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Equality: Canadian women are not there yet
At the upcoming G8 Summit Canada will champion a worthwhile initiative to improve maternal and child health in developing nat...read more...
At the upcoming G8 Summit Canada will champion a worthwhile initiative to improve maternal and child health in developing nat...read more...
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Equality: Canadian women are not there yet
Date Posted: 7/2/2010 12:29:00 PM -
At the upcoming G8 Summit Canada will champion a worthwhile initiative to improve maternal and child health in developing nations as an extension of UN Millennium Development Goals set in 2000.
That outward focus is a good opportunity for us to look inward too at the lives of women here at home. Shockingly for a country at Canada’s level of socio-economic development we place 15thout of 17 peer countries in its infant mortality rate. A new health unit report shows that Muskoka women face greater poverty (and its attendant tragedies) than the provincial average. Canadian Aboriginal women confront ill-health, premature death and marginalization on a scale unimaginable to much of the country’s population. Even in mainstream Canada women struggle with myriad issues stemming from poverty. Why?
Studies show a robust relationship between gender inequality and poverty. Gender equality does not imply that women and men are the same, but that they have equal value and should be accorded equal treatment.
The United Nations regards gender equality as a human right. Equality goes hand in hand with economies that function well and with successful democracies; real equality means that women must have real opportunities to take on leading roles in the economic and political decisions that impact them and the lives of their families.
A Canadian fact: the majority of university graduates are now women but those who work full time still make about 75 cents for every dollar earned by men. Visible minorities who are more educated make even less.
A Canadian fact: Since the 2000 election, the number of women elected to the House of Commons has hovered around 20%. It decreased following 2006 and has inched up slightly.
A Canadian fact: the poverty rate fluctuates but it is always higher for women than it is for men.
A Canadian fact: single mothers, senior, Aboriginal, disabled and women of colour are the poorest and most marginalized of Canadians.
Poverty has gender-specific consequences. Poverty expands all aspects of inequality for women. It’s not just about the economics. Poor women are less able to protect themselves from sexual commodification. Their vulnerability to sexual and personal assault is magnified. Their ability to properly care for their children is compromised. Poor women have no political influence. Social programs have diminished since 2006; without them women are less able to escape family violence.
The organization Equal Voice believes that women in politics can be the start toward real equality. “Polling shows that women care about different issues; UNICEF released a report advocating for more women in politics because legislatures with more women produce better policies to fight child poverty; World Bank released a report indicating that governments with more women legislators are more productive. The report concludes “women are effective in promoting honest government and national parliaments with the largest numbers of women have the lowest levels of corruption”; the Conference Board of Canada says, “Companies with more women in senior management and corporate boards are more productive and produce higher rates of return.”
Women’s equality is being eroded in Canada. The evidence: scrapping a national childcare program; the widening wage gap between men and women; the elimination of funding for women’s advocacy groups; the closing of most of Canada's Status of Women offices, on the grounds that women's and men's issues do not need to be separated; the elimination of funding for court challenges related to equality rights guaranteed in the Constitution; the decision to eliminate the phrase "gender equality" from the mandate of Status of Women Canada, the country's primary institution responsible for gender equality. It is an embarrassing indictment of Canada's own record on women's issues as we prepare to focus on the health and welfare of women in developing nations.
The United Nations says that a critical mass of at least 30% women is needed before legislatures produce public policy representing women’s concerns and before political institutions begin to change.
Gender discrimination is not as pervasive as it was but now is not the time for women to be satisfied with their plateau of only partial success. Evolutionary theory says we tend to parcel out our resources on the basis of value. What does it say about how we value women when we spend 1.2 billion for summit security but can’t find the petty cash to invest in the status of women?
COMMENTS
Date Posted: 7/2/2010 12:29:00 PM -
At the upcoming G8 Summit Canada will champion a worthwhile initiative to improve maternal and child health in developing nations as an extension of UN Millennium Development Goals set in 2000.
That outward focus is a good opportunity for us to look inward too at the lives of women here at home. Shockingly for a country at Canada’s level of socio-economic development we place 15thout of 17 peer countries in its infant mortality rate. A new health unit report shows that Muskoka women face greater poverty (and its attendant tragedies) than the provincial average. Canadian Aboriginal women confront ill-health, premature death and marginalization on a scale unimaginable to much of the country’s population. Even in mainstream Canada women struggle with myriad issues stemming from poverty. Why?
Studies show a robust relationship between gender inequality and poverty. Gender equality does not imply that women and men are the same, but that they have equal value and should be accorded equal treatment.
The United Nations regards gender equality as a human right. Equality goes hand in hand with economies that function well and with successful democracies; real equality means that women must have real opportunities to take on leading roles in the economic and political decisions that impact them and the lives of their families.
A Canadian fact: the majority of university graduates are now women but those who work full time still make about 75 cents for every dollar earned by men. Visible minorities who are more educated make even less.
A Canadian fact: Since the 2000 election, the number of women elected to the House of Commons has hovered around 20%. It decreased following 2006 and has inched up slightly.
A Canadian fact: the poverty rate fluctuates but it is always higher for women than it is for men.
A Canadian fact: single mothers, senior, Aboriginal, disabled and women of colour are the poorest and most marginalized of Canadians.
Poverty has gender-specific consequences. Poverty expands all aspects of inequality for women. It’s not just about the economics. Poor women are less able to protect themselves from sexual commodification. Their vulnerability to sexual and personal assault is magnified. Their ability to properly care for their children is compromised. Poor women have no political influence. Social programs have diminished since 2006; without them women are less able to escape family violence.
The organization Equal Voice believes that women in politics can be the start toward real equality. “Polling shows that women care about different issues; UNICEF released a report advocating for more women in politics because legislatures with more women produce better policies to fight child poverty; World Bank released a report indicating that governments with more women legislators are more productive. The report concludes “women are effective in promoting honest government and national parliaments with the largest numbers of women have the lowest levels of corruption”; the Conference Board of Canada says, “Companies with more women in senior management and corporate boards are more productive and produce higher rates of return.”
Women’s equality is being eroded in Canada. The evidence: scrapping a national childcare program; the widening wage gap between men and women; the elimination of funding for women’s advocacy groups; the closing of most of Canada's Status of Women offices, on the grounds that women's and men's issues do not need to be separated; the elimination of funding for court challenges related to equality rights guaranteed in the Constitution; the decision to eliminate the phrase "gender equality" from the mandate of Status of Women Canada, the country's primary institution responsible for gender equality. It is an embarrassing indictment of Canada's own record on women's issues as we prepare to focus on the health and welfare of women in developing nations.
The United Nations says that a critical mass of at least 30% women is needed before legislatures produce public policy representing women’s concerns and before political institutions begin to change.
Gender discrimination is not as pervasive as it was but now is not the time for women to be satisfied with their plateau of only partial success. Evolutionary theory says we tend to parcel out our resources on the basis of value. What does it say about how we value women when we spend 1.2 billion for summit security but can’t find the petty cash to invest in the status of women?
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