Gender Equality Essay

Before understanding Gender Equality, and why we need it, let us know what equality is. Equality means ensuring that everyone has an equal chance to maximise their potential.

Right to equality is one of our six fundamental rights in the Indian Constitution, which ensure that no person should live a deprived life because of their caste, religion, gender, place of birth and race. For many years we have been observing discrimination based on everything, and gender has become a major topic.

According to Indian Laws, our human race is divided into three genders - Male, Female and Trans. So gender equality means people of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities. They have equal rights to do work or not to do work.

Why is there a need for Gender Equality?

Discrimination based on gender is something we see every day. Moreover, in today's era, it is not like only women are suffering. However, sometimes men also become the victims of gender inequality. Nevertheless, other than them, there is one more gender who has been going through suffering for ages. Who was even not recognised as a third gender for a long time? Transgender people of the third gender who are neither male nor female were not treated as part of society until 2014.

In 2014, the Government of India recognised them as the third gender. But still, they find it challenging to live a simple life like the other two genders. They are forced to involve in begging and other illegal work because they are not getting the chance to go to school to get employment because of their unrecognised gender. Society was never fair to them. Though now we see good changes in their condition and people's thoughts.

If we talk about women, they have been deprived. They were considered as a low, weak section of society who were supposed only to do household chores. They were not the decision maker; they depended on others for financial needs. But we have seen women prove their talent in every area of life when provided the same opportunity as society offers men. They showed that they are not only good as a homemaker but also as home ministers as well. Given a chance, they showed they are strong, have the strength and can go very far. The defence has shown their trust in them, and we all know the result. Science, technology, finance, Medical everywhere they are writing history. If we had not provided equality to them, we would never have become fortunate enough to see them shine.

Apart from gender, equality is sometimes needed by men as well. We have gone through many cases where they have been accused of false deeds because they are men-supposed to leave a seat even if they are unwell. They must go through all financial burdens and all responsibilities even if they are not ready or need a helping hand and many other cases. So we can see why gender equality is needed at home and in the workplace everywhere.

Gender Equality at Home, School and Workplace

At home, gender equality is equal participation of all males/females/trans in decision-making, household chores, and care. Each and everyone must be treated equally and respectfully.

Gender equality plays a significant role in schools. Giving unbiased examples, involving in equal curricula, and ensuring sanitation facilities are enough. Many girls left school because of poor facilities.

Comprehensive sexuality education programmes give kids and teens empowering information, abilities, and attitudes. Teaching them to respect gender equality and stand against discrimination helps make a good society.

The children learn and get influenced by seeing and observing others. They have the habit of imitating elders, whatever they see in books or movies and their surroundings. So portraying any character in books or movies they see should not be gender biased.

The practice of equality in gender at the workplace is, first of all, giving the same respect to women as men. Equal promotion opportunities must be there. Facility to have maternity leave without the fear of losing a job, and more.

Gender Gap

Men and women differ in social, political, cultural, and economic attainments and attitudes. The World Economic Forum released Global Gap Index, which aims to measure the gender gap worldwide in four key areas - Health, Education, Economics and Politics.

According to this, India ranked 135 out of 146 countries.

In Key areas, the rank of India is as follows:

Health -146/146

Education: 107/146

Economics: 143/146

Politics: 48/146

Benefits of Gender Equality

Gender equality makes our communities safer and healthier by reducing violence against women and girls. It is both ethical and advantageous to the economy. In addition to being morally right, promoting gender equality is also wise.

We have observed how the COVID-19 pandemic affects women and gender-diverse communities. In this historical crisis, we have seen that women and transgender are more likely to encounter poverty and food insecurity.

They are more prone to unemployment and economic hardship and more likely to endure gender-based violence. Promoting gender equality will help realise India's economic potential and build a flourishing, prosperous nation for all.

A more peaceful society can be produced by promoting gender equality. Long-term, sustainable peace can be achieved by involving women and gender-diverse groups in all decision-making processes, from peace operations to responses to climate change.

Conclusion:

Gender equality in the first place can be attained at home by respecting each other and helping and supporting each other. Parents have the habit of providing pinks to girls and blue to boys, buying a car, gun toys for the boy and doll, dress, and kitchen set for the girls. As a parent, we should encourage our children to respect their differences and give them a proper environment to grow, learn and retain. Be non-biased about their choice of colours, toys and games. Whatever a child sees and learns in their childhood, he/she will reflect that in adulthood.

Gender equality in schools means taking proper care of the facilities, especially sanitation and medical facilities. What we are teaching, the representation and demos should not be biased.

A workplace should also have specific rules and regulations to fill the gender gap. When everyone can access and benefit from equal rewards, resources, and opportunities regardless of gender, workplace gender equality will be accomplished.

Gender equality is not only necessary for a home, school or workplace but for a nation. The only contribution of the same kind of people cannot make a progressive country.