Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 12) – Gender biases against women have not improved in a decade, a Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) report launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Monday.
The report drew upon data from 91 countries and from figures from three waves of the World Values Survey (WVS) spanning from 2005 to 2009, 2010 to 2014, and 2017 to 2022.
The study found that 85% of the total population or nearly 9 out of 10 men and women worldwide hold biases against women.
It also reported that 50% of people worldwide believe that men make better political leaders than women, while 40% of all people believe that men make better business executives than women.
A “staggering” 25% of all people believe it was justified for a man to beat his wife, it said.
The study pointed out that the average gender income gap remained 39% in favor of men in 59 countries where women were more educated than men.
“The report argues that these biases drive hurdles faced by women, manifested in a dismantling of women’s rights in many parts of the world with movements against gender equality gaining traction and, in some countries, a surge of human rights violations,” the UNDP said.
Pedro Conceição, head of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, said that social norms which impair women’s rights are detrimental to society.
“In fact, lack of progress on gender social norms is unfolding against a human development crisis: the global Human Development Index declined in 2020 for the first time on record—and again the following year,\” Conceiç ão noted. \”Everyone stands to gain from ensuring freedom and agency for women.”
The report emphasized that governments play a major role in shifting gender social norms and urged them to invest in laws and policy measures that promote women’s equality in political participation; scale up insurance mechanisms such as strengthening social protection and care systems; and encourage innovative interventions that effectively challenge harmful social norms, patriarchal attitudes, and gender stereotypes.
Biases among Filipinos
In the Philippines, 99.5% of the entire population hold biases against women, specifically: 99.33% of all men, and 99.67% of all women, according to WVS data from 2017 to 2022 presented by the UNDP’s study.
Three out of four Filipinos or 75.50% were found to have political biases against women. This is based on indicators constructed from responses to two questions about “women having the same rights as men is essential for democracy,” and “men make better political leaders than women do.”
Almost half or 43.61% of Filpinos reportedly held educational biases against women, based on the question if “university is more important for men than for women.”
Nearly four out of five Filipinos or 77.81% had economic biases against women, as indicated by responses to these statements: “men should have more right to a job than women,” and “men make better business executives than women do.”
Finally, 92.83% of Filipinos were biased against women in terms of physical integrity. This was indicated by their reactions to these statements: “It is justifiable for a man to beat his wife,” and “abortion is never justifiable.”
