Gender equality isn’t a women’s issue

THE struggle for gender equality has spanned centuries. Why then are women still grappling with inequality, sexism and bias?

Why are women in Malaysia and the world over still being paid less than men for doing the same jobs? Why are women expected to disproportionately bear the burden of care, whether or not they are working? Why are men not given equal support and encouragement to be caregivers and kin-keepers of their family?

And why do women still have to fear for their safety when they are in public spaces, in the workplace or even at home?

These injustices – for it is an injustice when half of the world’s population is left behind – are not imagined or exaggerated. They are real.

The World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap report ranked Malaysia’s position at 103 out of 146 countries and estimated that at the rate things are going, gender equality will only be achieved in 132 years.

A real example of how gender inequality can be detrimental to women and girls can be seen in the impact of natural disasters.

Research has shown that in natural disasters, women and girls are disproportionately affected compared with men and boys.

Take the case of the tsunami that hit the region in 2004, for example. A report by Britain-based international charity Oxfam found that in Indonesia and India, women were three times more affected than men and their fatalities were significantly higher.

Why? Various reasons, according to Universiti Malaya Gender Studies Programme senior lecturer Dr Rusaslina Idus: From the gender division of labour (more women stay at home to take care of children and the elderly), social norms (fewer women learned to swim), and opportunities (less access to information, lower income level, poorer housing infrastructure, etc).

Could this have been prevented if there were gender equitable solutions for these communities in the first place? Quite possibly, yes.

The truth is that we can only achieve gender equality and truly empower women if we live in an environment that enables all women and girls to be safe. And this can only happen if everyone becomes part of the solution: Men, women, leaders, governments, corporations, researchers, teachers, and healthcare workers.

The first step would logically be through a legal framework that ensures non-discrimination and equality for women in all areas, be it politics, economic or social platforms.

This would be in the form of an Act like the Gender Equality Act which women’s rights groups have been advocating for years.

Such a law would be a strong foundational framework for equality that will guide all other laws and policies. It would ensure, taking the example above, that inequalities that hold women back and make them vulnerable are eradicated and that disaster mitigation efforts take into account the different needs and situations of women.

For the man and woman on the street, we can all play a part by speaking up about equality. It shouldn’t be just the “job” of women’s rights activists.

We should all speak out when we see the injustices that women and girls, and other marginalised groups (for feminism is an all-encompassing fight for equal rights for all marginalised people) face.

Fight for the women around you to get equal pay – why don’t they deserve this? Men should acknowledge that women bear the burden of unpaid work and step up to do more.

And we should also press our government to have more political participation of women where the problem isn’t that we have a shortage of capable women, just a shortage of opportunities.

Gender equality isn’t a women’s issue – it’s a global issue, just like the pandemic was a global issue, or inflation.

It affects everyone, whether or not we choose to see it.