Gender equality - Women of Rubies

In self development February 28, 2019 By Editor

WOMEN ARE GRANTED ONLY THREE QUARTERS OF MEN’S LEGAL RIGHTS -WORLD BANK

Women around the world are granted only three quarters of the legal rights enjoyed by men, often preventing them from getting jobs or opening businesses, the World Bank found in study published Wednesday.

South Asia made the biggest improvements in women’s rights in the past decade, while six countries including France and Sweden achieve perfect scores in the World Bank’s index

“If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well,” Kristalina Georgieva, the bank’s interim president, said in a statement.

While reforms in many countries are a step in the right direction, “2.7 billion women are still legally barred from having the same choice of jobs as men.”

The study included an index measuring gender disparities that was derived from data collected over a decade from 187 countries and using eight indicators to evaluate the balance of rights afforded to men and women.

The report showed progress over the past 10 years, with the index rising to 75 from 70, out of a possible 100, as 131 countries have agreed to enact 274 reforms, adopting laws or regulations allowing greater inclusion of women.

Among the improvements, 35 countries have proposed laws against sexual harassment in the workplace, granting protections to an additional 2 billion women, while 22 nations have abolished restrictions that kept women out of certain industrial sectors.

Six nations — Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia and Sweden — scored a 100, “meaning they give women and men equal legal rights in the measured areas,” the World Bank said.

A decade ago, no economy had achieved a perfect score.

On the other hand, too many women still face discriminatory laws or regulations at every stage of their professional lives: 56 nations made no improvement over the last decade.

South Asia saw the greatest progress, although it still achieved a relatively low score of 58.36. It was followed by Southeast Asia and the Pacific, at 70.73 and 64.80, respectively.

Latin-America and the Caribbean recorded the second highest scores among emerging and developing economies at 79.09.

Conversely, the Middle-East and North Africa posted the lowest score for gender equality at 47.37. The World Bank nevertheless pointed to encouraging changes, such as the introduction of laws against domestic violence, in particular in Algeria and Lebanon.

Credit: Pulse

In self development January 28, 2019 By Editor

TWO TEENAGE GIRLS PRETEND TO BE BOYS FOR 4 YEARS TO SAVE THEIR SICK FATHER’S BARBERSHOP

Jyoti Kumari, 18, and her 16-year-old sister, Neha, from Banwari Tola, in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, took over their father’s barbershop in 2014 after he suffered a severe paralytic attack that left him bedridden. The girls were only 13 and 11-years-old at the time, but the barbershop was the family’s only source of income, so they had to do something to put food on the table. At first, the barbershop was closed, but as the family savings evaporated, Jyoti and Neha reopened it and started running it themselves. But things didn’t go well at first, as some men were skeptical about having girls shave their beards and trim their mustaches, while others treated them badly. So they started disguising themselves as men.

Photo source: Gulfnews

“This was indeed a tough job but we had no option as well. So we transformed ourselves [to look] like boys. We changed our names like males, dressed ourselves like boys, sported boys’ hairstyle[s] and also behaved like boys,” Jyoti recalled. “But for our efforts, my family would have died of starvation and our study would have been affected.”

The teenage girls cut their hair short, started wearing stainless steel bracelets normally worn by men, and changed their names to Deepak and Raju. Most of the people in their village knew their real identities, but men from surrounding communities had no idea they were really girls. The disguises allowed the girls to keep the barbershop running and earn about 400 rupees per day, enough to provide for their family, pay for their father’s treatment and continue their studies.

Some of the people in the village kept mocking them for posing as men, but the two sisters ignored them and focused on their work, as they had no other choice. They managed to conceal their gender and real identities for four years, but as time went by, they became more confident and recently started revealing their secret to more people.

“Now we have gained enough confidence and don’t fear anyone,” Jyoti Kumari said. “The majority of people have come to know that we are girls.”

Photo source: alArabiya

After a journalist from the nearby city of Gorakhpur published their incredible story in a Hindi newspaper last week, Jyoti and Neha earned the praise of an entire nation and were even honored by local authorities for their grit and determination in the face of adversity.

“Unfazed by taunts coming from society, they carried the family’s responsibility on their shoulders and arranged livelihood for their parents, braving all odds. This is a wonderful story which the society must be told [about] and they indeed deserve honors,” local official Abhishek Pandey told reporters. “They are [a] brilliant example of women empowerment and we have recommended to the state government [that they get] suitable rewards.”

The girls’ father, who only recently started walking again, also declared himself incredibly proud of them: “They have run the family showing highest level of grit and I am proud of them.”

Source: www.odditycentral.com

In self development January 5, 2019 By Esther Ijewere

SIJU YUSUF: GENDER EQUALITY

One of academias most intractable problems is gender distribution and representation.

The number of accomplished women though appreciably increasing in recent year is a barb, compared to their male counterparts.

Even in religious circles, restrictions are enforced on the extent to which a woman ‘owns’ the space.

And the list is endless…

This discovery is not new, I am only jostled by recent research outcome on women participation in seminars.

Findings reveal that women ask the least questions.

This makes me wonder and think about the struggle against patriarchy.

A seminar is a for-all kind of participation except if there are specific dictates against it. Particularly in the academia where participants are not only learned, but also usually have strong arguments and opinions on issues.

I am forced to think, that as much as we favor patriarchy in discourses of gender relations and participation in various fields, perhaps, there is an innate disposition of a woman, to be less confrontational.

This line of thoughts amongst other more acclaimed arguments bordering on physical attributes, emotional relations etc sits to juxtapose all reasoning of gender equality.

As research evolves, new line of thoughts are provoked. Maybe the fight to adopt in this present time is the one for human rights.

Gender equality in all its complexities continues to unveil limitless dimensions.

While you are sweating it, trying to convince the unlettered, perhaps, your argument would hold more water if there’s a human right slant to it.