A 20-country study points out to stereotypical and outdated beliefs still being dictated in the wake of the pandemic. The UN Women and the Unstereotype Alliance, a coalition convened by UN Women aiming to break harmful stereotypes in advertising has launched ‘The Levers of Change: Gender Equality Attitudes Study 2022’. The bi-annual global study looked at attitudes towards gender and aspects like leadership and political participation, education, healthcare, the workplace, media representation, marriage and family life, safety and violence, and control over personal decisions. It has revealed worrying findings related to domestic violence and patriarchal practices.
Some of the findings are:
Domestic violence: 19% of all respondents believe that their spouse or partner can be beaten up in some circumstances. It is an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 2018, especially in India, Sweden, and the United States.
Glass ceiling: While 82% of respondents agree that having more opportunities for women in politics is important for their country’s success, 63% have said that it is easy for men to run for elected office. However, just 38% agree that it is easy for women to do the same.
Unequal pay: While 9 in 10 respondents agree that equal pay for equal work is important to their country’s future success, 52% of men aged 16-19 and 54% of men aged 20-34, believe that ‘women should work less and devote more time to caring for their family.’
Gender attitudes: 25% of respondents feel that ‘in times of food shortages, priority should be given to men’, and 31% of respondents agree that ‘when jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women’.
Media portrayal: 68% of respondents believe that the media portrays women in traditional female roles, such as wives, mothers, or caregivers, while 72% point out that the media represents men in conventional male roles, including as providers for the family, as leaders, or as businessmen.
The study has highlighted the perceptions about gender roles, reinforcing trends of unpaid care responsibilities, gender pay gaps, and job segregation identified in other UN Women research.
