Still No Gender Inequality

The Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2010 themed “Power, Rights and Voice: A Turning Point for Gender Equality in Asia Pacific” was launched in Hanoi, Vietnam on March 9. The report provides an analysis of gender equality in Asia-Pacific and how women across the region continue to be held back and disadvantaged.

 

According to the report, While Asia and the Pacific can take pride in the region’s vibrant economic transformation in recent decades, this has not always translated into progress on gender equality. Discrimination and neglect are threatening women’s very survival in the Asia-Pacific region, where women suffer from some of the world’s lowest rates of political representation, employment and property ownership.

 

Despite laws guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, women in this region still earn considerably less than men, with the pay gap ranging from 54 to 90 %. Women “consistently end up with some of the worst, most poorly-paid jobs —often the ones that men don’t want to do, or that are assumed to be “naturally” suited to women,” the Report found. Especially, in South Asian countries like India and Pakistan fewer than 35 % of women do paid work. Nearly 70 % of East Asian women are in paid work, well above the global average of 53 %. Women “consistently end up with some of the worst, most poorly-paid jobs -often the ones that men don’t want to do, or that are assumed to be “naturally” suited to women,” the Report found.

According to Mr John Hendra, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, although Vietnam has made significant strides in achieving economic development and poverty reduction, gender gaps remain popular. Gender inequality will cause serious losses to women and children.

 

In Vietnam, women make up 46.6 % of the workforce. However, most women work in the informal sector which is not covered by social protection. Vietnamese women are much more likely to be unpaid family workers, 53 % of women compared to 32 % of men fall into this category. In addition, as unpaid family workers receive no earnings for the work they perform more than half of working women in Vietnam receive no direct income.

 

The normal sex ratio at birth is 104-106 boys to every 100 girls. In Vietnam in 2008, the sex ratio at birth was 112 to 100, up from 110 to 100 in 2006. If the current skewed sex ratio continues, Vietnam will have a surplus male population from 2025. 

 

Remarkably, women are most often the victims of serious violence in Vietnam and the Asia - Pacific region. Almost two-thirds of women believe it is acceptable for men to beat their wives .

Mr John Hendra said policy needs to advance gender equality to empower women. This is vital for achieving development goals overall, and for boosting economic growth and sustainable development.

 

The report focuses on three key areas, namely economic power, political decision-making and legal rights, to analyse what holds women back, and how policies and attitudes can be changed to foster a climb toward gender equality. The report provides eight recommendations for action across the three areas covered (power, voice and rights). Removing barriers to women’s ownership of assets, such as land; expanding paid employment; making migration safe and investing in high-quality education and health are some of the main solutions recommended.

 

According to Mr John Hendra, in order for women in Vietnam to have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives, equal access to and control over economic resources, and equal access to legal rights and protection, we need to ensure that all Vietnamese families value their girls equally with boys and invest in their capabilities and wellbeing.