Group5_C | SDG 5: Gender Equality

Introduction: 

 

Let's begin with a question. If given an option to migrate to any point in history, what phase of history would it be? I think that the answer depends a lot on your socio-cultural identity. If you are a privileged Indian man, you would love to live through the golden age of Indian history, the Mauryas or the Guptas. If you are a western man, you would love to live in ancient Rome. Middle Eastern Men would like to revisit the mighty Ottoman Empire. What about women?  

If you are a woman, anywhere across the globe, your time is now. 2021 is the best year in which you could have born. It's now when your voting rights are preserved; it's now when your dignity is recognized, and it's now when your labor value is realized. And if you argue how good it is for women, especially after all the news of rapes, acid attacks, domestic violence, and internet bullying we listen to or see every day. Then feel how unkind history has been to women.! 

 

After years of struggles and protests, we have reached a stage where gender equality has become humankind's common goal. In this context, the United Nations, in 2015, came together with other stakeholders to set a common agenda to achieve Gender Equality by 2030, under the framework of UN Sustainable Development Goals. The aim is not just to ensure gender equality but promote gender empowerment, i.e., to uplift almost 50% of the human population to give them equal and dignified representation in all forms of human associations, political, social, and economic. 

 

The specific targets under UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 include: 

Category	Targets
Social Targets	Ending all forms of gender discrimination everywhere  Eliminating all forms of gender-related violence from public and private spheres  Eliminating harmful social practices like forced, early marriages and female genital mutilation  Providing universal access to sexual & reproductive health and reproductive rights
Economic Targets	Recognizing & valuing unpaid care and domestic work and promotion of shared responsibility within the family  Guaranteeing equal rights to economic resources & access to ownership and control over land, property, inheritance, etc.
Political empowerment	Ensuring full and effective participation & equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic, and public life
Institutional Reforms	Increased use of enabling technology, in particular ICT, for women empowerment  Adopting & strengthening sound government policies for the promotion of gender equality and empowerment at all levels

Relevance to India: 

A society cannot progress if any of its constituent groups are left behind. In terms of gender equality, all genders must be uplifted for the overall upliftment of society. 

India has been a leader in recognition of non-binary genders. In a landmark judgment in 2014, the Indian Supreme Court legally recognized and thereby cemented the status of the third gender in India and have been accorded fundamental rights. This makes India one of the handful of countries (even most of the developed western nations only recognize a gender binary) to have taken to this step. The census in 2011 was historical in the sense that it included data for transgender people for the first time when most 4.9 lakh1 people identified themselves as belonging to the third gender. 

    

 

One of India's other landmark steps towards a more gender-equal society was the declaration of universal franchise in 1947 when many countries had men-only voting. Women's political participation has been increasing, with around 14.6% of Lok Sabha members2 in 2019 being women, rising from 11% in 2014. The voter turnout for women has been highly encouraging as it stood at 65.5% in 2014 and increased to 68% in 20193, thereby beating out the men's turnout.  

 

Another area of success was the PM Jan Dhan Yojna, in which out of the 380 million accounts opened, 54% belonged to women4. The women's access to bank accounts also saw a significant improvement as it reached 77% in 20175 from 43% in 20146. This shows that the financial inclusion of women has been on the rise. 

The Government's skilling push has also witnessed increasing women participation as almost 50% of those enrolled are women7 in Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana. Through government initiatives such as the MUDRA scheme, women entrepreneurship has been encouraged by extending credit up to 1 million rupees. 75% of the beneficiaries8 of the scheme have been women. 

 

Self Help Groups has been a great success story in India. There are about 10 million bank-linked SHGs in India, of which almost 90% are women9 exclusive. They provide employment, microcredit, and physical, mental support to women in villages. The scale of SHGs could be understood from the fact that they have a cumulative credit uptake of Rs 580 billion (USD 7.7 billion)10 in 2018-19. 

Though we have made strides in creating a more equal society, there are areas of significant concern.  

One of those areas is the child sex ratio. The ratio has been declining steadily over the past decades. The ratio stood at 946 in 1951 and hovered around 930-940 till the 1980s. Since 1991 there has been a significant erosion, and the ratio had declined significantly from 927 in 1991 to 919 in 201111. There is a natural propensity of male children to outnumber women at birth in India by 3 to 7% (Roberts et al.), but even lower values of the ratio portray the gruesome fact that many Indians perform sex-selective abortions and is helped by the advent of foetus sex determination technology. 

 

This is a serious issue and the GoI aims to tackle it with the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme. The scheme aims to create awareness through pan-Indian campaigns against female foeticide and promote women's education. The Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme has been launched by the Central Government, allowing parents of girls to open an account since her birth and when she attains 10 years of age. The girl would be able to operate the account since then and would be able to withdraw the money when she reaches the age of 18.  

 

Another major area of concern has been the participation of women in the labor force. The number and the percentage of women in the labor force have been on a decline, which must be dealt with swiftly. The participation rate of women fell from 34.1% in 1999 to 27.2% in 2010. The rate of rural women's participation decreased from 26.5% in 2010 to 25.3% in 201212.  

 

Women's access to resources has been traditionally limited in the country. While 75% of rural13 women workers are employed in agriculture, only about 14% have operational landholding rights, limiting their access to seeds, fertilizers, credit, and overall development.  

Overall, India has been making progress in the right direction, but there is a long way to go before we could achieve our dream of achieving a society that provides equal opportunity for all genders. 

Business Implications - Gender Equality 

 

 

(Image taken from Global Gender Gap Report, 2020, World Economic Forum) 

A massive finding of the Global Gender Gap Report of 2020 published by the World Economic Forum points out that global gender parity might take as much as 99.5 years14 to attain. Cognizant of the fact that lower gender parity actively hinders societies and economies from thriving, the report further pinpoints the challenges women face when it comes to advancing in the workplace. 

There are three primary reasons why more women are not reaching similar or higher positions as their male counterparts - most of the jobs held by women are currently under process for becoming automated; more women are working in professions where wage growth is not very pronounced, and women have historically faced difficulties in accessing infrastructure and capital. 

Looking at the equal contribution of women to the global GDP, research suggests that actively working for and advancing women's positions in the workforce can add $12 trillion15 to global GDP (an 11% growth). The macroeconomic implications of economic welfare in attaining gender parity are unparalleled and give a solid reason to actively push for more women in the same workplaces as men. 

Numerous research projects conducted by McKinsey & Company on whether companies stand to gain from diversity in the workplace point to the fact that gender equality pays - companies in the top quartile of gender diversity are 25% more likely16 to have above-average profitability. Consequently, companies in the bottom quartile of gender diversity were 27% more likely to underperform than the industry average. 

Responses of a few top firms towards Gender Equality: -  

• P&G: The firm works proactively towards Gender Equality, taking initiatives both inside and outside the company. They focus on three significant areas for creating the maximum impact: Removing gender-biased barriers for girls' education, leveraging their voice in media to tackle gender bias, and creating an inclusive work environment. They have launched several campaigns like Touch the pickle; Whisper Share the Load, Whisper Sit Improper, Whisper Break Silence, P&G Shiksha, and Whisper School Program towards the goal. P&G's IMEA, in association with UN Women, organized the first Gender Equality Summit #WeSeeEqual in February 2019. As part of the summit, P&G announced its commitment to educate more than 23 million girls about puberty and spend $100 million on deliberately working with women-owned businesses in IMEA.17 

 

 

 

• Pidilite: The firm promotes diversity and provides equal opportunities for all employees without discriminating against them based on their gender. As of 31st March 2019, 6% of their total workforce and 14% of their contracted employees were women. They have mandated parental leaves for their workforce and have managed 100% employee retention post their leave, which speaks about their inclusive workplace attitude. In FY 2018-19, they helped form, nurture, and develop 70 new Self-Help Groups (SHGs) - Mahila Mandals in Bhavnagar and Amreli district, Gujarat. They have supported over 250 SHGs and 2700 women so far, promoting an entrepreneurial spirit in them.18 

 

• Amazon: The e-commerce giant is continuously investing in women's empowerment and, in 2019, it began a partnership with the BSR HERproject, through which they engage with suppliers in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India. As of June 2020, they have reached over to 8700 women to combat gender-based discrimination in the workplace. AmazeCon is their largest internal conference at Amazon and has advocated the benefits of gender diversity since 2015.19 AmazeWIT is a conference hosted in India that brings together women technologists. AWS GetIT is an initiative by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that encourages girls between 12-13 years to consider a career in technology, challenging long-standing gender stereotypes. The initiative aims to target 16500+ girls across 95 schools taking part in AWS GetIT 2019/20.20 

 

 

• Bain and Company: The firm aims to cultivate an atmosphere that allows women to achieve their full potential as part of their 'Women at Bain' campaign. The initiative's goal is true parity, and equal access to opportunities, full support of individuals. They have been one of Working Mother's 100 Best Companies for the past 11 consecutive years. In addition to the internal efforts, they are active participants in the broader dialogue about diversity and inclusion and have published extensively on this topic, including several pieces on gender parity.21 

 

• Reckitt Benckiser: The company aims to have 40% women in their senior management position by 2022 and has reached 26% till now. They are working towards fostering a truly inclusive culture where differences are valued and embraced. RB Health India increased its representation of women in the sales division from 12 in 2017 to 54 in 2019, and RB Australia won the WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality Accreditation.22 In addition to this, they have initiated the DARE program for developing, attracting, retaining, and engaging talented women. Some of the measures under the program include a tailored leadership development program, global maternity leave policy, spouse and dual career support for international moves, and a mentoring program for senior women leaders.23 

 

 

 

• ITC: The firm has taken several initiatives to foster an inclusive workspace with equal opportunity for all. In addition to that, they have also launched several initiatives for women empowerment like Women's Economic Empowerment, which is closely aligned to 'Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) program of the government and aims to provide skills that give employability to women, and Ultra-Poor Women, which supports 9,084 ultra-poor women to enable their socio-economic mainstreaming at present. The programme is operational in eight districts of Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Assam and has cumulatively impacted 29,184 women. Other than these, to increase participation of women in agriculture, ITC trains them in agri-related skills through 935 exclusive women FFS and has promoted 269 enterprises owned and managed by women so far.24 

 

 

Analysis 

Thus, we can see how we are moving in the right direction. We have made great strides to ensure gender equality on multiple fronts, be it social, economic, political, etc.  

This has been made possible by government policies, increasing awareness, business initiatives, NGOs, and a general change in public perception towards the other genders.  

However, there is still a long way to go. The female gender, and other non-binary genders, still face a lot of discrimination and societal pressures.  

An analysis of the different pathways through which we have moved towards this SDG, will be helpful to set our future course of action: 

• Policy:  

1. Non-binary genders are being recognized by an increasing number of countries, including India. Official recognition is a landmark step for non-binary genders, and it leads to a legitimate public voice for the future. 
2. Political Representation of women: India has had universal adult franchise since its inception, when it was not yet implemented in many countries around the world. Thankfully, in today's age, for a country, not having voting rights for women is the exception rather than the norm. An increasing voter turnout by women, sometimes beating that by men, showcases how important this is for the female population. 
3. Economic Incentives: Many initiatives by the Indian government, like Self-Help Groups, Jan Dhan Yojana, etc. have proved to be a boon for the female population. 
4. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao: A crucial scheme for the Central Govt of India, it aims to prevent female feticide and infanticide, and to increase the literacy ratio among girls. Ensuring a healthy sex ratio and literacy percentage, can go a long way in paving the way for a better gender equality in the future. 

• 
  

• Business Initiatives:  

1. Inclusive work environment: Most companies are moving to ensure a more conducive work environment, to ensure a smooth flow of ideas and operations, regardless of the gender of its employees. Many companies have started omitting the gender field from its employment forms to remove gender discrimination during employment, in hopes that this will help increase the female population among the workforces.  
2. Female Education: A major hindrance in the employability of women is inadequate education. Through their CSR activities, companies are trying to do their part towards removing this barrier. 
3. Maternal Leaves: Post maternity attrition hovers around 45% in India, meaning that almost half of the pregnant workforce do not rejoin the office post-delivery. The Maternity Benefits Act aims to address this issue, by mandating a maternity leave ranging from 12 to 26 weeks (the third highest in the world), 25 
4. Social Awareness campaigns: Large awareness campaigns are taken on by companies to spread the word about gender parity in society, like the 'Share the Load' campaign by Ariel. Through this, they aim to associate their brand with a positive message about gender equality. 

The way ahead 

While a lot of efforts in gender equality are directed towards uplifting women and girls, it is also important to understand that gender equality includes all genders. The sad truth remains that discrimination is a part of human society's development. Men and transgenders face discrimination in society too.  

It is also common to believe that gender discrimination is less prevalent in more developed countries, areas, societies, localities, and families. However, that is also not true. Women remain to be the most vulnerable sect of the population, facing the brunt of gender inequality through ages.  

Still, 33000 girls face under-age marriage every day, globally. Equal work rights to women exist in only 6 countries globally. Data on gender equality from the World Economic Forum suggests it would require more than 100 years to close the gap in gender equality. Regional differences and cultural barriers are a major reason for the inability to deal with this collectively. 

Then how must the future look like? 

The future should be created on equity more than equality, as true equality is subjective. If a certain percentage of women are going to work, does it necessarily imply that equality is achieved? More than statistics related to education, health, employment, it is essential to acknowledge that the true availability of equal opportunities and options are more likely to push the world towards a gender-neutral way of thinking. While pushing for women and girl rights, very easily rights of other genders can be violated, and the net effect of that on the desired gender equality goals of UN as part of SDG-4 would then be zero.  

While currently, data suggests women are marginalized and subdued in our society, under-reporting is still a major issue to understand the depth and extent of gender equality. The gender norms are engraved in our minds through ages so that we often do not realize the violations of equality occurring around us. 

An equitable society will not have to worry about any particular gender but concern itself with building a more cohesive and sustainable world. 

References: 

1. https://www.census2011.co.in/transgender.php 
2. https://www.hindustantimes.com/lok-sabha-elections/lok-sabha-election-results-2019-at-14-6-lok-sabha-to-have-most-women-ever/story-5BCCTbyER96BxdMV22PKPN.html 
3. https://www.hindustantimes.com/lok-sabha-elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019-in-2019-polls-women-look-to-bridge-historic-turnout-gap/story-5dnpEBLWW9bAY4ugzr6XNN.html 
4. https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/pradhan-mantri-jan-dhan-yojana-helps-raise-womens-ownership-of-bank-accounts-to-77-in-2017-says-report/1888742/ 
5. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/pmjdy-helps-raise-womens-ownership-of-bank-accounts-to-77-in-2017-msc/article30982307.ece#:~:text=Money%20%26%20Banking-,PMJDY%20helps%20raise%20women's%20ownership%20of,to%2077%25%20in%202017%3A%20MSC&text=The%20Modi%20government's%20flagship%20scheme,2017%2C%20according%20to%20a%20report. 
6. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/pmjdy-helps-raise-womens-ownership-of-bank-accounts-to-77-in-2017-msc/article30982307.ece#:~:text=Money%20%26%20Banking-,PMJDY%20helps%20raise%20women's%20ownership%20of,to%2077%25%20in%202017%3A%20MSC&text=The%20Modi%20government's%20flagship%20scheme,2017%2C%20according%20to%20a%20report. 
7. https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=189350 
8. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/women-entrepreneurs-are-major-beneficiaries-of-mudra-scheme/article25949385.ece 
9. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1478210315571214 
10. https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Paper%202_0.pdf 
11. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/census-of-india-2011-child-sex-ratio-drops-to-lowest-since-independence/articleshow/7836942.cms?from=mdr 
12. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-new_delhi/documents/genericdocument/wcms_342357.pdf 
13. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/hard-work-but-low-wages-for-women-farmers-61656 
14. https://www.weforum.org/reports/gender-gap-2020-report-100-years-pay-equality#report-nav 
15. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/employment-and-growth/how-advancing-womens-equality-can-add-12-trillion-to-global-growth 
16. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters 
17. https://assets.ctfassets.net/oe48y40ukei6/B5XmfFUoyR1jOMkbrTyry/cef3b960200f46ad072b05c39dbb4f70/P_G_ISC_Citizenship_report.pdf  
18. https://www.pidilite.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/NP_sustainability_22052020-for-Digital-Final.pdf  
19. https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/pdfBuilderDownload?name=sustainability-all-in-september-2020  
20. https://aws.amazon.com/campaigns/aws-get-it/  
21. https://socialimpactatbain.com/our-sustainability.html  
22. https://www.rb.com/media/5706/sustainability-insights-2019.pdf  
23. http://rbsk-prod-cms.eu-west-1.elasticbeanstalk.com/media/5381/diversity-inclusion.pdf  
24. https://www.itcportal.com/sustainability/sustainability-report-2020/sustainability-report-2020.pdf  
25. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-maternity-leave-isnt-enough-to-bring-mothers-back-to-work/articleshow/79318832.cms