women and adopt policies advancing gender equality in public life. While women抯 educational opportunities have increased and legal rights have improved somewhat, women still lack economic opportunities and equal representation in decision-making. In addition, over 40 countries refuse to change laws that institutionalize discrimination against women. (Inter Press Service)
In spite of the Security Council抯 adoption of a resolution on women, peace and security in 2004, a disproportionate share of women still fall victim to conflict and post-conflict situations. The United Nations admits its 揷ollective failure?to curb spiraling violence against women and partly attributes this failure to the lack of women participating in UN peacekeeping missions and the absence of women in post-conflict peace talks.
A report by Secretary General Kofi Annan on gender equality in United Nations staffing reveals uneven progress in women's representation on all levels. In June 2004, women formed 83.3 percent of staff at the lowest professional level but only 16.7 percent of the highest staff level. The report cites bias among hiring managers as a cause for unequal gender division. (UN News)
Female politicians, ministers and community leaders from Arab nations met to discuss women's roles and rights in their countries, to begin preparations for a UN report on such issues. Though many critical advances were noted and celebrated, they exist only "because there was so much room to improve." (WeNews)
"High hopes are pinned on the power of women" in development initiatives around the world. Female borrowers tend to repay loans and spend profits on family needs more consistently than men. For these reasons, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, UNESCO, and many NGOs are focusing on women's education and empowerment as central to development work. (World Bank Press)
A report by the International Labor Organization provides a 搒tark picture of the status of women?in the workplace, characterized by low wages, inadequate work and a lack of true economic empowerment. (UN News Centre)
While prisons in general signify 揹enial of freedom, but also of humanity,?women prisoners lead a particularly hard life. They often have to support children or other family members on the outside, and experience social and psychological fragility. The BBC reports that most Middle Eastern countries hugely expanded their investments in women education, raising the average of female literacy from 17 percent in 1970 to 53 percent in 2000. Yet, this investment has not translated into economic growth as less than a third of women in the region participate in the workforce.
A blueprint for shaping a response to the AIDS crisis must involve women, as rapid transmission occurs when women lack power in relationships, equal access to education, and economic independence. (Washington Post)
A majority of men and women see unequal gender status as a woman personal problem rather than a social problem. But changes to unjust social structures and policies will only come from collective political pressure. (Guardian)
Sexual harassment by teachers and male peers obstructs learning and personal development for girls in African schools. Empowerment programs that teach girls to speak out has made them aware of their rights and diminished abuse.
This fact sheet provides information on how the US policy of prohibiting funding to NGOs that advocate family planning contradicts US aims of fighting the practice of abortion worldwide. Improving access to family planning and contraception in fact reduces women抯 reliance on abortion and thus the risk of deaths due to unsafe abortions. (Population Action International)
Entrenched patriarchy, changing cultural norms, and a surge in violent rape put young South African women particularly at risk for contracting the AIDS virus. According to a nationwide study of HIV prevalence, 17.7 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV-positive, compared with 12.8 percent of men. (Observer)
Bama Athreya of the International Labor Rights Fund argues that women are central to global trade liberalization, but women抯 rights take a back seat in trade negotiations. 70%-90% of workers in export processing zones are women, who frequently suffer from abuse, harassment, and poor working conditions. (ATTAC)