Gender equality refers to “the degree to which national cultures promote the advancement of women” (Lyness & Kropf, 2005, p. 34).
Not only is gender equality a fundamental human right, but is also an obligatory foundation for peace, prosperity and sustainability in our world.
The importance of Gender Equality
There are many reasons on why gender equality is very important and why it's included in the SDGs:
- Gender equality prevents gender-based violence against women and girls globally.
The UN Women Global Database on Violence against Women report brings statistics and legal data on gender-based violence and the different measures undertaken by governments.
* All through the world, a third of women and girls have already had experienced physical and/or sexual violence. Less than 40% seeked for help, and of those 40%, only 10% went to the police.
* At least 200 million women and girls in 30 countries have suffered female genital mutilation, while 750 million girls and women were married before the age of 18.
* Up to 38% of killings of women are carried out by an intimate partner.
- Gender equality is significant to economic development.
Sustainable development relies on equal access for women to education and opportunities for employment.
Gender equality has always been shown to attribute to economic growth, which is important, specifically in countries with low economic potential and high unemployment rates.
* According to a UN Women research, improved educational opportunities for girls have contributed to 50 percent of the economic development in OECD member countries over the previous 50 years.
-References:
-UN Women,(2016), UN Women global database. Available at: https://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/en [Accessed 3 October 2022].
-Global Vision International, (2021), Why is gender equality important?. Available at: https://www.gvi.co.uk/blog/why-is-gender-equality-important/ [Accessed 3 October 2022].
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