What is Gender?

Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are
socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with
being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a
social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time.
What is Gender Inequality?
When there is a discrimination between men and women, girls and boys at legal,
cultural, or social areas,Gender inequality will created. Gender disparity affects
girls mostly.
What are the causes of gender inequality? There are some causes of gender
inequality.
Uneven access to education
Conflict, poverty and other forms of social disadvantage also grow gender
inequality in education. Some 9.7 million children were at risk of being forced out
of school by the end of 2020, with girls facing an increased risk. Of all the illiterate
people in the world, ⅔ are women. When girls are not educated on the same level
as boys, it has a huge effect on their future and the kinds of opportunities they’ll
get.
Lack of employment equality
Only 6 countries in the world give women the same legal work rights as men. In
fact, most economies give women only ¾ the rights of men.
Job segregation
One of the causes for gender inequality is the division of jobs. In most societies,
there’s an belief that men are simply better for certain jobs. This discrimination
results in lower income for women.
Lack of legal protections
According to research from the World Bank, over one billion women don’t have
legal protection against domestic sexual violence or domestic economic violence.
In many countries, there’s a lack of legal protections in the workplace, at school,
and in public. These places become unsafe and without protection, women
frequently have to make decisions that compromise and limit their goals.
Lack of bodily autonomy
Many women around the world do not have authority over their own bodies or
when they become parents. Accessing birth control is frequently very difficult.
Poor medical care
Women overall receive lower-quality medical care than men. This is linked to
other gender inequality reasons such as a lack of education and job opportunities,
which results in more women being in poverty. They are less likely to be able to
afford good healthcare.
Lack of religious freedom
When religious freedom is attacked, women suffer the most. According to the
World Economic Forum, when extremist ideologies (such as ISIS) come into a
community and restrict religious freedom, gender inequality gets worse.
Lack of political representation
Of all national parliaments at the beginning of 2019, only 24.3% of seats were
filled by women. As of June of 2019, 11 Heads of State were women. Despite
progress in this area over the years, women are not represented in government
and the political process.
Racism
Gender inequality and racism have been closely-linked for a long time. African
women’s work was “labor,” so it was taxable, while work performed by English
women was “domestic” and not taxable. The pay difference between white
women and women of color continues contributes to gender inequality.
Social mindset
The overall mindset of a society has a significant impact on gender inequality.
Beliefs about gender run deep and most time laws, rights don’t have effects for
gender equality. Some people are old-mindend. Ther don’t allow something for
girls. That’s why mort girls women cannot live as they want
Gender Inequality Examples
Child Marriage According to UNICEF, today, more than 700 million women were
married before they turned 18. More than a third of them — about 250 million —
were married before the age of 15. Compare that to 156 million boys married
before the age of 18, and it’s clear that child marriage affects girls much more
than it affects boys.
Gender based violence Gender-based violence occurs everywhere around the
world across all economic and social groups. While both boys and girls are
negatively impacted, girls are particularly at risk. An estimated 1 in 3 women
globally have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly at
the hands of their partners.
Child Labor
There are currently 152 million children engaged in child labor around the world.
Child labor makes it difficult for children to attend school or limits their
attendance, putting them at risk of falling behind their peers. Boys and girls are
affected differently by child labor and parents’ decisions are often influenced by
wider social norms about the different roles that they should play in the home
and in society.
Gender inequality in Azerbaijan
We also can see many types of gender inequality in our country. The most spread
examples are child labor, violence, old-minded thought. But there are some
efforts againist gender inequality in our country.
Founded in 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic has gone down in
history as the first republic in the East to give women the right to vote.
In 1998, the State Committee for Women's Issues was established by the order
of Heydar Aliyev
According to the law "On ensuring gender equality" adopted in 2006, all forms
of sexual discrimination are prohibited in Azerbaijan.