In every human society, there are given practices, relations, institutions and identities that make up a gender system, along with a sexual division of labour that transforms gender differences into inequalities. The first step towards gender equity is for societies and governments to first accept and understand that this system generates inequalities between men and women, and then to promote policies to address them. Social Watch’s Gender Equity Index (GEI) provides conclusive evidence that women’s opportunities in the economic and political spheres are still limited.
Since the General Assembly of the UN adopted the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979, gender equity has been a central theme of the world development agenda.After the World Summit for Social Development in 1995 and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995,the international community dedicated two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),whose deadline is the year 2015,to improving the situation of women.MDG 3 calls for the promotion of equality of opportunity between the sexes and for women’s empowerment – equitable representation of both sexes in decision-making processes; MDG 5 requires the reduction of maternal mortality rates by three quarters. See full text, pdf format.
Abortion legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean
Latin America is home to some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world and women’s organizations have fought for the right to safe and legal abortion for decades. Even though abortion is illegal in almost all countries in the region, most countries allow criminal penalties to be waived or lowered in specific circumstances, including -most often- where the life or health of the pregnant woman is in danger, or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. (Choike)
No country in the world treats its women as well as its men
In no country in the world do women enjoy the same opportunities as men, and in all regions they are still placed in an unfavourable position within the political and economic spheres. Gender equity is far from being achieved. The possibilities enjoyed by men and women in all countries around the world are unequal. Let us remember that nearly 70% of the world’s poor are women. The most obvious inequities are evidenced at the economic and political levels. Source: Social Watch, By Karina Batthyány.
