MANILA, Philippines — There was no improvement in the level of prejudice shown against women over the past decade, with almost nine of out 10 persons worldwide still holding such biases, according to a United Nations report.
The report launched yesterday argued that biases drive hurdles faced by women, manifested in a dismantling of women’s rights in many parts of the world with movements against gender equality gaining traction and, in some countries, a surge of human rights violations.
Biases are also reflected in the severe underrepresentation of women in leadership. On average, the share of women as heads of state or government has remained at around 10 percent since 1995. In the labor market, women occupy less than a third of managerial positions.
According to the UN Development Program (UNDP)’s latest Gender Social Norms Index report, half of people worldwide still believe men make better political leaders than women, and more than 40 percent believe men make better business executives.
“Social norms that impair women’s rights are detrimental to society more broadly, dampening the expansion of human development,” said Pedro Conceição, head of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office.
The report also shed light on a broken link between women’s progress in education and economic empowerment. Women are more skilled and educated than ever before, yet even in the 59 countries where women are now more educated than men, the average gender income gap remains 39 percent in favor of men.
The UNDP report emphasized that governments have a crucial role in shifting gender social norms, from adopting parental leave policies, that have changed perceptions around care work responsibilities, to labor market reforms that have led to a change in beliefs around women in the workforce.
The report recommended directly addressing social norms through education to change people’s views, policies and legal changes that recognize the rights of women in all spheres of life, and more representation in decision-making and political processes.