Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality
Blog Authors:
Sarthak Jalali, Sharmishta R Somayaji, Shashwat Nandan, Shobhit Sharma, Shrey Bhala, Vivitsa Upasti
Group 2, Section A, PGDM (BM) 2019-21 Batch
Group 2, Section A, PGDM (BM) 2019-21 Batch
Introduction
The sustainable development goal of gender equality is to “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Empowering women and promoting gender equality is critical to accelerating sustainable development. This SDG not only is a basic human right but also has a multiplier effect across all other development areas. There has been a significant advancement, with more women than ever in the labor market. However, there are still large inequalities in some regions where women are denied the same work rights as men. Some of the biggest barriers include sexual violence and exploitation, the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, and discrimination in public offices. Some of the targets of this SDG include ensuring women’s full and effective participation at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life. Getting closer to home, India has achieved gender parity at the primary education level. However, according to a baseline study, in New Delhi, about 92% of women had experienced some sort of sexual violence in public areas during their lifetime. So, there is still a long way to go before we actually achieve gender equality in all spheres of life. Through this post, we have tried to analyze the relevance of this SDG to business and society and the probable road ahead.
Relevance
Gender equality is inherently linked to sustainable development and is vital to achieving human rights for everyone. The overall goal of gender equality is a world where women and men in all spheres of life have the same opportunities, rights, and obligations. Gender equality exists when both sexes equally share the distribution of power and influence; have equal opportunities for financial independence through work or the establishment of businesses; have equal access to education and the opportunity to develop ambitions, interests, and talents; share responsibility for the home and children and are free.
Gender equality is critical in the context of development because it will allow women and men to make decisions that have a more positive impact on the reproductive health of women as well as on the well being of their families. The decision-making power on issues such as marriage age, the timing of births, the use of contraception, and the use of harmful practices will be improved with the achievement of equality between men and women.
Moreover, equality between men and women is not only a fundamental human right but a vital foundation for a prosperous and stable society. Women's exclusion brings half of the world's population outside the sphere of opportunity to participate in creating stable communities and economies. Equal access to education, decent work, and participation in systems of political and economic decision-making are not only the rights that women should have, but they also benefit humanity as a whole. By investing in empowering women, we are making progress not only on the Gender Equality Sustainable Development Goal but also on poverty alleviation and fueling sustainable economic growth.
Analysis
World
Although some gender equality metrics are changing like early marriage, still overall numbers are high. The root cause of the problem is structural issues in legal discrimination, unequal societal norms, low level of political representation, etc.
Progress made so far:
- As of 1 January 2019, women's national parliamentary representation increased by about 5% to 24.2% from 2010
- 18% of women(in 106 countries) aged between 15 and 49 have suffered physical abuse in the last year.
- Child marriage practice has declined around the world and it is led by South Asia where the rate decreased by about 25% between 2013 and 2018.
- The incidence of female genital mutilation declined by 33% between 2000 and 2018 in 30 countries where this practice was most prevalent.
India has achieved gender parity at the level of primary education and is also on the path to achieving the same on all levels of education. However, looking at the representation in political institutions, the picture is not good. As of June 2019, only 11% of the seats in Lok Sabha are held by women. Interestingly, a whopping 46% of seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions are held by women.
India also faces the threat of violence against women. Shockingly, 92% of women in New Delhi have admitted that they have faced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Also, in 2016 it was reported that about 33% of crimes against women were cruelty or physical violence against them done by their husband or some other relative. One of the key national priorities identified by the Indian government is ending the violence against women. The 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' initiative’s main aim is to provide equal opportunities to women in the field of education. Other noticeable initiatives like Sukanya Samridhi Yojana on girl child empowerment, and the Janani Suraksha Yojana for mothers, advance India's commitment to gender equality.
Suggested Path
The government should invest in developing accountable mechanisms that can track the progress that has been achieved so far. They should also strengthen national statistical frameworks in order to collect and generate high-quality data related to the progress in SDG actions. The government should also increase the investment in gender equality initiatives’ in all sectors like agriculture, education, social protection, etc. Apart from this, the government should also focus on those policies related to gender inequality, that address political, economic and power inequalities, and remove any structural issues in them which act as barriers to gender inequality.
Company Initiatives
In its 2018 Gender Equality Global Report & Ranking, Equileap evaluated the performance of all listed companies with a capitalization of over $2 billion in 23 developed countries, giving them a total of 3,206 firms to review.
Four aspects were measured:
- Gender balance in the company's employees and management
- Equal compensation
- Inclusion of policies which help in promoting gender equity
- Engagement of the organization in empowering women, transparency and accountability
The top companies were:
- General Motors (United States)
- L'Oreal (France)
- Kering (France)
- Merck (United States)
- Starhub (Singapore)
- Tele2 (Sweden)
- Westpac (Australia)
- National Australia Bank (Australia)
- Swedbank (Sweden)
- JP Morgan Chase (United States)
- Global Initiatives
1. Bloomberg - In 2018, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg, John Micklethwait, announced a new employee engagement plan. In order to promote gender equality within and outside the newsroom, it is now a prerequisite that at least one female is on any committee in order to participate in a Bloomberg journalist.
If this requirement is not met, reporters will be forced to refuse, although an appeals system tends to be in place if a journalist thinks it is appropriate to participate in an all-male committee. "But I believe we should be able to uphold this standard on the vast majority of occasions," concluded Micklethwait.
2. General Motors - General Motors attained the top spot as Mary Barra, is the first female CEO of the company and the first woman to be CEO of a major global automaker. According to Equileap, GM is also one of the 20 biggest companies in the United States to have an equal number of men and women on their board. The study also named it as one of two multinational companies with pay equality across all sector bands and no overall pay gap across the enterprise.
3. L’Oreal - At a United Nations ceremony, L'Oréal won the GEEIS-SGD Award, which honors five gender-equality initiatives. L'Oréal is dedicated to promoting women to ensure equal access to training and promotion. With regard to the gender pay gap, L'Oréal was a pioneer in the call.
Indian Companies’ Initiatives
Women’s representation of the corporate workforce in India is substantially low in India. Though this predicament is prevailing all over the world, it is far more prevalent in India. The Global Gender Gap report of 2018 released by WEF states that India is ranked at 95 among 129 countries worldwide. While there have been challenges in this regard, several major companies have taken initiatives. Following are a few of such initiatives –
1. Accenture – started in 2010, its program ‘Skills to Succeed’ is empowering women from rural areas to receive training and develop the skills required for high demand-high paying job areas such as IT and digital skills which can be applied in various sectors such as facilities management, retail, and MSMEs.
2. Welspun India – The firm has partnered with United Nations women which is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations and aims at achieving gender equality and empowerment of women. Welspun has 23% women workforce and targets at achieving 30% by the end of 2020.
3. Hindustan Unilever Limited – The company strongly supports gender equality and diversity in the corporation and has been very vocal about it. The company boasts at achieving 39% gender diversity at management positions by creating a strong base for pushing forward potential women leaders, creating flexible working hours and a highly inclusive environment.
4. Viacom18 – Many companies including viacom18 had gender inclusive policies such as 36-week maternity leave. Along with this, the company has its own unique initiative WAVE, which aims at encouraging women in taking up more leadership roles. A small subpart of this initiative is ‘Viacub’ – which helps mothers in smooth transitioning and provides a nurturing environment to the child. This program dilutes the mother’s dilemma of choosing between family and career.
Implications
The addition of women to the corporate workforce is believed to provide tangible business benefits such as adding both depth and variety to the value chain of any organization. Not only does it aid the image of a company, but it also makes sound business sense as organizations world-over adopt active steps to improve gender parity in the workplace. HUL as an organization aims to “empower 5 million women by advancing opportunities for women in our operations, promoting safety, developing skills and expanding opportunities in (their) value chain.” However, it is not only through their hiring policies do they aim to make a difference- their products like Dove and Whisper are targeted specifically at improving the self-confidence and image of women. This makes sound business sense too as HUL has found progressive portrayals of people to be 25% more effective at enhancing brand equity.
An increase in brand equity and better sustainability practices like production and promotion of cruelty-free products are results of measures adopted to improve gender equality in the workplace. However, the implications of this are far deeper and more complex. Women do 2.6 times more unpaid care and domestic work than men and earn 54 cents to every dollar made by a man. These issues of wage disparity, unsafe workplaces for women, discriminatory hiring practices, etc, are likely to be addressed and its effects visible across spheres of life thanks to this SDG, simply because workplace practices and domestic values about the place and treatment of women tend to reflect each other. The enhancement of opportunities for women at the workplace is more likely to make the world a safer place than a standalone regulation or law enacted for the protection of women.
Women have been found to encourage and adopt sustainable practices when compared to men. Added to that, as women get absorbed into higher, better-paying positions at the workplace, they consciously plan their families and choose to have few children. These can have domino effects and help in the achievement of other sustainable development goals as the burgeoning population in the world slowly stabilizes and the world proactively chooses sustainable and clean living over cost-cutting and corner-cutting business practices. The idea that business sense, sustainability, and gender parity can be woven together is simple yet ingenious. Achieving all the 17 SDGs is intrinsically tied to the achievement of this single SDG, and the fact remains- focusing on women and their development is bound to have immensely positive effects on business and commerce, and it’s imperative for their equality to their male counterparts to be made a priority.
References
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