Status of Women in Latin America

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperationa and Develpoment, the women of Latin America "suffer less total gender discrimination than other regions in the world except for the OECD states."

I'm not saying that women in Latin America are not discriminated. Although they make up about 40% of the workforce they only earn between 60% and 70% of men's wages.

Another act of serious discrimination against women is violence. According to a survey made by the Pan American Health Organization in 2006, one in three women in Latin America have suffered "physical, sexual or pschycological violence at the hands of their intimate partners."

Women in Latin America have also been very involved in political movements in the 20th century, such as opposing dictatorship in Chile and Argentina. The actual presidents of these two countries are both women.

In conclusion, womens' status in Larin America is improving, but, like everywhere else, it still has some way to go.

Sources:
http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/03/the-struggle-for-womens-equality-in-latin-america/

Status of Women in Europe

The status of women in Europe is high when compared to that of women in other parts of the world. However, in Europe itself, there seems to be a difference in the status of women between northern and southern countries.

The reason behind this is that the areas where women fought for their rights most was in the northern areas of Europe in the 1960s.

One thing Europeans can be proud about when it comes to gender equality is that governments have really made an effort to introduce gender equality into society, unlike some continents such as Asia.

Despite this, the situation in southern European countries is quite different: Although the laws in northern European countries and that of the South may be extremely similar, studies in 2004 show that the employment rate of women in Italy was 15% less than that of men. Also, these statistcs show that women earned a salary 20% less than that of men with the same educated background. This inequality is mainly due to male-dominant ideas in society.

Another example of gender inequality in Europe is Switzerland. Nowadays, Swiss women enjoy an equal status with men, but until 1971 Swiss women did not have the right to vote. Another aspect of inequality in this particular country is that, even now the enrollment of girls in schools is lower than that of boys.

Albeit having said all this, the situation of gender equality in Europe is quite under control.

Sources:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200601/23/eng20060123_237621.html

Status of Women in Asia

The status of women in Asia is one that, although it still has a long way to go, is improving gradually.


The number of women getting an education nowadays is a lot higher than it was 50 years ago, for example in 1950 in all of Asia 14% of girls aged 15 to 19 were enrolled in secondary school, a number that increased to a 26% by 1990.


Studies have also shown that the mortality rate of women in Asia has also dramatically improved, surpassing that of men. This probably implies that there are better health services available to women throughout Asia.


Another improvement of women's status in Asia is the fact that now better job oppurtunities are available for them, the number of women in the labour force has increased steadily, lets take Singapore as an example of women employed in industrialisation: in 1957 about 22% of women aged 15 ro 64 were employed, a number that rose to 55% by 1999.

Despite all this, we must bear in mind that the traditional Asian culture is based on a social hierarchy in which women are the lowest members. However one must be careful when saying that, in general, Asian countries are sexist because, although it may seem so in our Western eyes, for the people of these countries it is only natural for women to be treated so.


Sources:
http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/misc/FuturePop05Women.pdf


http://www.jobmonkey.com/teaching/asia/html/a_word_to_women.html


http://www.unescap.org/55/e1133e.htm

http://www.questia.com/read/105962107?title=Democracy%20and%20the%20Status%20of%20Women%20in%20East%20Asia

Also, take a look at this interesting video on how sexism affects modern women in China today: http://www.vidoemo.com/yvideo.php?i=QXgzZFJBcWuRpRWdvc1k&the-sexist-revolution-china=

Status of Women in Africa

In my research I have found that of women in Africa (I am mostly relating to Sub-Saharan countries, where the situation is worse) are under-valued immensely and in huge numbers.

African women are probably the hardest-working people in the entire world: in some parts of Africa, women work twice as long as men do, just to earn to same amount. Studies have shown that women produce 90% of the food in Africa and yet very few of them have the right to actually own the land they work on. They are also the ones responsible for providing food, water, health and education in families.

In my opinion, African women are the ones who hold everything together (they both slave away to earn a living and take care of their families) and therefore should have the same rights as men as women should all over the world.

Sources: http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu37we/uu37we0t.htm

http://www.oecd.org/document/34/0,3343,en_2649_33935_39324962_1_1_1_1,00.html

Introduction

In this blog I'm going to post my findings from my research on women's status around the globe in the 20th and 21st century:

• How it changes from one continent to another (if there are big differences between the countries in a particular continent I will also highlight these).


• If the status women in each respective area has changed drastically or not in the space of a century(20th - 21st) and, if so, how.