February
6th is commemorated as international day for gender equality but never did I
see an organization, an institution, government commemorates the day. Why this
term exist? What is exactly gender equality means? Do we need gender equality?
From
many litterateurs, we can find that gender equality means women and men, and
girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and
protections. Also known as sex equality, sexual equality or equality of the
genders refers to the view that men and women should receive equal treatment,
and should not be discriminated against based on gender. Gender equality does
not imply that women and men are the same, but they have equal value.
In
September 1994, the International Conference on Population and Development,
which met in Cairo, for the first time, shifted the emphasis on population
control from government efforts to reduce numbers through family planning, to
look more broadly at women’s empowerment and how their lives can be improved.
It examined issues including access to decent reproductive health services,
sexual health advice and support and through the elimination harmful practices,
such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage. The following
year, in Beijing, the Fourth World Conference on Women committed to achieving
gender equality by removing the obstacles that limit women’s involvement in
public and private life and prevented them from an equal share in
decision-making.
Globally,
about one in three women will be beaten or raped during their lifetime, and
more than 140 million women and girls are estimated to be living with the
consequence of FGM. Even, one of famous Chief Executive Officers (CEO) women
becomes the victim, she is Oprah Winfrey. Many international and local news
show about the hardness that women get, in local term, we call it Household
Hardness (KDRT).
A
1995 study examined the performance of more than 100,000 American adolescents
on various mental tests. The study found that on average, females performed
slightly better than males on tests of reading comprehension, writing,
perceptual speed, and certain memory tasks. Males tended to perform slightly
better than girls on tests of mathematics, science, and social studies. In
almost all cases, the average sex differences were small. As the result, today,
we can see in many places that a woman become a CEO, an engineering, a doctor,
a lawyer, a truck driver, a musician, a president and the like.
However,
women cannot achieve gender equality and sexual and reproductive health without
cooperation and participation of men. Clearly, men need to be involved if
gender equality is to be achieved and reproductive health programs are to
succeed even some research shows that men also want to be involved.
In
conclusion, gender equality is a fundamental condition for the full enjoyment
of human rights by women and men. As Joss Whedon said “equality is not a
concept. It’s not something we should be striving for. It’s necessity. Equality
is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women.”
picture : http://www.themuslimtimes.org
by
Aslan Irunsah | Founder of HEC| aslan.irunsah@gmail.com
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