New studies call for global gender equality

By Ahmed A. Salifou

A new report conducted by the World Policy Analysis Center at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health indicates that over 170 countries have laws that give women fewer rights and liberties than men.

The report also shows that more than 150 countries do not provide women with enough protection to partake in economic activities, as only 64 countries have constitutions that ensure equal pay for both sexes.

The report, which is comprised of policy briefs that were disclosed at the beginning of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women in New York, shed light on legislative trends in 197 countries and signatories to the Beijing platform for action.

The report states that global efforts to achieve gender equality have come short because “women and girls continue to have access to fewer opportunities than men and boys.” Moreover, the report says that “persistent inequalities” such as early marriage, unequal access to post-primary education and lack of economic resources “greatly compromise the potential of girls, boys, women, and men everywhere.”

Although many constitutions worldwide do not give women equal economic and social rights, the report shows that progress has been made in the past 20 years as over 95% of the 56 new national constitutions further gender equality.

The report cites Australia as one of 32 countries that do not explicitly ensure gender equality. It also says that the U.S. constitution, despite its guarantee of general equality, does not provide specific laws ensuring gender equality.

Dr. Jody Heymann, founding director of the World Policy Analysis Center and dean of the UCLA Fielding School, stressed the importance of constitutions in providing equal rights, stating that they are “a crucial toolkit” because they “change everything on the ground instantly the minute they are passed.”

The report reveals that inconsistencies exist between constitutionally-backed gender rights and those that are actually implemented. For example, although Kenya’s 2010 constitution prohibits public institutions of being more than 66% male or female, as of 2013, women only comprise 19% of the country’s national assembly. “We are supposed to enact a rule by August to ensure we have the one-third gender quota but we still can’t work out how we will get the proportions (of women MPs),” stated Esther Murugi Mathenge, a former minister.

The World Policy Analysis Center rounded the percentage of constitutions that ensure equal pay for equal work for both genders at 21%, with only 19% of them guaranteeing a discrimination-free working environments for women, adding that laws promoting equal pay for equal work “are only slightly more common today than before Beijing.”

With regard to paid paternity and maternity leaves, about 188 countries guarantee the latter, the United States being an exception. “Less than one in five women get paid maternity leave from their companies in the US,” stated Heymann, adding, that such unfavorable ratio “dramatically changes [women’s] ability to succeed in the workplace.”

Heymann also condemned the disproportional rates of paid maternity and paternity leaves worldwide, the former being provided in 9 countries and the latter being exempt in as many as 101. “That means that the law reinforces the stereotype that women are going to be the caregivers,” she stated.

Newer studies conducted by the World Policy Forum allow citizens to assess the quality of gender equality in their respective countries by providing user-friendly information. “Before we did these maps, for many years, you had to read 20,000 pages of legislation in multiple languages,” stated Heymann, adding, “We need to know where we stand, not only on outcomes but on the levers that will successfully achieve better outcomes.”