According to the United Nations' latest study published on Monday, the progression towards gender equality has been at a standstill for the past decade. Cultural prejudices and pressures are hindering women's empowerment and making the UN's target of achieving gender balance by 2030 appear increasingly unattainable.
The growth of women's rights movements and social initiatives like Time's Up and MeToo, particularly in the US, has not been enough to shift entrenched social norms or mitigate the broader socio-economic crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when many women suffered financial loss.
The United Nations Development Programme's recent report utilizes the Gender Social Norms Index, which incorporates data from the World Values Survey (WVS), an international research endeavor. The survey encompasses datasets from 2010-2014 and 2017-2022 from countries and regions representing 85% of the global population.
The current analysis revealed that close to 90% of both men and women harbor deep-seated prejudices against women. The percentage of individuals holding at least one bias has seen minimal change over the past decade, with only a marginal decrease in 38 of the surveyed countries from 86.9% to 84.6%.
Heriberto Tapia, a research and strategic partnership adviser at UNDP and co-author of the report, labeled the lack of substantial improvement over time as "disappointing."
The study further observed that nearly half the global population believes men are superior political leaders, and 43% perceive men as better business leaders.
Aroa Santiago, a gender specialist in inclusive economies at UNDP, emphasizes the need to transform gender biases, social norms, and ultimately, power dynamics between women and men.
While education has traditionally been considered a crucial factor for enhancing women's economic prospects, the survey exposed a disconnect between the education gap and income. In 57 countries where adult women are more educated than men, the average income disparity remains at 39%.
The UNDP report also flagged the disturbing acceptance of violence against women, with more than one in four individuals believing that a man is justified in physically abusing his wife.