3. Employment and Empowerment
Employment is the state of having paid work.
Empowerment refers to the economical,
political, social and educational strength of
women.
4. Empowerment
Throughout much of the world, women’s equality is undermined by historical imbalances in decision-
making power and access to resources, rights, and entitlements for women. Either by law or by custom,
women in many countries still lack rights to:
● Own land and to inherit property
● Obtain access to credit
● Attend and stay in school
● Earn income and move up in their work, free from job discrimination
In Saudi Arabia, for example, women’s rights are defined by Sunni Islam and tribal customs.
They were previously forbidden from voting or being elected to political office. However, King Abdullah
declared that women will be able to vote and run in the 2015 local elections.
Kuwaiti women win right to vote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4552749.stm
5. As of 31 January 2013, the average share of women members in parliaments worldwide was just over 20 per cent.
6. Employment
In general, women earn substantially less than their male counterparts. This does not apply just to LEDCs but also to MEDCs.
● In the UK, women earn on average less than 80 % of men's average annual salary. This is for the same work and time as men.
● 44 top firms who employ almost a quarter of finance sector workers were questioned. The sector's age profile is 25-39, when women
have childcare responsibilities.
● Women earned on average £2,875 annually in contrast to £14,554 for men.
● Women's education in Middle Eastern countries is rising rapidly but these women do not work for salaries.
● It is estimated that household incomes could rise by 25% if women in these countries worked.
● In middle income countries like Mexico, women with high levels of education are largely unemployed.
● This leads to a negative impact on growth as the economy does not use half its resources.
● In Mexico, women earn 15-20 % less than men.
● By introducing schemes to help women in the workplace, the economy grows as more women are able to work.
● In Mexico, the National Institute for Women developed a programme to certify companies with gender equal policies and practices.
● Women are also encouraged to work by the introduction of family-orientated work schemes such as part-time or job-sharing.
7. Globally, 40 out of 100 wage-earning jobs in the non-agricultural sector are held by women.
8. Wage Gap
(Also known as gender gap)
Wage gap is the difference between male and female earning expressed as a
percentage of male earnings, according to the OECD (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development)
11. Driving
In Saudi Arabia, women are forbidden to drive. A Saudi
cleric, Sheikh Saleh, reported that ‘driving damages the
ovaries and causes clinical problems when producing
children’.
Only men are permitted to acquire a driving license. If a
woman is found driving, she will either have to pay fine or
she will be arrested.
12. Violence
● Violence against women - particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence against
women - are major public health problems and violations of women's human rights.
● Recent global prevalence figures indicate that 35% of women worldwide have experienced
either intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
● On average, 30% of women who have been in a relationship report that they have
experienced some form of physical or sexual violence by their partner.
● Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.
● Violence can result in physical, mental, sexual, reproductive health and other health problems,
and may increase vulnerability to HIV.
● Risk factors for being a perpetrator include low education, exposure to child maltreatment or
witnessing violence in the family, harmful use of alcohol, attitudes accepting of violence and
gender inequality.
13. Violence
Afghanistan - Taliban treatment of women
● They faced public flogging and execution for violations of the Taliban's laws.
● In October 1996, a woman had the tip of her thumb cut off for wearing nail varnish.
● In 1999, a mother of seven children was executed in front of 30,000 spectators in Kabul’s Ghazi
Sport stadium for murdering her husband. She was imprisoned for three years and extensively
tortured prior to the execution, yet she refused to plead her innocence in a bid to protect her
daughter
● Working women are threatened into quitting their jobs. Failure to comply with Taliban's threats
has led to women being shot and killed as in the case of 22-year old Hossai in July 2010.
15. Property rights
● Definition: Laws created by governments in regards to
how individuals can control, benefit from and transfer
property
● In many LEDCs even though women are the primary users of the
land it is rarely recognised legally or socially as theirs (happens in
many African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries like Rwanda,
Saudi Arabia or India)
● The land is technically their husbands and they own it through the
ownership of her husband → if he wanted to ban her from it is his
legal right to do so
16. Honour Killings - What are they?
● Definition: an ancient tradition still sometimes observed; a male member of the
family kills a female relative for tarnishing the family image
● Action of killing a member of the family or community for having shamed or
dishonored the family and disobeyed the honor code of the family (usually linked
to sexuality and relationships)
● Usually targeted against women (generally young) and homosexuals (= it is
forbidden by the shariah to be gay)
● Killings are mostly done in public in broad daylight by members of the family →
considered normal + no shame or guilt in killing them
17. Honour Killings - Where?
● Happens all over the world (for example in the UK → about 20 honor killings per
year → immigrants) but mostly in LEDCs especially islamic country like Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia... (Pakistan → over 1000 honor killings per year)
18. Honour Killings - Why do they occur?
● In many places it is believed that to regain the family honor the person who shames
it must be killed
● Sharia = forbids sex outside of marriage for women + forbids homosexuality = if
those rules are disobeyed (even if the person was raped) → considered dishonored
+ shame the family
● Honor killings are said to not be linked to religion : “Honor killings are part of a
culture, not a religion” (quote by murderer) but sharia is technically part of their
culture
● Quotes from murderers : “The only way to rectify the family’s honor is to have wife,
daughter, sister killed.”, “Blood cleanses honor”...
● Usually happens because of sex outside marriage whether it be rape, an affaire or
premarital → in all cases the girl must die
● Studies have shown that almost half the boys and 1 out of 5 girls believe that honor
killings are morally justified
19. Honour Killings - Example
● Girl named Anusha Zafar in Pakistan was murdered on October 29th 2013
by her parents for turning to look at a boy driving past on a motorcycle
● Action was considered dishonorable so her parents beat her and poured
acid on her
● They only took her to the hospital the morning after the incident happened
→ too late
● Parents were trialed to life imprisonment but don't show any remorse over
what was done : “It was her destiny to die this way.” - the father
20. FGM
Female Genital Mutilation comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external
female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is practised
only purely for cultural traditions; a woman who have not undergone FGM are not worthy women. FGM
is meant to form a sort of ownership for the men over their wife or child. A women’s ambition in
LEDC’s is too get married off , but without genital mutilation the women is not considered well brought
up and will not be worthy of a husband.Therefore for the well being of a women the shall undergo
FGM.
But yet there is no positive health outcome only negative , the process is usually performed by the
local circumsizer and therefore tools which are used would not have been sterilized and could cause
infections and very harming side effects.
21. FGM
Where does FGM occur ? between 100 million and 140 million women and girls worldwide have been
subjected to FGM. Three million girls and women a year are at risk of mutilation - approximately 8000
girls per day. It has been documented mainly in Africa (in 28 countries), and in a few countries in the
Middle East (e.g. Yemen, Kurdish communities, Saudi Arabia), Asia and among certain ethnic groups
in Central and South America. Case studies show now that it is also being practised in several
European countries as well due to the migration of different ethnic groups , although the law prohibits it
in such countries , it is their tradition and honor and the continue to live up to their beliefs.
22. FGM
Ceremonial Knives used
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Example of FGM gone wrong: 91% of girls undergo FGM at a young age in certain countries; in the
same countries it is culture to be married off at ages of 13 . Example of Maha Buba explained by the
TED talk by Sheryl WuDunn ,had undergone FGM and got married at the age of 13 , she then got
pregnant and her baby in a bush in the open with no help and this caused her a vaginal tearing called
Ficila . The whole town thought she was a curse , she stank due to the tearing and was put in a hut
with no doors at the end of the village for the hyhennas to eat her at night; she faught them off with a
stick and crawled her way to the next village where they cared for her, and cured her tearing , she is
now a nurse in that same hospital and lives a happier life.
23. Equity Gap Index
A large majority of countries rank very low in the empowerment dimension of the GEI. The gap between women and men is
highest among professional, managerial, parliamentary and ministerial positions
24. Equity Gap
Top 5 countries
with the highest
equity:
● Sweden 83.2
● Finland 76.1
● Rwanda 75.4
● Spain 73.9
● Germany 72.7
Top 5 countries
with the lowest
equity:
● Vanuatu 6.5
● India 6.3
● Yemen 6.3
● Lebanon 6.2
● Bahrain 6.0
