arrgghh!
President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, launched the World Economic Forum’s International Women’s Day appeal for ideas to help close the global gender gap.
There are three basic concepts underlying the Global Gender Gap Index. First, it focuses on measuring gaps rather than levels. Second, it captures gaps in outcome variables rather than gaps in means or input variables. Third, it ranks countries according to gender equality rather than women’s empowerment.
In 2006, Canada was ranked 14th of 128 nations. In 2007 we slipped to 18th, and in 2008 Canada ranked a staggering 31st in the Gender Gap Index. View the list of the nations ahead of us in women’s equality and discover that they include Namibia, Lesotho, Latvia, Cuba, and Mozambique.
The Glass Ceiling
The slogan for this International Women’s Day was “Strong Leadership, Strong Women, Strong World”. Let’s face it when it comes to “the glass ceiling,” the reality is that there are fewer women in leadership positions, and it is the privileged women who make it through the skylights into positions of authority. Here in Canada the “glass ceiling” is evidenced by the struggle women face in attempting to achieve the highest levels of leadership in our country, and how few have actually made it.
If you aren’t familiar with the term “glass ceiling,” it was described by Arthur Sullivan in his book Economics: Principles in Action in 2003. Therein he called it “an unofficial invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing in businesses dominate by white men”. Something else Sullivan referred to in his book was the actual distance that women still have to travel to become truly equal, for 40% of woman over the age of 16 years have been sexually abused.
Too discouraged to blog
Bloggers Unite is an attempt to harness the power of the blogosphere to make the world a better place. By asking bloggers to write about a particular subject, a single voice can be joined with thousands to help make a difference.
This year I did not take part in the Bloggers’ Unite International Women’s Day event because I could not overlook this irony. Just days prior to International Women’s Day our Canadian government passed a bill that legislates away the right of women who are public sector workers to file complaints for pay equity with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Any union that encourages of helps women to file a pay equity complaint will be fined $50,000. This effectively leaves women, who are traditionally the least able to afford to undertake legal challenges on their own, when encountering sexist payment systems. That means Canadian working women are even less likely to be able to break through “the glass ceiling” than they were before.
Worse still we can view the shameful and alarming statistics for domestic violence and violence against children in Canada and weep.
Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile 2008
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
Spousal violence
• In 2006, over 38,000 incidents of spousal violence were reported to police across Canada. This represents approximately 15% of all police-reported violent incidents.
• There has been a steady decline in police-reported spousal violence over the most recent 9-year period (1998 to 2006).
• As a proportion of all violent incidents, spousal violence reported to police was more prevalent in Nunavut and Quebec (20% each), and lowest in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (8% each).
• Females continue to be the most likely victims of police-reported spousal violence, accounting for 83% of victims compared to 17% males. This holds true for every province and territory across Canada.
• Incidents of spousal violence were more common between current partners than former partners (69% vs. 31%).
• Common assault (61%) was the most frequently reported violent offence committed by a current or ex-spouse, followed by major assault (14%), uttering threats (11%) and criminal harassment (8%). Assaults accounted for a large proportion of spousal violence in the western provinces and territories, while criminal harassment and uttering threats were most prevalent in Quebec.
• Male victims of spousal abuse were nearly twice as likely as female victims to report incidents of major assault (23% of male victims vs. 13% of female victims). One possible explanation may be that while male spousal abusers are more likely to use physical force, female abusers tend to rely on weapons.
• Charges were laid by police in three-quarters (77%) of all police-reported incidents of spousal violence in 2006. Incidents involving female victims were more likely to result in a charge being laid than those involving male victims. The percentage of spousal violence incidents that have resulted in police charging has remained fairly stable over the 9-year period from 1998 to 2006. Police charging for spousal abuse was highest in Manitoba (92%) and Ontario (90%), and lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (56%) and New Brunswick (57%).
• Injuries were more likely to be sustained by current spouses than former spouses (59% vs. 27%), as well as by victims living in the territories and western provinces. Injuries resulting from the use of a weapon (7%), though not common, were more likely among male victims than females (15% vs. 5%), and more likely among victims of spousal abuse living in Manitoba (13%) and Saskatchewan (10%).
Family violence against children and youth
• Police-reported data in 2006 indicate that children and youth under 18 years of age are most likely to be physically or sexually assaulted by someone they know.
• For every 100,000 young persons, 334 were victims of physical or sexual violence by a friend or an acquaintance, 187 experienced violence by a family member, and 101 were victimized by a stranger.
• When children and youth are victims of family violence, parents are the most commonly identified perpetrators. In 2006, 107 per 100,000 children and youth were physically or sexually assaulted by a parent.
Hi tt,
I was going to blog about IWD as well, but tossed it aside. It was going to be about violence against women, and how little progress has been made against it, the hook being this completely vile creature I’ve been reading called roissy in dc who advocates manipulating women and justifies beating the crap out of them on the basis of some twisted interpretation of Darwinism and alpha male dominance. I won’t link to him, but he’s searchable – gets tons of comments, huge male following. When I see stuff like that, I sometimes wonder what all the blogging blah-blah really accomplishes.
@Ian
Hello there. I’m also discouraged that we have made so little progress on domestic violence. When this legislation introduced by the Harper (conservative) government received enough votes to pass I wanted to scream. It’s enraging that our government eliminated the right of women who are public sector workers to file complaints for pay equity with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. I was so despondent that I simply could not join in and be part of the Bloggers’ Unite event. What the hell is happening to us? We are going backwards rather than moving forward. :(
A downer indeed!
Women in my country (India) are disadvantaged in so many ways: female infanticide, dowry (gifts/money to groom in consideration of marriage), female infanticide, malnutrition, domestic violence, gender inequality and whatnot! :(
@Vikas
I find this so frustrating. When I was a teen I assumed that equality would be published within a decade. Now I look back on 30 years and we still have not achieved it. The domestic violence and sexual assaults have grown in number. What to do?
Well, I’m glad to see that there are bloggers out there who are ready for a world where women are treated with respect and can look to every possibility as a possibility for them, too!
And, with the power of the Internet, I see exciting possibilities overwhelming the stagnant old ways of doing things. Women have plenty of what it takes to prove that nothing, nothing, nothing is impossible!
Sunshine & Blessings,
Giovani
Granted that nothing is impossible, but there’s are few indications of positive changes in the offing. The legislation passed by my federal government slammed the door shut when it comes to achieving equality in wages. The legislation removed a right that had previously existed and that is an appalling example of back peddling . It does appear that paternalism will prevail forever and that’s what brings me down.
I just had this thought, when I read your article. Replace the word “women” with “blacks” and see what happens.
It can make you sick to your stomach, and scare you to death.
Aye ’tis sorrowful and aggravating, for sure.
Try it with the word “Jews”, too.
And, Chinese.
Profound.
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Indeed. :(
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I wasn’t even aware that there was a Bloggers Unite for Women’s Day–although I likely would have taken part in it–even though the rights of women are still so far from what they should be.
Obama made one *very* good move when he was only a few days into office. He finally signed into passage the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act–which was far too long in the coming.
While there is still *so much work* to do on the front of women’s equality (and this is globally–both in developing and developed countries), we have made a lot of progress. I thank women like my mom who was on the front line of the feminist movement in the 60′s and 70′s.
Melinda
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I’m so glad to hear that progress is being made south of the border. Here we have a conservative (right wing) federal government that’s back peddling.
I wasn’t aware of the Bloggers Unite for Women’s Day. However, I am not sure whether or not I would have participated. I believe that it is because I am a victim of being too discourage to blog. I start a particularly strong political blog that has evolved into a political/relationship blog. Our country has been in debt and recession. I just thing that since the word “recession” has been so widely publicized it is so depressing.
In addition to the Canadian government, this is how the US feel about minorities right to vote:
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court refused Monday to expand the protections for minorities under the federal voting rights law, a decision that may affect the redrawing of legislative boundaries after the 2010 Census.
By a 5-4 vote, the court’s conservative majority ruled that electoral districts must have a majority of blacks or other minorities to be protected by a provision of the Voting Rights Act.”
“The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled the voting rights law does not apply to districts where a minority group accounted for less than half the population. (Reuters)”
Minorities and women have worked very hard for our rights and now everything seems to be taking a step backwards.
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Dang! That’s so frustrating, short sighted and unfair.
Here in the West we seem to be best at giving lip service to alleged “equality.” I have to say, though, my opportunities were certainly better in Canada than they are here in the deep Southern US, where the Bible belt mentality tends to put women “in their place.” *sigh*
Lanas last blog post..Art (Yes, Again…or is it Still?)
Geez don’t get me started on the Bible belt mentality. I have never faced the outrageous anti-feminist crappola and bible pounding in Canada I that I have faced on the BC forums.
Hi TT,
What a backward step your government has made. I used to work in local government in the UK and, to my knowledge, terms and conditions were the same for everyone regardless of gender, color, creed etc.
I’m not surprised Cuba ranks high on the list for equality. I visited there some years ago and was impressed with some of their ideas regarding education and employment, and their standards of literacy (above many 1st world countries) and health.
Living in Greece, inequality of the gender continues to be evident. Take mourning: if you’re a man you wear black for 40 days, but a woman wears it for a year.
My neighbor’s father in law died last year. His son (blood relative) wore mourning for 40 days; she (legal relative) has been wearing black for almost 12 months. His mother, who has seen the death of both her son and husband in the last few years, will wear black for the rest of her life. But her husband, before he died, only spent the standard 40 days in mourning for his son.
Where’s the justice in that?
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@dayflyer
I’m so discouraged to see this backward move and I appreciate your comment so much. The double standard you share regarding mourning is one of many that exist all over this planet. They reveal the stronghold of the patriarchy and power of those, who are determined to keep women in subjugation to their male relatives, neighbors and the state. It’s shameful that we accept slogans like “We have come a long way , baby” when this back peddling is occurring and we now have even further to go.
And I thought Canada was socially progressive and cared about human rights!
We haven’t evolved much..
Is there hope to change this? will people take to the streets with signs in peaceful demonstrations?
Thanks
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No government wants to reassign funds they have already earmarked for other purposes aimed at guaranteeing that they remain in power. In this case we see no protest and IMO we are unlikely to. The legislation is aimed at preventing female civil servants from mounting legal challenges to rectify the long standing inequality between male civil servants and female civil servants. The taxpayers as a whole are loathe to hear that taxes will be increased, and if such legal challenges were possible and did succeed then the government of the day would be faced with a huge economic readjustment or increasing taxes.
Thank you for post this TT. Due to work commitments I’ve been a bit out of the loop and did not know it was IWD. I too would have posted about it, but will simply at some point do a post on it anyway. I feel very strongly about it and believe that a huge portion of people in the USA (including women) don’t even see that they are being repressed. I have recently read that the number of women raped in the armed forces is also going up and very little (or nothing) is being done about. Also anglo Americans (especially here in the Southwest) tend to romanticize indigenous cultures as being highly evolved, highly spiritual and above inequity. (And I say this from a place of having a Mohawk husband who talks about this same issue.) But there are indigenous woman the world over who are banning together to try and bring an end to abuse of women in their communities. I so admire these woman, their courage, honesty and determination to protect themselves and their children. And I admire you for posting about one of the most vital topics. Huging you, Robin
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@Robin
I feel very strongly about it and believe that a huge portion of people in the USA (including women) don’t even see that they are being repressed.
That statement certainly resonates. In Canada our First nations women are struggling to protect themselves and their children from the systemic domestic violence and abuse. Those who are of other ethnic groups are also working within their own communities to do likewise. The statistics are both alarming and shameful.
Spousal violence in Canada’s provinces and territories
Thanks for the visit, comment and support. I appreciate it and I’m sending you a cyber hug.
Wow! This info surprised me a lot about Canada I never thought how prevalent spousal violence is there. I didn’t take part in the Bloggers Unite on IWD too but rather made a post to empower women through their health like going through regular papsmear and stuff than this because honestly here in the Philippines spousal violence is something the authorities toss aside as domestic violence and that here they don’t mingle about family affairs. Sad huh?
It may be true that we had two women presidents here in the Philippines but still the gender gap is still obvious.
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