Women's future: A change to be made

This is an assignment given during one of our lectures:

Gender equality is no longer a new issue. In fact it has been often related to the idea of feminism. The world today is very much globalized and developed but then, there is still some part of it having trouble with the very basic humanity issue of gender. According to Professor True, who is also an author on international relations and politics, “Discrimination against women in all forms-be it education, race, ethnicity etc., has been happening all this while and even seen to be legitimated in some countries. “

India, Pakistan and Egypt are among those countries which have a pronounced gap in the belief of gender equality, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project in association with the International Herald Tribune in April and May. Opportunity for jobs and education are favored to men and boys even when women were as qualified.

The rise of more egalitarian attitudes toward the roles of women and men is a good thing at least, as people starting to question the issues of gender discrimination and injustice. Women rights, which is part of the human rights, has been given adequate attention in United Nations Commissions on Human Rights (UNCHR). Several programs had been carried out to promote the idea of gender equality. In addition, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been trying to include boys and men as a part of the body to promote women rights and “will make its commitment to gender equality a central and visible element of all its plans, policies, instructions and guidance.”

On the other hand, Women for Women International is a humanitarian organization that provides financial and emotional support to women survivors of war, which is co-founded by Zainab Salbi, an Iraqi-American writer and activist. Their programs help women achieve self-sufficiency through direct aid, rights education, job skills training and small business development. In 2005, the organization distributed $9.3 million in aid to 30,000 women.

As a feminist, I strongly agree that women deserve equal rights and opportunities as men. The entire societies can in fact develop better with contribution from woman and girls. Human- be it man or woman, we were born with the same inalienable rights including life, liberty and property. There should be no gap or differences between gender and women especially, should be given equal access to the opportunities as men. However, “it often took two generations before reality caught up with the changes in attitudes”, said Professor True.