Almost 90 percent of people biased against women: UNDP

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on Thursday, released the findings of the new Gender Social Norms Index that reveal almost 90 percent of men and women as holding some form of bias against women.

The index, covering 80 percent of the world’s population and including data from 75 countries, measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in politics, employment and education.

According to the index, nearly 50 percent believe that men are better political leaders and over 40 percent feel that men are better business executives and have more right to a employment when jobs are scarce. Furthermore, 28 percent think it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife.

UNDP stressed that progress could not be taken for granted, revealing that information on changes in bias for around 30 countries depicted improvements in some countries while attitudes worsened in others.

Head of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office Pedro Conceição stated that, "we have come a long way in recent decades to ensure that women have the same access to life’s basic needs as men. We have reached parity in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45 percent since the year 1990".

"But gender gaps are still all too obvious in other areas, particularly those that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving true equality. Today. the fight about gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices", he stated.

The “Power Gap”

UNDP stated that the Gender Social Norms Index highlighted reasons behind the existence of enormous “power gaps” between men and women in economies, political systems and corporations despite considerable progress in eliminating gender inequalities within development areas including education and health as well as the removal of legal barriers to political and economic participation.

Despite similar voting rates for men and women, only 24 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women and there are only 10 female heads of government.

Additionally, women in the labour market are paid lower wages than men and are much less likely to be in senior positions with less than 6 percent of CEOs in S and P 500 companies being women. Although women work more hours than men, the work is more likely to be unpaid care work.

“The work that has been so effective in ensuring an end to gaps in health or education must now evolve to address something far more challenging: a deeply ingrained bias – among both men and women - against genuine equality. Current policies, while well intentioned, can only take us so far”, stated Administrator of UNDP Achim Steiner.

UNDP urged governments and institutions to use a new generation of policies to combat these discriminatory beliefs through education, increased awareness and incentives. Suggested measures include the use of taxes to incentivize equitable sharing child-care responsibilities and encouraging females to enter traditionally male-dominated sectors such as the armed forces and information technology.

UNDP Gender Team Acting Director Raquel Lagunas stated that, “#MeToo, #NiUnaMenos, #TimesUp. #UnVioladorEnTuCamino. The women’s rights demonstrations we’re seeing across the world today, energized by young feminists, are signaling that new alternatives for a different world are needed.

"We must act now to break through the barrier of bias and prejudices if we want to see progress at the speed and scale needed to achieve gender equality and the vision laid out in the Beijing Declaration over two decades ago and the Sustainable Development Goals."

The year 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25), which is widely considered the most visionary agenda on women’s empowerment to date.