New Delhi (IPA Service): India is among the low Women’s Empowerment and Gender Gap group of countries with their respective values 0.520 and 0.560 respectively in 2022. It is also in the medium value group countries in Human Development in 2021.
It has been revealed in anew report on the twin indices on women’s empowerment and gender equality – Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) and Global Gender Parity Index (GGPI)–jointly prepared by UN Women and UNDP, that has studied 114 countries of the world.
The report says that majority of women live in countries with large gender gaps. Low women’s empowerment and large gender gaps are commonplace across the world, while even fewer than one per cent of women and girls live in countries with both high women’s empowerment and a small gender gap. About 3.1 billion women and girls – more than 90 per cent of the world’s female population – live in countries characterized by a large women’s empowerment deficit and a large gender gap.
It means, women’s and girl’s level of suffering are at alarmingly high. They have only little power and freedom to make choices and seize opportunities across five dimensions – health, education, inclusion, decision making, and violence against women – as measured by WEI. There are also high levels of gender disparities in key dimensions of human development, including health, education, inclusion, and decision making, as assessed by GGPI.
The report titled “The Paths to Equal” introduces two new indices to shed light on the complex challenges faced by women worldwide and provide a roadmap for targeted interventions and policy reforms.
Globally, women are empowered to achieve on average only 60 per cent of their full potential, as measured by WEI, while on average, they achieve 28 per cent less than men across key human development dimensions, as measured by GGPI.
No international standard currently exists for collecting and measuring gender identity data, the report says, however, several countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States are developing and testing different approaches.
As for life and good health are concerned, family planning needs of only 77.5 per cent ofwomen of 15-49 years of age in India are satisfied. Adolescent birth rate, that is births per 1000 women of ages 15-19 years, in the country is 16.3.
The percentage of female population with completed secondary education of higher was estimated to be only 24.9 per cent among women aged 25 years and above. Female youth between 15-24 years of age not in education, employment or training in the entire decade 2012-22 in India were 43.5 per cent.
As for labour and financial inclusion, labour force participation rate (LPR) among prime-working-age (25-54 years) female individuals who are living in a household comprising a couple and at least one child under age 6was 27.1 per cent during the whole decade 2012-22. Account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider for women above 15 in 2021 was 77.6 per cent.
Women participation is decision making in India is also at very low level. Share of seats held by women in the Parliament is only 14.7 per cent in 2023, while in local government it is 44.4 per cent during 2015-22 thanks to provision of reservation for women under the Panchayati Raj System. Share of marginal position held by women in India during the decade 2012-22 is only 15.9 per cent.
As for freedom from violence, only 18 per cent in the age group 15-49 reported no violence by their present or former intimate partners in the previous 12 months in 2018.
The report centres on the unfinished business of our time: delivering on the promise of gender equality, securing the human rights of women and girls and ensuring that their fundamental freedoms are fully realised.
Its analysis shows that higher human development is not the answer in isolation.About 8 per cent of women and girls live in countries with low or middle women’s empowerment but high performance in achieving gender parity. This suggests that small gender gaps do not automatically translate into high women’s empowerment.
No country has achieved high women’s empowerment while maintaining a large gender gap. This suggests that women’s and girl’s empowerment will remain elusive until gender gaps are eliminated.
Higher human development alone is insufficient to empower women and girls and bring about gender equality. Of the 114 countries analysed, 85 have low or middle women’s empowerment and low or middle performance in achieving gender parity. More than half the countries in this group are in the high (21 countries), or very high human development group (26 countries), signifying that higher human development does not automatically translate into women’s empowerment and gender equality, the report emphasized.
The recent multiple crises have exacerbated women’s disadvantages, the global community was already off track to achieve gender equality by 2030, and current trends have pushed progress farther off course, the report has warned. (IPA Service)
By Gyan Pathak
