GENDER DISCRIMATION

A SERIOUS THREAT

INTRODUCTION – WHAT IS GENDER DISCRIMINATIOM

• SEXISM OR GENDER DISCRIMINATION IS

PREJUDICE OR DISCRIMINATION BASED

ON A PERSON'S SEX OR GENDER

• IT MAY INCLUDE THAT A PERSON OF ONE

SEX IS INTRINSICALLY SUPERIOR TO A

PERSON OF THE OTHER.

• EXTREME SEXISM MAY FOSTER SEXUAL

HARASSMENT, RAPE AND OTHER FORMS

OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE.

ORIGIN OF THE TERM GENDER

DISCRIMINATION

According to Fred R. Shapiro, in American Speech (Vol. 60, No. 1, Spring

1985), the term "sexism" was most likely coined on November 18, 1965,

by Pauline M. Leet during the Student-Faculty Forum at Franklin and Marshall

College.

Also according to Shapiro, the first time the term "sexism" appeared in print

was in Caroline Bird's speech "On Being Born Female", which was published on

November 15, 1968, in Vital Speeches of the Day

HISTORY of Discrimination

SATI PRACTICE

Sati refers to a funeral practice in which a recently widowed woman immolates herself, typically on the husband's funeral pyre.

The term is derived from the name of the goddess Sati, also known as Dakshayani, who self-immolated because she was unable to bear her father Daksha's humiliation of her husband Shiva.

OCCUPATIONAL GENDER

DISCRIMINATION

• Occupational sexism refers to discriminatory practices, statements or actions,

based on a person's sex, occurring in the workplace. One form of

occupational sexism is wage discrimination.

• Several studies have found that women earn a smaller average wage than

men.

PROTESTS AGAINST OCCUPATIONAL

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and

the National Organization for Women are established

to fight against this

Discrimination, leading to the creation of ground-

breaking laws such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

However, identifying and challenging sex

discrimination in the workplace (on legal grounds) has

been argued as being too difficult for the average

person to attempt and even harder to prove in court.

OBJECTIFICATION Objectification is treating a

person, usually a woman, as an object.

By being objectified, a person is denied agency.

Sexual objectification is where a person is viewed primarily in terms of sexual appeal or as a source of sexual gratification. This is sometimes regarded as a form of Gender Discrimination.

TRANSGENDER DISCRIMINATION

Transgender discrimination is discrimination towards peoples whose gender identity differs from the social expectations of the biological sex they were born with.

Forms of discrimination include but are not limited to identity documents not reflecting one’s gender, sex-segregated public restrooms and other facilities, dress codes according to binary gender codes, and lack of access to and existence of appropriate health care services.

GENDER DISCIMINATION IN POLITICS

Gender has been used, at times, as a tool of discrimination against women in the political sphere.

Indeed, Women's suffrage was not achieved until 1893, when New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote.

Saudi Arabia was the last country to grant women the right to vote in 2011.

While almost every woman today has the right to vote, there is still progress to be made for women in politics.

Child marriage

Controlling women's dressing attire

Criminal justice

Domestic violence

Education

Fashion

Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion

Forced sterilization and forced abortion

Female genital mutilation

Hate-motivated sexual assault

Military service

Misandry and Misogyny

Sexual slavery

Transphobia

War rapeClick to Jump to

Respective Slide

CHILD MARRIAGE

• A child marriage is a marriage where one or both spouses are

under 18.

• Girls are disproportionately the most affected.

• Child marriages are most common in South Asia, the Middle

East and Sub-Saharan Africa, but occur in other parts of the

world, too.

• The practice of marrying young girls is rooted in patriarchal

ideologies of control of female behaviour, and is also sustained

by traditional practices such as dowry and bride price.

• Child marriage is also a strategy for economic survival as

families marry off their daughters at an early age to reduce

their economic burden.

CONTROLLING WOMENS DRESS ATTIRE

• Laws that dictate how women must dress are seen by many international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, as a form of gender discrimination.

• Amnesty International states that:

“Interpretations of religion, culture or tradition cannot justify imposing rules about dress on those who choose to dress differently. States should take measures to protect

individuals from being coerced to dress in specific ways by family members, community or religious groups or leaders.”

• In many places, women who do not dress in socially and legally proscribed ways are often subjected to violence

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• Some studies in the United States have shown that for identical crimes, men are given harsher sentences than women.

• Controlling for arrest offense, criminal history and other pre-charge variables, sentences are over 60 percent heavier for men.

• Women are more likely to avoid charges entirely, and to avoid imprisonment if convicted.

• The gender disparity varies according to the nature of the case.

• This disparity occurs in U.S. federal courts, despite guidelines designed to avoid differential sentencing.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

• Domestic violence takes a number of forms (including verbal, physical and psychological abuse), which vary across the gender spectrum.

• Domestic violence is tolerated and even legally accepted in many parts of the world.

• Honor killings are a form of domestic violence which continues to be practiced in several parts of the world. The victims of honor killings are usually women.

• Dowry deaths are deaths of women or girls who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and violence by husbands and in-laws in an effort to extort an increased dowry. Dowry deaths are most common in countries such as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

EDUCATION• IMPROVEMENT OF EQUAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CONTRIBUTES TO THE

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT.

• WOMEN HAVE TRADITIONALLY HAD LIMITED ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION.

• WHEN WOMEN WERE ADMITTED TO HIGHER EDUCATION, THEY WERE ENCOURAGED

TO MAJOR IN LESS-INTELLECTUAL SUBJECTS.

• WORLD LITERACY IS LOWER FOR FEMALES THAN FOR MALES.

• LATEST DATA FROM CIA WORLD FACT BOOK SHOWS THAT 79.7% OF WOMEN ARE

LITERATE, COMPARED TO 88.6% OF MEN (AGED 15 AND OVER)

• IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD, GIRLS CONTINUE TO BE EXCLUDED FROM PROPER

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE EDUCATION.

• IN PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN, GIRLS WHO GO TO SCHOOL FACE SERIOUS VIOLENCE

FROM SOME LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS

FASHION

Feminists argue that some fashion trends have been

oppressive to women; they restrict women's movements,

increase their vulnerability and endanger their health.

The fashion industry is dealing with a great deal of criticism,

as their association of thin-models and beauty has said to

encourage bulimia and anorexia nervosa within women, as well

as locking female consumers into false feminine identities.

The assigning of gender specific baby clothes from young ages

is seen as sexist by some as it can instil in children from young

ages a belief in strong gender stereotype.

Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion

Female infanticide is the killing of very young female children.

It is an extreme form of gender based violence.

Female infanticide is more common than male infanticide, and is especially prevalent in parts of Asia, such as parts of India and China.

Recent studies suggest that over 90 million girls and women are missing in China and India as a result of systematic sex discrimination.

FORCED STERLIZATION AND ABORTION

Forced sterilization and forced abortion are forms of gender-based

violence.

Forced sterilization was practiced during the first half of the 20th century by many Western countries (including the US) and there are

reports of this practice being currently employed in some countries,

such as Uzbekistan and China.

Forced abortions are today associated mostly with China. Although

they are not an official policy of the country, they result from government pressure on local officials who, in turn, employ strong-

arm tactics on pregnant mothers. In 2012, a highly publicized case

of a forced abortion involving the photo of the foetus has sparked

international outrage.

HATE MOTIVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT• Rape and sexual assault are considered to be acts of hate.

• Their relationship to sexism is the frequent desire on the part of the perpetrator for power over the victim.

• The Centre for Women Policy Studies stated that "victims almost always are chosen for what they are rather than who they are"; a woman is more likely to be attacked because of her gender than her individuality.

• Mary Odem, Jody Clay-Warner and Susan Brown Miller consider that sexist attitudes are propagated by a series of myths about rape and rapist.

MILITARY SERVICES

Military service has been considered a gender-specific duty.

Some countries, such as Israel, require military service regardless of gender.

Others (such as Finland, Turkey and Singapore) still use a system of conscription which only requires military service for men, although women are permitted to serve voluntarily.

In the United States, all men must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday.

The system does not require women to register, leading to criticism that it discriminates against men by forcing them into a dangerous role based on gender.

MISANDRY AND MISOGYNY

Misandry is the hatred of men and boys as a

societal group or as individuals.

Misogyny is the hatred of women and girls as a

societal group or as individuals.

SEXUAL SLAVERY

Sexual slavery occurs when people are coerced

into slavery for sexual exploitation.

The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and

tabulated by UNESCO with the cooperation of a number of

international agencies.

Sexual slavery also includes single-owner slavery, the ritual slavery

associated with certain religious practices, slavery for primarily non-

sexual purposes where non-consensual sex is common and forced

prostitution.

TRANSPHOBIA

Transphobia refers to prejudice against transsexuality and transsexual (or transgender) people based on their gender identification.

Whether intentional or not, transphobia can have negative consequences for the object of the negative attitude.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement opposes sexism against transsexuals.

One form of sexism against transsexuals is "women-only" and "men-only" events and organizations, which have been criticized for excluding trans women and trans men.

WAR RAPE

• War rapes are rapes committed by soldiers, other combatants or civilians during armed conflict, war or military occupation, and are distinguished from in-service sexual assault and rape committed amongst troops.

• It also encompasses situations in which women are forced into prostitution or sexual slavery by an occupying power,

• The war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo has been described as the "rape capital of the world" with more than 400,000 rapes reported in just one year.

RECENT NEWS ABOUT GENDER DISCRIMINATION

• United Nations hails Suriname for eliminating gender discrimination in nationality laws (July 28, 2014)

• UN agency hails Suriname for eliminating gender discrimination in nationality laws (July 25, 2014)

DON’T KEEP CALM AND

FIGHT FOR GENDER

DISCRIMINATIONWE CAN DO IT!!!

THE END

BY ANSH MEHTA

STEP BY STEP HIGH

SCHOOL – X-F