Despite progress made during the past century, women around the world all too often face seemingly insurmountable odds when it comes to issues of equity in the economic, social, political, and health care arenas.
Economic Rights:
- Worldwide, women are the majority of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty. Many survive on just $1 a day.
- Women own just 1% percent of the world’s farmland, yet produce half the world’s food.
- In the U.S., 62% of working women earn half or more of their family’s income.
- Compared to male high school graduates in the United States, females earn 34% less money. A woman with a college degree will earn 75% more than a woman without one.
Right To Live Free From Violence, Abuse, And Exploitation:
- One in 3 women worldwide will be raped, beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
- Approximately 4 million women and girls are sold into sexual slavery each year.
- 130 million women are victims of female genital mutilation; many are young girls.
Right To Education:
- There are approximately 876 million illiterate adults in the developing world. Two-thirds are women.
- Of the 120 million school-age children not in school, 53% are girls.
Inheritance and Property Rights:
- “The precariousness and ambiguity of women’s legal status remains a leading cause of poverty in many parts of the world. Because property rights shape the allocation of resources and decision-making authority, especially in the household, ownership improves women’s ability to bargain and gain access to credit…”
- “In many countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, women’s access to land and housing is through a male relative, usually father, brother or husband. In some communities in Africa, a widow will inherit land in ‘trust’ for her male children (providing they are minors). In others she will be given a life interest in the land. If she remarries, however, she risks forfeiting all claim to this land. Moreover, such arrangements only grant women access to land and property – not ownership, so they have no right to engage in or influence any transactions related to the land.”
Political Rights:
- As of January 2005, 11 of the 180 heads of government were women.
- In terms of women elected to national office, the U.S. ranked 63rd worldtide with only 15.2% women in the House and 14% women in the Senate.
- Of the 315 statewide elected offices across the United States in 2005, only 81 are held by women.
- There are countries, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, where women still do not have a universal right to vote.
Health Care Rights:
- “…for years scientists did not include women in clinical trials…Most of today’s health information is based on studies of men, even for diseases that mainly affect women.”
- “Gaps in reproductive and sexual health care account for nearly one fifth of the worldwide burden of illness and premature death, and one third of the illness and death among women of reproductive age.”
- Since 1995, more than 400 measures that restrict women’s access to reproductive health services have been enacted in the United States.
- Only 24 states in the U.S. have laws requiring insurance companies to offer birth control coverage if they offer other prescription services.
What Can Be Done:
Implement provisions of existing international agreements, including:
- The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) -- established as a functional commission by the United Nations in 1946. It’s charge: to prepare recommendations and reports on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields.
- “The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) -- an international bill of rights for women. The General Assembly of the UN adopted the Convention in December 1979, and as of 2004, 179 countries had ratified it…CEDAW defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to foster greater equality. The United States has refused to sign it.”
- “The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action -- adopted at the September 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) by representatives from 189 countries. The of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere.”
Expert Resources:
Center for Women’s Global Leadership
International Center for Research on Women
