This blog is a forum for Discussion among faculty and students from Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work and Vytautas Magnus University, Schools of Social Work and Public Administration.
Choose one of the forms that discrimination against women takes around the world, in it's national context, and briefly describe a social work intervention to mitigate it -- an intervention that exists or that you would create given the readings.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the totalitarian regimes has significantly accelerated the need to legitimize gender equality and equal opportunities. Accession to the European Union has opened up new horizons for women and men and social groups in the new Member States in terms of the legal framework, overcoming long-standing patriarchal society and family order, breaking gender and gender stereotypes, stopping domestic violence and implementing equal opportunities policies. However, equal opportunities are not acceptable and understandable to all. Blind adherence to patriarchal norms, superstitions or national traditions, and the biological treatment of man still hampers the realization of gender equality and equal opportunities. Supporters of the traditional way of life, advocates of religious fundamentalism, propagators of traditional masculinity and femininity are still declaring the destruction of the traditional world, traditional morals and family values. They do not want to see and understand the changing nature of society, the diversity of family forms, the emergence of new roles of women and men in family and society, and sexuality as an important aspect of personality development, the emergence of new concepts, traditions and values. And, most importantly, they do not accept the right of liberated personality, the meaning of a free personality that is capable of being critical of the state, authorities, churches, institutions of society, because they still discriminate against women and social groups in one way or another. Lithuanian dogmatics are particularly discouraged by women who have independent thinking and self-confidence. An excellent example of patriarchal mentality, Darwinism and behaviorism is the book by Lawyer Karolis Jovsasa, published in late 2009, entitled "Prevention of Domestic Violence: Anatomy of Illusions". In this book, the author argues that gender equality cannot exist, that "equal opportunity is an ideal and a legal mirage" because human beings are governed by instincts, especially the instinct of aggression that underpins the social inequality of human beings. The author of the book emphasizes that not only men but also women are the perpetrators of violence. Karolis Jovaiðs refuses to acknowledge that domestic and international research on domestic violence is related to masculine gender. The investigator tends to blame women for provoking or staging violence. This is the stereotypical attitude of a typical man towards women in the family. After reading an article about Divorced From Justice, my view is that there is no equality between men and women in Egypt. Men have the greater advantage of being more valued, respected, having more power and authority than women. When it comes to divorce, a man in Egypt can apply for a divorce at any time and within 30 days the divorce will take place, and if a woman wants to divorce, then there are major difficulties. This process takes a long time and is usually encouraged to reconcile with or obey a man. Therefore, women are under obligation and do not have their rights. Thus, from the examples given in Lithuania and Egypt, we can say that women are still subject to discrimination.
1. Deif F., Divorce from Justice, Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall, 2005), pp. 108-115 2. Jovaišas, K. Smurto šeimoje prevencija: iliuzijų anatomija. Vilnius: Eugrimas, 2009, p. 381. Moterų politinio atstovavimo didinimas keičiant rinkimų sistemą. Rezoliucija Nr. 1706 (2010)
Reading about the legal system in Egypt and all Muslim coasts shocked me with gender inequality. Just as humiliation, poverty, injustice, violence, both psychological and legal, must endure for women to break up in marriage. Most often, being left without children, without finances, without a place to live, even marginalized societies.
Most women in the world suffer discrimination, for example. gender discrimination, age discrimination, employment discrimination. Intervention to reduce workplace exclusion, workload.
It has become an accepted part of life, accessible to anyone with an internet connection and free time. It dehumanizes women as sexual objects, things, commodities. It is pornography. This is quite an awkward subject to talk about no matter where you are in the world, but I think it must be spoken about. I think on some level we all understand that porn is not good for women, but we choose not to acknowledge the extent of the harm it perpetuates. In Discourses on Life and Law, Catherine Mackinnon defines pornography as, “the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words that also includes women dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities; enjoying pain or humiliation or rape; being tied up, cut up, mutilated, bruised, or physically hurt; in postures of sexual submission or servility or display; reduced to body parts, penetrated by objects or animals, or presented in scenarios of degradation, injury, torture; shown as filthy or inferior; bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual.1” Porn is violence at its core. It teaches us violence against women as the path to pleasure. Manhood defined by the subordination and degradation of women for the world to witness. It is sad, really, how this brand of sex discrimination is so common and consumed that it has become an accepted part of life. On many sites, especially those like Pornhub, it is impossible to know whether the women depicted have been trafficked, are of legal age, are being paid fairly, or are being coerced into the situation being recorded. Is what you are watching revenge porn? Is that girl being drugged? Does she have the right and ability to seek recourse if she has been wronged? If we cannot answer these questions definitively, why do we watch? Why do we continue to consume pornography like this? And even if these conditions are fulfilled, why do we seek out content depicting the sexual degradation of women in the first place? To do so inherently objectifies us, reduces us as a tool for pleasure. And this extends into our everyday interactions with others. If we grow up with porn, we can expect to replicate its violence in our own beds. Women do not expect pleasure, learn to expect pain as a part of sex, and men learn to inflict it. Women walking down the street are objects, existing for the sexual pleasure of men. Pornography is an institution of gender inequality. It is difficult to find a solution to something that now is embedded in the fabric of our society. Previously, anti-porn advocates had used civil rights litigation as an approach to combat pornography2. I do not believe in arguments against pornography based in ideas of moral purity or sexual innocence. This is merely the other side of the coin when it comes to sexual oppression. Positing the harm done by Pornography as a human rights issue is essential to this fight for women’s equality. Most of the work done through sex discrimination litigation was done before the advent of the internet. Today, it is an entirely different game. One step that should be taken is shutting down sites like Pornhub. Sites where anyone can upload content become a breeding ground for pedophilia, rape porn, trafficking, and revenge porn. There is a long way to go but this would be a start. Further criminalizing the hosting of these illegal videos would help prevent their circulation and further harm to victims. There are currently organizations to help women who have been harmed by pornography seek legal recourse, but this is time consuming, expensive, and emotionally traumatizing. I do not see this situation improving without an extensive legal reform and new legislation. It must be fought for.
1 Mackinnon, C. (1987). Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Pp. 176. 2 Brownmiller, S. (1999). In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution. New York: Dial Press. Pp. 337.
Excellent expression of thoughts! 'Pornography is an institution of gender inequality' indeed.. How pitty that even women are consuming these contents and code all these behavours in their subconscious as normal.. then become an object in their own bed, seek for partner's please but not her own. Maybe its unavoidable to consume in todays' wolrd and maybe thats why there must be a legal reform..
I agree with unknown thouths."If we grow up with porn, we can expect to replicate its violence in our own beds. Women do not expect pleasure, learn to expect pain as a part of sex, and men learn to inflict it. Women walking down the street are objects, existing for the sexual pleasure of men." Thats why, social workers, schools, need to educate new generation, raise families to respect women and men alike, and so on.
Social exclusion In Lithuania, women earn on average 13 percent lower wages than men face stereotypes and discrimination in the work market, with unpaid work at home, rarely having higher and managerial education. In many cases, a woman often goes on a parental leave, during which she loses her professional ability, which in turn influences social exclusion. Women may also feel socially excluded for subjective reasons when they are unable to fulfill a particular professional role in society. Inferior treatment of a woman (than a man) as an employee makes it more difficult for women to meet their professional needs, to pursue a career and to achieve a higher social status. When providing assistance to women experiencing social exclusion, they should be taken into account that they are not prepared to compete in the work market and that is why in the first stage every social activity that develops social skills is able to communicate and take responsibility is important. Such activities could include involvement of women in organizing local community events, setting up mutual aid clubs, etc. Where there are pre-school facilities, child day care centers should be set up to enable women to participate in employment programs. Also, women who lack social skills and professional experience should be offered public and part-time jobs supported by the Employment Fund. Part-time work would help women reconcile employment with family responsibilities. Literature: Melnikienė, R. (2005). Traditional public attitudes towards the role of women in the family and social exclusion. Bridges, (2), 65-72. Iyer, A., & Ryan, M. K. (2009). Why do men and women challenge gender discrimination in the workplace? The role of group status and in-group identification in predicting pathways to collective action. Journal of Social Issues, 65 (4), 791-814
I agree with Stella that womens in lithuania especially singles moms felling social separate. I think that this is legacy from Soviet Union,because women is a house keeper and take all care of child growing.Man should be strong and seek for better carier.
I agree with Stella too. And i would like to add, that there are also employers who are often interested in a woman's marital status. Employers want to know how many children woman has. This is a violation of the privacy of a woman's human rights.
Although there are major changes in the world towards gender equality, the gap still remains and unfortunately may widen. Gender discrimination against women is defined as 'unfavorable treatment' of women in the public space : in employment, training, education, housing and other activities carried out by public authorities. In structural terms, discrimination implies a profound injustice to the prejudice of some groups, often due to unconscious stereotypes. I analyzed Gallagher's (2005) article on discrimination against women in divorce proceedings in Egyp. The unequal divorce system prevailing in Egypt undermines the damanding many women, establishment those in violent relationships, of trying to divorce. This system is based discriminatory views about women and their ability to make their own divorce . In view of the situation in Egypt, which includes discrimination against women in divorce proceedings, and in order to mitigate the situation of women in this situation, it is proposed that the Egyptian Government adopt legal and administrative reforms ensuring that women have equal opportunities to divorce with men. To reduce male domination in Egypt, thus given the situation of women, as this will reduce male impunity in relations with women and the process of divorce will be based on equality. Establish (2004) specialized family courts to deal with all family disputes. Women who are experiencing difficult divorce with their husbands to provide in programs that work with divorced Egyptian women and victims of domestic violence, which programe should include: interventions related to psychological services, health services and women's shelters; Create quality shelters for women that protect their autonomy and privacy. Collaborate with non-governmental women's and human rights organizations to advertise domestic violence public policy, widely disseminate information on how victims of domestic violence can for legal redress, and publicize services for victims of domestic violence, where women will be understood to be accepted. Interventions for women should focus on exploring the social functions of their violent behavior, and practitioners should be involved in the "systemic forces of inequality" and teach women how to engage in civic engagement and self-advocacy. Looking to Lithuania, progress has been made in the area of gender discrimination and gender equality. The Penal Code, equal opportunities and other legal provisions have been improved. Convention on Violence against Women is signed. A working group has been set up to work with women who are victims of domestic violence. The various ongoing projects teach to recognize violence. • Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107. • Hazel, K. L., & Kleyman, K. S. (2019). Gender and sex inequalities: Implications and resistance. Journal of prevention & intervention in the community, 1-12. • Žunić, N. (2014). Discrimination against women and the human rights of women. Зборник радова Правног факултета у Нишу, 53(67), 45-58
This is a fantastic insight into the institution of marriage in Egypt and its effect on women! Here in America, despite the advances the women's rights movement has made, it is still very hard for women to get divorced without suffering financial, social, or familial strife. It is often incredibly costly and emotionally stressful. It is really important for women to have access to mental health services when going through a divorce, in fact it should be standard practice.
There are organizations here in Chicago that help to support women leaving domestic violence situations by offering them shelter, therapy, and job training, but there is a far larger need than our system can handle. These organizations also help with the legal process, whether it is for a restraining order, divorce, or criminal trial. But again, it is hard to meet the need of all these women, and without getting help, they often have no choice but to return to abusive partners. Breaking this cycle of abuse will be impossible without giving women the means to exit these relationships and achieve independence without so much hardship. Preventive practices are very important as well. Teaching kids how to recognize the signs of an abusive relationship (red flags) and where to get help is so important.
One of the major differences between Western civilization and the norms of the Islamic world is the attitude towards women and family relationships. The articles on Egyptian women's experiences of domestic violence, parenting, divorce clearly discern religious influences, narratives formed traditionally, profanely, and passed down from generation to generation. As a result, domestic violence and discrimination are increasing. Gender discrimination, inequality in family survival is terrible. Children grow up in families where they assimilate the values they declare. And if, from generation to generation, the status of a woman in the family is unequal, more equal to the role of a nanny, slave, grown children will build families based on the same traditions, values. Sharia law provides different laws and rights for women. Egypt has two different judicial systems for women and men. Violence against women is commonplace and justifiable, the woman's financial instability after divorce is emphasized, children are placed in the care of a man and so on. In countries where so much inequality is heavily felt by social workers or activists who fight for women's rights. They could psychologically, empower her to support women, provide them with the necessary knowledge, confidence, escort them to their positions, help prepare their children for legal proceedings, and help them find a job less dependent on men. Although inequality of law and discrimination is strong in the eastern countries, there is also an abundance of discrimination against women and domestic violence in democratic states that recognize all articles of the United Nations, the Convention on Women's Rights. But here they are protected by the law, women are assuming their important role in society and are actively fighting for it. So wherever we are in social work, along with other activists, we need to actively educate society against all forms of discrimination. Free education for children should be guaranteed in all countries. In secondary schools, a unit is taught, where children are introduced to basic documents validating the equality of all people and the ship. More social workers in public libraries, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers that could be contacted, families, women, children because of problems they have. Empowering Women Economically To help ensure financial stability for women. Women are often left with abusive men and women because of the financial burden they face. Organize free legal assistance in finding volunteers. Raise family awareness through targeted media, magazines to encourage them to take a wider interest, attend seminars, parenting courses. Establish and strengthen organizations combating all forms of discrimination. Many people with lower levels of education, experience, and low income do not understand how and what can be done to achieve a better emotional state, family consensus, and one of the initiatives is to negotiate with employers for joint meetings with employees to deliver positive parenting, stress, management, etc. programs that people are interested in and want to attend. I would also see a direct benefit to the employer, such as having a good family relationship, coping with the stress and improving the quality of her work. Literature: 1. Deif F., Divorce from Justice, Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall, 2005), pp.108-115 2. https://manoteises.lt/encyclopaedia/jt-motheru-discrimination-cleaning-committee/ 3. Jovaišas, K. Prevention of Domestic Violence: Anatomy of Illusions. Vilnius: Eugrim, 2009, p. 381. Increasing women's political representation by changing the electoral system. Resolution no. 1706 (2010) 4. Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107.
The wage gap is an often subject brought up when talking about gender inequality and discrimination. Its usually clouded by a lot of different opinions, facts and logic. As noted by Blau, Francine D., and Lawrence M. Kahn. 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations. Gender differences in occupations and industries, as well as differences in gender roles and the gender division of labor remain important, and research based on experimental evidence strongly suggests that discrimination cannot be discounted. From information I have read, I came to conclusion that women tend to focus on jobs that pay less overall, women tend to be more agreeable and less likely to move across countries for job offerings or take up a role in job with more responsibility. Pregnancy also plays a role which could be counted as discrimination, while there is currently no good option to battle it, I believe there could be made some reforms with job-pregnancy policies which would be more favorable to both employer and employee such as doing work from home. While the times have changed, outlook on women and men and their social roles haven’t changed too much. Females are still expected to be feminine and more focused on family and men are still looked at as strong masculine figure with no emotion. To change this, reforms should be made where gender stereotypes should be broken. This would allow girls and boys from young age focus on what they like more rather than pre-determined stereotypical interest fields such as art for girls and mechanical work for boys. This would help in the long run with stereotypes breaking and young adults flourishing in new fields which is usually dominated by one gender such as STEM field. This way gender pay gap would reduce in time, due to women taking more paying jobs. Social workers could help via media working together making people talk more openly about stereotypes and how much of influence it has over people. More seminar could be held about how women could handle difficult situations at work, making them more resilient to agreeableness which would increase the chances of getting higher pay rise. Releasing more information about responsibilities and how they affect your life in positive way would help everyone by making individuals more attracted to higher positions at work. References: Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2017). The gender wage gap: Extent, trends, and explanations. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(3), 789-865.
In Lithuania we have an Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. The mission of this office - to ensure equal opportunities and prevent discrimination in society. Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania enshrines the equality of persons and the prohibition on the restriction of human rights and privileges on the basis of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, social status, religion, beliefs or beliefs. In 1999 March 1, The Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, adopted by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, entered into force. According to Pavilionienė (2010) an important role in changing the 20th century worldview was carried out by the United Nations, created after World War II, which aimed not only to stabilize the international relations of the states, but also to restore justice in society: promoting respect for human rights and freedoms, eliminating discrimination against women and promoting gender equality. The most important document on gender equality was the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This convention recommended that states be enshrined in their constitutions and laws the principle of equality between women and men, overcoming national prejudices, traditions, gender stereotypes that discourage gender equality policy, support single, male, gender domination and leadership in society. The document is considered to be the foundation of women's rights, as it emphasizes women's political, economic and social rights, family rights and the means to enforce these rights. Discriminatory personal status laws throughout the Middle East and North Africa have denied women countless human rights enjoyed by their counterparts in other regions. These laws govern some of the most private aspects of women's lives (marriage, divorce, and child custody) and undermine women's standing before the law and in society at large. Governments that rely on these laws have- in favor of male citizens and a patriarchal social order- codified a system that treats women as perpetual legal minors under the eternal guardianship of their male relatives (Deif, 2005). Gallagher (2005) said that much violence against women occurs in the home. The Egyptian government, like many others in the region, has essentially created two widely disparate systems for divorce, one for men and one for women. Egyptian men have a unilateral and unconditional right to divorce. For example, in order to begin divorce proceedings in Egypt, women are required to obtain legal counsel, provide evidence of harm, often through eyewitness testimony, and submit to court-ordered mediation. From this example, we can see, that there is no equality between women and men in Egypt. Also, it’s very obvious, that Egyptian women suffer gender discrimination. Domestic violence must be tackled when the state develops a system to deal with domestic violence: it not only creates a law but also provides lawyers, policemen, psychologists, social workers with appropriate knowledge on how to deal with the abuser and the victim; creates a network of social housing where the abuser or victim of domestic violence can live; educates the public on the reduction of violence (Pavilionienė, 2010). In my opinion, social work, which is not currently in this country, should occur in Egypt in order to carry out certain interventions. In my view, the absence of social work in Islamic countries is largely influenced by religion, which creates a confrontation between faith and discrimination against women. In Egypt could be set up organizations to help women who wish to divorce, to provide psychological, legal and social services. In my opinion, it would be wonderful for Egypt to have women's crisis centers to help women in difficult situations in their lives.
There is still a very large pay gap between men and women, up to a few days following the stereotypical view of a woman's single family, which prevents women from integrating into the labor market. Discrimination based on sex outside of education, culture, health and other areas can be experienced by people with disabilities, young people or the elderly, floor coverings, nationalities, religions, beliefs and social status. The claim that age has a greater negative impact on a woman's social life than that of a man remains relevant - it is a matter of multiple discrimination, which is much more common among women than men. It is much harder for older women to compete in the labor market than men of the same age.
In order to reduce gender discrimination, women should receive appropriate information and services from socially vulnerable groups. In this case we are talking about women belonging to minorities or people with disabilities, migrant women, women living in rural areas and older people, and representatives of sexual minorities. It is also important to mention that not only should the legal framework be strengthened, but also various policy tools should be used, such as mainstreaming non-discrimination and gender equality, raising public awareness, collecting data on discrimination, affirmative action, dialogue, the development of non-discrimination and equal opportunities. Concerning the labor market, Lithuania draws attention to the gender pay gap for work of equal value. To this end, labor inspectorates should be stepped up, data should be constantly analyzed and the public should be made aware that women and men should be paid equally for work of equal value.
It is very important to emphasize the importance of women's employment opportunities, with particular emphasis on older women, women with disabilities, migrant women, romani nationality and rural women, who tend to have less access to the labor market due to prevailing stereotypes. Literature: Neverauskienė, L. O. (2011). Diskriminacijos apraiškos: aktuali būklė bei tendencijos antidiskriminacijos srityje Lietuvoje. Lietuvos socialinių tyrimų centro Darbo ir socialinių tyrimų institutas. Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, A. Ka Tat Tsang. (2004). When Asian Immigrant Women Speak: From Mental Health to Strategies of Being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
I agree with Akvilė that it is much harder for older women to compete in the labor market than men of the same age. From my personal experience I can add that sometimes women don't change work for this reason, they are afraid that after they left it woud be hard to find another job, just because they are older.
As prof. Tyson says in lecture -Women have not achieved equality with men in any country. From the readings about Egypt law system for divorce, which have two widley desperate for man and for woman, usually if woman want to make a case for woman need evidence which show evidence of harm. Simply filing for divorce does not mean getting a divorce, judges delay divorce proceedings, and try to avoid paying alimony from a mens , woman agreeing to give up all her financial rights just to get divorse and other rights to a kids or home in order to get a divorce, so woman become homeless in divorce process (Deif, 2005). Human rights have a long journey prevent muslim population countries, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan from domestic violence againts woman, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and pregnancy, sexual slavery, and rape, and pointed out that women were far more likely than men to suffer from abuses that afflict both. Gallagher (2005, p. 105) in 2005, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed resolutions condemning marital rape, violence against women on the basis of dress codes, and calling for reproductive rights and sexual health. Moreover trafficking of young girls and women into prostitution become 21 century slavery (Tyson at al, 2018) My answer to all these readings and my thoughts about women discrimintion is in human rights. The importance and connection between social work and human rights realization is increasingly recognized. Social workers aim to eliminate exclusion of people from society, and contribute to social justice and human dignity Dibbets and Eijkman (2018, p. 212). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the first artical says that we all born free and equal in dignity and rights (The Universal Declaration of Human Right, 2008). Dignity is a way to be treated. That meaning of dignity coresponds to the idea of being treated with dignity or dignity respect (Moeckli at al., 2014 p.35). Malala in United Nation Speech is inspire to all of us make for action, rised voice for a rights. The amim thing is education and dignity.The right of education of evey child to get to know philosophy of none-violence life style. The power of education brings equality and change society (Malala, 2013). In conclusion I want say if we descriminate dignity like human right so any human being will not be treated in respect. The importans of education in all the world is saving lifes for youngs girls, also education is associated with later marriages, sexual slavery, help womens make their owen choises about genital cuting and make decision not to sacrifice selves instead of a mans.
Deif, F. (2005). Divorced from justice. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 108-11 Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107. Dibbets, A., & Eijkman, Q. (2018). Translators, Advocates or Practitioners? Social Workers and Human Rights Localization. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 10(2), 212-228 Malala, Y., (2013, July 12). United Nation Speech [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRh_30C8l6Y&t=633s Moeckli, D., Shah, S., Harris, D., & Sivakumaran, S. (Eds.). (2014). International human rights law. Oxford University Press. Tyson, M., Ivanauskienė, V., Liobikiene, N., (2018).Global Social Work Practice: Reflective Practice for Justice and Peace. Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work and Vytautas Magnus University Department of Social Work. Trindade, A. A. C. (2008). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Audiovisual Library of International Law.
Convention was the culmination of more than thirty years of work by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, a body established in 1946 to monitor the situation of women and promote women's rights. The commissioned work has been instrumental in bringing light to all areas in which women are denied equality with men. These efforts for the advancement of women have several declarations and conventions, one of which is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, is the central and most comprehensive document. Among the international human rights treaties, the Convention takes an important place in bringing the female half of humanity into the focus of human rights concerns. The spirit of the Convention is rooted in the goals of the United Nations: to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in dignity, and worth in the human person, in equal rights for men and women. The present document spells out the meaning of equality and how it can be achieved. In doing so, the Convention establishes only an international bill for rights for women, but also an agenda for action by countries to guarantee the enjoyment of those rights. When I read the article Divorced from Justice (2005), I was shocked that the Egyptian government, like many others in the region, has essentially created two widely disparate systems for divorce, one for men and one for women. Egyptian men have a unilateral and unconditional right to divorce, marriages. Egyptian women, on the other hand, must resort to Egypt's notoriously backlogged and inefficient courts, where they confront a judicial process fraught with countless difficulties, delays, and legal uncertainty states that women may not have a strong keenness to stay in the family in order to divorce. Divorced women have no independent stake in marital assets and retain no ownership interest in marital home or any other property upon divorce. Women's nonmonetary contributions to the home are neither valued nor recognized; women are denied their share of marital property absent specific title in wife's name. In this case, I believe that the legal system must be the same for both, with equal access to property, etc. References: • Deif, F. (2005). Divorced from justice. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 108-115. • Schluter, B. (1973). The domestic status of the human rights clauses of the United Nations charter. Calif. L. Rev., 61, 110.
The roots of gender discrimination or gender stereotype attitudes has in childhood. Even “In most traditional societies, gender-stereotyped play activities during early childhood are accepted and encouraged as useful preparation for adult roles. In increasingly complex and technological modern societies, in which work and social roles are rapidly evolving, there is less acceptance of the concept that children should be encouraged to focus their play on traditionally stereotyped activities in preparation for gender-differentiated adult roles.” (Serbin, 2001). This case is quite visible in Turkey for instance when a large family is having evening tea all together, a 2 or 3 years old girl plays a game by serving tea with toys to everybody and is appreciated for this behaviour. I am not saying its wrong to appreciate the kid but boys should be encouraged to do so. Every products serving for kids like cartoons, books, toys, animations are sexualised (being attributed to a gender). Let alone buying a gender natural gift, we cant put them in gender neutral gift packs. In toy or clothing stores, as we want to buy something, the first question of the workers is that ‘is it a girl or boy?’ not likings. Stores are generally divided into main colours, blue and pink. Computer games are categorised as for girls (cooking, serving in a cafe, dressing, putting make up) and for boys ( car games or strategical games). Although parents get books for the mental development of kids, gender discrimination is always imposed by characters, compatibly with social roles in these books (e.g. engineer boy, working father, cooking mother, girl in need for help and boy as helper etc.). So in summary, discrimination in society takes its place in kids books and many other products as well.
Children’s toy preferences are a a discussion topic among scientist. In the literature there are some studies revealing that 14-20 month age kids show toy preferences consistent with gender stereotypes in the society (Serbin, 2001). However many scientist support the idea that children are thought to show these preferences (Martin & Halverson, 1981), as I mentioned in the previous paragraph. And importantly, children’s practices with sexualised toys may direct their cognitive and social development (Liss, 1983). And in this period, make social scientist discuss about it as a problem. Because it is a serious problem indeed. Especially in collectivistic cultures girls are raised with soft games instead strategic ones, appreciated for performing women’s duties accordingly society they live in and in turn they may dream of having a marriage with a partner who can take all the financial responsibility of the family including giving money for the women. Over time this life style becomes a problem for the women and even though she wants to divorce she cant due to lack of economic freedom.
In short, parents have to prepare their children no matter what gender they are, for the future world which is getting very competitive now. And I think social workers are responsible for creating awareness for the author of kid books, parents and even school teachers to promote gender equality during play times.
References Liss, M. (Ed.) (1983). Social and cognitive skills: Sex roles and children’s play. New York: Academic Press. Martin, C.L., & Halverson, C.F. (1981). A schematic processing model of sex typing and stereotyping in children. Child Development, 52, 1119–1134. Serbin, L. A., Poulin-Dubois, D., Colburne, K. A., Sen, M. G., & Eichstedt, J. A. (2001). Gender stereotyping in infancy: Visual preferences for and knowledge of gender-stereotyped toys in the second year. International journal of behavioral development, 25(1), 7-15.
As my family begins to slowly grow given the new generation of family members born and celebrated for their birthdays each year this underlying conversation of gendered expectations comes up. I definitely find a strong correlation between gendered discrimination and early childhood experiences given the child's limitations and freedom to break a mold with clothing, toys, and past-times.
A layer to complicate in this conversation is also to what extent do we as scholars or parents project "sexualization" onto the experiences of children. Where a parent may see a child sucking on a phallic object a child developmental psychologist sees a transition between a child understanding the world through breast feeding and thus using that "skill" to explore the world around them. A dialogue that sparked just this past weekend with my cousin celebrating my nieces first birthday party. While so much is controlled for children little is provided for them to explore and understand some boundaries on their own. I also think about virginity balls that are practiced in the US where instead of focusing on the growth of their daughters, participating fathers center their young daughters sexual chastity as center. A counterproductive measure plays out.
Education starts at the womb with the new generation of parents celebrating a gender reveal party and building the rigid expectation of their child. I ponder at a reality where families celebrate new life and provide the room for a child to define themselves with access to a full spectrum of color (since grown adults don't choose between blue and pink) and a variety of activities to develop their own cognitive abilities and skills.
I totally agree with Ilk's opinion and want to add that no one can doubt that there is a difference between a female and a male. There are biological and social differences between the sexes. From a biological point of view, gender differences are manifested through anatomy and physiology, while the perception of social differences is expressed through feminine and masculine roles, behaviors, jobs, occupations, character traits, and so on. Gender differences that are more socially acceptable lead to gender roles that define how a man or woman should feel, behave, act, and what is best not done for one sex or another, which is less acceptable to society. All actions and feelings are learned through growth, acquired through observation and seeing specific examples in the educational process. As each person grows up, parents or others in charge of education develop a vision of the roles, actions and behaviors of men and women. Thinking about toys for kids, there are many toys that are sorted according to the standards created by society to fit a girl or a boy, and the color of the toy also gives you an idea of what it is best for, boy or girl. From an early age, girls play with dolls, embodying the role of a mother who needs to be gentle, responsible, caring, tidy and clean at home, cooking. At the same time, boyhood children are given to play with machines, guns, and various tools for repair. At that time, boys realize from childhood that they have to work harder, be strong, know how to defend and defend, and build or repair something. Readable tales are also very influential, creating a very clear gender distribution of roles and appearance. In addition, there is a tendency in society that a man or woman cannot wear the same clothes and dress in the same accessories. The female body and its functions define its social role, which is considered to be in a lower layer of the cultural process than the male. When a woman is raising a child, she is automatically associated with the family and identified with closeness to nature. The mother and their children, by common understanding, belong to each other.
The role of women in the labor market is intricately related to the society’s expectation of their roles at home. When the expectations of motherhood and the homemaker role are greater, the likelihood of women's labor market success will be smaller. This in turn discourages society to invest in women's safety and security outside their home environment. Inside their homes, society and state give priority to the spousal role of women ahead of their physical safety and mental well-being. Thus, conditions become rife for meting out violence and abuse towards them Women’s participation in the labour market often comes with a trade-off in their role at homemaking. This is very different to the trade-off men face in their labour market decisions. Success in the labour market may not necessarily improve a woman’s social status, if the society views her role primarily as one of a homemaker. But such views clearly deny the society of economic prosperity that women would unleash if they could participate in the labour market in a robust way. It has been abundantly evidenced that women who take time out to raise family find it difficult to re-enter the labour market, with their lifetime earnings being reduced by a variety of factors including motherhood. Considerations such as motherhood, child care and family obligations have tremendous impact on a woman’s decision to participate in the labour market, which in turn affects her income and her children’s welfare. Low labour market participation rate of women is a universal problem and different countries have sought to improve the rate in a variety of mechanisms. Women’s decision to participate in the labour market depends not just on the wage they expect to get, but on a number of social factors, such as how safe the workplace is, to what extent she will have control over her fertility choice and particularly for Indian women, how welcoming her marital family will be to her spending time away from home. Additionally, there are caste-related taboos and prejudices (gender biases) that are carried over to the labour market that make employment relations fraught with social frictions. All these factors intricately affect a woman’s decision to work and seek economic independence. In Lithuania, women earn on average 13 percent. Lower wages than men face stereotypes and discrimination in the labor market when doing unpaid domestic work, domestic violence, and are less likely to have higher and managerial education, although they are more educated and skilled men in the Polish country. On the other hand, Lithuania has made progress in preventing violence, reducing discrimination against women and strengthening gender equality: the Penal Code, Equal Opportunities and other laws have been improved, the Convention on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence has been signed. I want to give an example from my work, I work at the Women's Crisis Center. We have single mothers and single women who are victims of the burglary, lose their homes, relatives. etc. And the first help women receive from social workers is the recognition that they are respected and safe women. They receive free childcare while staying in the center so they can find work and start a new life. While they are at work, children go to school or kindergarten, spend time in the day care center, so there is always a baby-sitting room, a meal, a day and a safe. We have the opportunity to see them reborn. Self-esteem rises, recognition, finances arise and they then become stronger than ever. References:
1. Lietuvos Respublikos socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerija (2020). Prieiga per internetą: http://socmin.lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/lyciu-lygybe-ir-moteru-diskriminacijos-panaikinimas-kas-pasiekta-ir-kokias-rekomendacijas-siulo-igyvendinti-jt-komitetas 2. Saha, B. (2015). Editorial Overview: Violence and Discrimination against Women. Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 27(2), 152–159.
Poverty, inequality, and discrimination endanger women's well-being. Economic inequalities within societies are associated with reduced life expectancy and a variety of negative physical health outcomes. Discrimination maintains inequalities, condemns women to lives of lessened economic security, and exposes them to unmerited contempt. Although the mental health impact of poverty is documented and largely understood, the implications of inequality and discrimination are less well known. In my opinion, one of the greatest discrimination against women is unemployment. There are still more women than men working in low-paid sectors, their wages are even lower, and we can still see a male presence in management positions. It has long been accepted that women are increasingly focused on the household, the family, especially children. Unfortunately, housework, childcare, and upbringing are not economically calculated and are not valued in wages. “The second reason that women earn less is the lower positions they hold. This is most pronounced in management and, as you know, salaries are highest in the management sector. The third reason is the areas in which women work. There are relative distinctions between female and male fields or professions. The lowest salaries are paid to women who have chosen to work in the field of education or medicine, ie educators, nurses. Women in the cultural, social care, protection and similar fields also earn the least. Laws on equal rights for men and women have existed since the inception of the European Community. Since the 20th century A total of 13 pieces of legislation were adopted in the 1970s to ensure fair and equal treatment of women and men at work. Vareikytė (2006, p. 11) states that the importance of developing not only social ones is increasing in Lithuania a network of services for different client groups, but also the ability to organize local communities, to prepare and administer programs of social activities. For individuals providing social services, the role of community members activator and organizer is becoming increasingly important. Social players need new skills and knowledge as society changes structure, new social problems arise. Community based social services network of institutions, the growing number of social partners obliges the representatives of social activities to be and managers, i.e. understand and be able to identify the different social groups and institutions of people to cooperate with organizations of different subordinate and types. They have an important task - coordinate the various social partners and strengthen their cooperation. According to Okonišnikova (2004), the representative of the social field can play many roles: social work specialist, mediator, assessor, mobilizer, teacher, consultant. When working with women who suffer discrimination at work, the social worker should first be empathetic, i.e. to understand the emotional state of another person, to be able to empathize with his inner world. Based on the practical experience of social work, Leliūgienė (1997) identifies the main characteristics of a socioeducational specialist such as the ability to provide appropriate mediation, the ability to play the role of a "third person" associating personality with the microenvironment, informal communication in terms of being "behind the scenes", in an informal leader, facilitator position, compassion, cooperation, ability to be communicative, extroverted. Also, in my opinion, a social worker could help such a woman try to become bolder, who can stand up for herself and her rights. In conclusion, there are still many cases of women not finding a job or being discriminated against in clothing because of being a woman. Therefore, the social worker can play an important role in helping women to defend their rights. He can write projects, do research, inform the public, set up awareness raising companies.
References: 1. Vareikytė, A. (2006). Vietos savivalda ir socialinis darbas. Socialinio darbo administravimas. Vilnius: Lietuvos darbo rinkos mokymo tarnyba. 2. Okonišnikova, O. V. Profesinė kompetencija socialinio darbo praktikoje. Socialinis darbas. Profesinės veiklos įvadas (tarptautinis projektas). (2004). Vilnius: VU Specialiosios psichologijos laboratorija. 3. Leliūgienė, I. Socialinis darbas ir socioedukacinio darbo specialistų rengimo raida. Socialiniai mokslai. Edukologija. Nr. 3(12). (1997). Kaunas: Technologija.
Responding to the forces of globalization must take into account the major gender differences and differences in decision-making power, participation and return on effort that prevail in different societies. Gender inequality and discrimination all over the world may affect women more than men in the processes of globalization. On the other hand, cases of globalization can be significant for women. The gender impact of change needs to be systematically monitored to avoid sacrificing gender equality and human empowerment goals. Equality between women and men is still a goal. Although women's rights have expanded considerably in Europe in the last century, gender discrimination is still a widespread phenomenon. The European Parliament is keen to reduce violence and discrimination against women and is constantly looking into this issue and seeking ways to resolve it legally. Legislation adopted by the European Parliament guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, equality in the workplace, minimum maternity leave and gender equality has been in place in Europe for years. However, the reality is worse. Against the backdrop of a still gloomy situation, MEPs are keeping their hands open and are pushing states to take greater care of women. The fact that women are still considered different from men is illustrated by figures. In the last few years, women in the European Union earn on average 16.4%. less than men, according to Eurostat. There is ample evidence that women who need to spend time raising a family find it difficult to return to the labor market, as their lifelong earnings are reduced by a variety of factors, including motherhood. However, the benefits of equal pay are increasingly emphasized: increasing career prospects for women would encourage the creation and development of better quality, positive jobs, unlock women's potential for business efficiency, reduce poverty, avoid workplace litigation and complaints of discrimination and unfair treatment at work. and money.
References: 1. Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, A. Ka Tat Tsang. (2004). When Asian Immigrant Women Speak: From Mental Health to Strategies of Being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
Humiliating attitude towards a woman is one of the discrimination forms against women. This discrimination form could be seen in Muslim history and in the Middle East and North Africa. The article about “Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights“ shows that domestic violence , female genital mutilation, forced marriage, pregnancy, sexual slavery and rape were big problems in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Women were raped in war or in prison more often than men. At that time, there were many reforms that included women's human rights provisions. Other article, about “Divorced From Justice“, shows us, that there are laws that regulate women's private aspects - marriage, divorce, and child custody and undermine women's standing before the law and in society at large. The Egyptian government, has created two widely disparate systems for divorce, one for men and one for women. Egyptian men have a unilateral and unconditional right to divorce. They simply need to repudiate their wives, saying "you are divorced" three times and registering the divorce within thirty days with a religious notary to make it official. Men are considered more rational than women. So, a woman has almost no words at the time of divorce. If a woman is humiliated in the family, and especially when children see it, it is expected that these actions will be repeated from generation to generation. No matter what culture a person lives in. First of all, the person has begin to change himself and show it to their children. And not be afraid of what others will think. Also, the involving society is an opportunity to begin reforms and to get a support. The article shows one of the interventions that the Egyptian government should adopt legislative, judicial, and administrative reforms to guarantee equal access to divorce for Egyptian women. And this is very important because the government must take care of members of the society of the whole country and reduce discrimination. References: 1. Deif F., Divorce from Justice, Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall, 2005), pp.108-115 2. Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107.
Sex trafficking is a form of discrimination against women that takes places around the world. Not only does sex trafficking discriminate against women, but it also profoundly discriminates against women from certain ethnic backgrounds, for example, women and girls in India. The best way to combat sex trafficking is through prevention, however for women and girls who are already a victim and survivor of sex trafficking, this does not benefit them and their situation. Therefore, a social work intervention that already exits, which can be used to mitigate sex trafficking, is to work within and together with organizations such as Apne Aap Women Worldwide and New light, which provides resources, opportunities, and empowerment to at-risk and prostituted women and girls in India (Kristof & WuDunn, 2010).
By working in and together with these types of organizations, a social work intervention will not only uphold our core value of human rights, but also empowerment, and social justice. A social work intervention with regard to sex trafficking, can be done on both a macro- and a micro-level. Advocacy by the social work profession, on a macro-level, for changes in current laws to recognize the buyers, sellers, and those profiting from the exploitation of women and girls as the criminals, rather than the women and girls being exploited is a realistic example (Okech, Elkins, & Choi, 2017). On a micro-level, a social worker can use interventions focused on empowering the girls and women, through providing and having readily available necessary resources such as therapies for girls and women who have escaped sex trafficking to begin healing from the traumas they may have encountered (Sen & Baba, 2017; Okech, Elkins, & Choi, 2017). Another example could be providing and organizing available opportunities and activities that will limit their exposure to potential encounters that could result in them being trafficked, such as by attending school and gaining an education which the organizations above strive to offer (Kristof & WuDunn, 2010). Lastly, a social work intervention that can be used to mitigate the discrimination women and girls being trafficked face, is to respect the client, their wishes, their knowledge, and to recognize the relationship they are creating is that of collaboration and partnership. An individual’s sense of power and control is destroyed with this type of discrimination and therefore it is important for a social work intervention to not further this power imbalance (Sen & Baba, 2017).
With this being said, I think one of the best things a social worker can do on a micro level is become aware and knowledgeable on the signs of sex trafficking. Not only do we have a social responsibility, but we have a responsibility as social workers to be competent in our practice (CASW, 2005). By being aware and knowledgeable, we as social workers can work to prevent, as well as work with the women and girls who are being trafficked to find resources available to them that have been created to better assist their needs and desires.
References: 1.Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW). (2005). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from https://www.casw-acts.ca/sites/casw-acts.ca/files/documents/casw_code_of_ethics.pdf 2.Kristof, N., & WuDunn, S. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York, NY: Vintage Books 3.Okech, D., Elkins, J., & Choi, Y. J. (2017). Seventeen years of human trafficking research in social work: A review of the literature. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761407.2017.1415177 4.Sen, S., & Baba, Y. (2017). The human trafficking debate: Implications for Social Work Practice. Social Work and Society International Online Journal. Retrieved from https://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/502/1006
Very good attitude. Women who are trafficked are a very vulnerable group and the role of the social worker in the intervention is very important. I also believe that preventive work in educating the public and developing the perception that buying sex is unacceptable is equally important.
Discrimination based on sex in the most widespread from of discrimination both in Lithuania and worldwide. This form of discrimination stem from stereotypes rooted in our society. Living with the stereotypes we inherited from our grandparents and parents is easier for people. Stereotypes help them to get a structured view of the world without any effort. Gender stereotypes „seal“ women and meni n peculiar „gender boxes“. Society attributes to them certain norms of ,,masculiniy“ and ,,femininity“. Combating stereotypes is difficult enough because they are widespread. Principle 1. Human Rights and Human Dignity Social work is based on respect for the inhherent worth and dignity of all the rights that follow from this. Social workers should uphold and defend eac Non-physical, peychological, emotional and spiritual integrity and well-being I Responding to the right to self-determination. Social workers should reshape their own choices and decisions, irrespect their values and life the choices provided by this do not threaten the rights and interests of others. Social work must contribute to the eradication of gender stereotypes, since gender stereotypes are created and maintained by society. If we realize that we also belong to society, it will bring us closer to tackling inequalities between women and men. When we arrive at the gas station, let‘s not desperately search for a man who can helf. If a woman works at a gas station, apparently she has the competece to solve car-related problems. For example, in Lithuania, there is often a lack of information tehnology specialists. Perhaps it is worth encouraging girls to become more active in this profession? So I would encourage everyone to start with themselves. I would encourage you to this critically about your daily actions. We should give children the opportunity to show their interest and not to divide human competences by gender. We can all contribute to gender equality because it is the small things that make up the big problems that we have. Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107
Different forms of sexism experienced by women these days are one of the most widespread topics not only in Lithuania but also around the world. In general, sexism is described as a negative attitude towards a person's gender, ignoring other characteristics of the person. In other words, sexism is an individual's preconception attitudes towards the male or female, which imposes a position of obedience and dependence on members of different genders, distinguishes one sex as worth more than another. E. A. Klonoff and H. Landrine, in their analysis of discrimination against women on the grounds of sex, stated that sexism experienced by women on a daily basis is psychological distress and symptoms of various diseases. Although the impact of discrimination on a person 's mental health; and psychological well-being has been extensively studied, nevertheless, however, there is little research on the impact of sexist attitudes. We can find a lot of research investigating the influence of sexism on women's health, emotional state, cognitive performance, self-esteem, etc., but there is still a lack of research to compare this effect across different cultural contexts. The cultural context of Eastern Europe is very different from the Western world, so it is possible to believe that women are exposed to sexism and health problem connections inherent in Western culture, not necessarily occurs in other countries as well. A really long socialist in countries such as Lithuania, the regime has helped to establish a patriarchal attitude that is counterproductive public attitudes towards women. So, analyze sexism phenomenon and its impact on women's physical and mental health is important for understanding how sexism is experienced affects Lithuanian women in different ways cultural contexts.Social work professionals can reduce gender inequalities by facilitating women to have access to formal education. The liberating nature of education is essential in promoting women's capacity to challenge and act on the conditions of their lives that impede them from enjoying the benefits of society. Through education, women are able to acquire knowledge and ideas that will help them to effectively challenge those conditions that inhibit their progress. Apart from having enhanced capacity to question the conditions of their lives, generally educated women on average delay marriage and childbirth, are less vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, exercise more power in their homes and in public and have fewer children who tend to be healthier and better educated. Social workers can also introduce non-formal education programmes for training in technical skills. These progrmmes can empower women by offering them practical skills and an opportunity of increasing their confidence and courage that are essential in challenging the entrenched oppressive aspects of the social structure. Social workers can also enhance the capacity of women through empowerment programs that seek to remove the barriers that work against them. In so doing, women are able to participate in political processes and local decision making. For example, social workers are capable of tackling the social barriers such as the traditional, religious, and social attitudes that undermine women's progress. Social workers can endeavour to identify the root causes of women's subordination. They can initiate activities that are geared towards reducing gender-based barriers by changing the deep-rooted beliefs about appropriate gender roles, as well as lobbying for greater gender equity in the operations of public institutions. References: 1. Viktorija Gaidytė, Kristina Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė (2019). Ambivalentiško seksizmo poveikis moterų gerovei. Literatūros apžvalga. „VISUOMENĖS SVEIKATA” 2019/1(84) 2. Christopher Nkonge Kiboro, Octavian N. Gakuru, Josephine Misaro, Samson Wokab (2014). Role of Social Work in Minimizing Sexual and Gender Inequalities. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences. ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online) Vol.4, No.14, 2014
In all the world woman rights are more or less undermined, they are discriminated when it comes to salary gaps between men and woman, they have fewer opportunities compared to men when it comes to employment, woman is also weaker when it comes to physical and emotional strength. One of the most discriminatory crime is woman trafficking. Traficking in human beings is one of the most serious transnational organized crime. Despite increased international efforts and resources from states and international organizations, the number of people falling victim to human trafcking worldwide continues to grow. Data on the prevalence of this crime show that the majority of its victims are women and girls – they account for 80% of victims. Today, trafficking has become an international industry. Traffickers profit from the unequal social and economic status of women around the world. Although the term ‘trafficking in women’ is not new, the problem appears to be increasing and acquiring grave new dimensions in the recent context of globalization Around the world, millions of female victims of human trafficking are forced into sex “work,” often resulting in serious physical and mental-health problems. Reasons why woman get involved into prostitution; • Social factors – unemployability, addiction to substances, bad relationships in their families, childhood traumas. • Economic factors – poverty in the family, chance to earn money, fast income. • Psychological factors – sexual abuse during their childhood, failure relationship, hard experience in life, failures at school. Trafficking in people is a latent crime, and not every victim applies for help. Thus, we lack exact information on the scale of this activity. To organize help for woman who are victims of human trafficking is very important, especially for them to understand, that they need help and also it is very important for them to know that there is organizations which can help them. Yet they need to cooperate with those organizations in order to get help, because in social work to get the client involved is very important. According to Augutienė, R., ir Adomaitytė – Subačienė, S., (2016), in order to create effective helping (prevention) process, firstly you need to identify, what that person needs the most in the exact moment. Social workers working with human trafficking victims need to be active and attentive – they should be the first ones to see the changes and determine victims needs. According to Malinauską G,. Žičkutė, (2013), woman who gets involved into human trafficking gets physical/psychological abuse, their freedom is restricted, woman are abused and molested. They loose hope that something can change, they are just locked in place by their disbelief which stops them looking for help. The violence makes them act humble and obey without any resistance and lack of feelings. These women goes thru many post-traumatic stress disorders day to day. In my country Lithuania only woman are punished – the victims are charged fines, meanwhile men- the costumer is not being charged at all If I would work with woman who has been touched by human trafficking, I would create a contact with them and offer my help; I would need to determine clients current state as well as her needs in order for further cooperation when the other specialist would get involved. It needs to be done so that they could provide complex and systematic help. Also we would need to observe and coordinate the help they are getting. During this process the client should feel safe under the “confidential agreement” terms, they would not be judged on the decisions they made before. And also I would try to strengthen prevention of human trafficking. References:
First of all, what is discrimination? Discrimination is defined as the denial or disqualification of a person or category of persons on the grounds of their racial or ethnic origin, language, religious or political beliefs, property or social status, place of birth, etc. They are also measures by which a state or several states restrict the rights of a state, its agents or citizens, legal and natural persons. Trying to carry out social work intervention for discrimination, in particular, should increase people's understanding of what is discrimination. And how people feeling when they experience it. Across the globe, women hold a minority of political and institutional decision-making positions. Gender norms and prejudices work to both reduce the number of female candidates (about 30% are women) and contribute to the obstacles faced by women in elections (United Nations Statistics Division, 2015). It is noticeable that men worldwide hold better and higher positions than women in the same profession. This situation of women shows that there is still an issue of equal opportunities for men and women that needs to be addressed and addressed, as women's intellectual potential and their contribution to the competitiveness of the country are not fully exploited. In democratic countries, active women are actively involved in important management decisions, reinforcing positive changes in the economy, social, social and political life. Despite laws prohibiting gender discrimination, a number of socio-economic indicators show that there is a large gap between formal and real gender equality in Lithuania. Gender equality in Lithuania is understood as one of the basic principles of democracy, which is based on gender equality, responsibility, opportunities in all spheres of life and equal treatment of both genders. This is one of the main goals of economic, social and democratic development. Although women still dominate the public sector, particularly in education, health care and other "feminine" activities, the decline in benchmarking in the public sector shows and statistics confirm that they are increasingly moving into masculine activities such as financial intermediation, electricity, gas and water supply, etc. However, the private sector is still considered a male domain. References: Dromantaitė-Stancikienė, A., & Gineitienė, Z. (2010). Moterų padėtis Lietuvoje siekiant karjeros. Socialinių mokslų studijos, (4), 69-88. Hazel, K. L., & Kleyman, K. S. (2019). Gender and sex inequalities: Implications and resistance. Journal of prevention & intervention in the community, 1-12.
Discrimination of women often leads their marginalization and exclusion from mainstream programs and services thereby creating glass ceilings for women. Gender and sex shapes all aspects of lives including access to key resources and services such as information, education, employment, health and credit facilities. Gender being a socio-cultural construct, in terms of socially and culturally ascribed roles of males and females, often produces inequalities between sexes.
Women discrimination has always been on the increase in every sector. Social work intervention can reduce gender inequalities by facilitating women to have access to formal education. The liberating nature of education is essential in promoting women's capacity to challenge and act on the conditions of their lives that impede them from enjoying the benefits of society. Through education, women are able to acquire knowledge and ideas that will help them to effectively challenge those conditions that inhibit their progress. Apart from having enhanced capacity to question the conditions of their lives.
Social workers can also introduce non-formal education programmes for training in technical skills. These progrmmes can empower women by offering them practical skills and an opportunity of increasing their confidence and courage that are essential in challenging the entrenched oppressive aspects of the social structure. Social workers can also enhance the capacity of women through empowerment programs that seek to remove the barriers that work against them. In so doing, women are able to participate in political processes and local decision making. Also, tackling the social barriers such as the traditional, religious, and social attitudes that undermine women's progress. A Social work intervention that can identify the root causes of women's subordination, initiate activities that are geared towards reducing gender-based barriers by changing the deep-rooted beliefs about appropriate gender roles, as well as lobbying for greater gender equity in the operations of public institutions. Because if the root causes of women subordination are identified and addressed, programs aimed at improving women's status may not yield the expected results.
One significant form violence against women take around the world is health and reproductive discrimination as seen in the rate of preventable deaths and injuries due to complications with childbirth and pregnancy. The authors in Half the Sky note that 99% of all deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth occur in poor countries where there are less resources and less access to specific needed care (Kristof and Wudun, 2010). Healey also calls attention to the injuries and deaths around the world that result from illegal abortions; it is estimated that 68,000 women died in 2000 from unsafe abortions (2005). There are a variety of factors that contribute to these injustices and they include poverty, misogynistic policies, patriarchal structures, and lack of access to family planning options. There cannot be gender equality when so many women are dying from preventable complications and issues. One social work intervention could be to increase access to birth control and other family planning options worldwide. One way this could be done is finding a central building or organization in a community and providing free birth control options along with a doctor to answer questions who could rotate locations in certain areas. In addition to birth control, family planning education would also need to be provided to accommodate for cultural and religious belief that prohibit specific forms of birth control. An example of a program like this operating would be providing services in community centers in the poorest neighborhoods of cities with doctors who could travel to surrounding rural communities on a regular basis. However, this intervention would have to be done along with policy advocacy to even allow these services to be offered and for the funding.
Reference: Healey, Lynn M. (2008). International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World. 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kristof, Nicolas, and Wudun, Cheryl. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Vintage.
It seems that we, here in the United States, never really seem to stress about the role of childbirth and the effects it could have on the mother because we have advanced technology and the funding to expand on such a thing. However, the fact that, even in the United States, the poorer economies may not have the resources for something that could be preventable, resulting in the same thing that happens in poorer countries. I agree on the intervention of having better access to birth control and other family options. I actually thought about teaching people what it means because there might be people out here making policies but not understanding what the policies will oppose. Some people really don’t know how dangerous it is for women to go through childbirth, especially under more extreme conditions. Family planning courses and parenting support groups would probably be the way to go if that’s the case.
Part 1: Across the world, I consider physical violence a danger that takes place across the world and takes hold in unique forms for women. From the US context where it’s a cultural norm to understand the additional precautions women take in their daily lives from commuting to work to going out with friends. There’s an omnipresent conditioning that takes hold on how women present themselves, the behaviors they exhibit, along with other precautions to prevent gendered violence. “Beyond the sky” does well to encapsulate a myriad of national examples across the globe with regards to the physical safety of women and young girls. Bloom’s article on women martyrs then presented a loosely related example of physical violence on women’s bodies. While there is an urgency to address the physical symptoms of inflicting violence on women’s bodies or even the normalization of that cycle, there is also the deeper-rooted factor of education and cultural influences.
I zero in on the Senegalese accepted norm of women’s genital mutilation and how that context echoes the need to address education and cultural norms but with an awareness of colonialism. Molly Melching draws attention to effective intervention and says, “Law is a quick fix solution, and then people think you don’t have to do anything else” (Kristof and Wudunn, 2010). The chapter then speaks to the testimony of Melching’s daughter coming to her and requesting to “getting cut’ because of her peers receiving the operation. The strategy that the group utilizes is encouraging wider education to alert communities that genital cutting is not universal but at the same time not advocating the practice. Due to historical precedence, it common for various African countries to now challenge western influences because of the violence that was implicated through colonization. The model as a result utilizes a nonjudgmental model to discuss human rights and health related concerns around the practice.
The violence on women’s bodies then illustrated with Bloom’s article with shahidas or female martyrs posed a complex phenomenon around nation-states and the relationship with women’s wellbeing. Considering the trajectory of women who turn to suicide bombing as a viable solution, Bloom’s article points to connected experiences around childhood trauma and often accept the indoctrination of the organization recruiting martyrs for a cause (Bloom, 2005). While violent in portrayal the motivation to consider self-sacrifice is a common theme for mother around the globe. Themes of self-sacrifice repeat in different geographic context with the example of women searching for war bombs (The all-women team searching for Vietnam war bombs, 2019). The theme also repeats throughout history with the example of women revolutionaries in latin America involved with armed struggle, yet experiences are intertwined with patriarchal beliefs in culture (Lobao, 1990).
Part 2: For a social work intervention to be effective, the immediate safety of women along with cultural shifts of education need to simultaneously take hold. Efforts need to be initiated by women impacted and supported by others. I leave with an empty feeling in my stomach that for shahidas there was a narrow tunnel of options where they perhaps sit in isolation and prepare for the next state sanctioned act of violence or they find a place in martyrdom. The options for communities of women anywhere facing occupation, family separation, deaths of loved ones, patriarchal violence need the support because I’m confident that they already hold a vision of the future with peace and fruition.
References: Bloom, Mia. (2005). Mother, daughter, sister, bomber. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 54-62. Kristof, Nicolas, and Cheryl Wudunn. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Vintage. Lobao, L. M. (1990). WOMEN IN REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS: CHANGING PATTERNS OF LATIN AMERICAN GUERRILLA STRUGGLE. Dialectical Anthropology, 15(2/3), 211–232. JSTOR. The all-women team searching for Vietnam war bombs. (2019, June 9). South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3013641/44-years-after-war-us-vietnam-has-all-women-team-searching
A problem that many women face in the present day is their role in society. This consists of multiple different factors, from money, to family position, to being a citizen of a country, to other forms. Throughout the different cultures of society, a common thread might be the role that women take within the societies. Women have children and raise them, while also taking care of the duties within their residence. Throughout history, even the role of women were mostly about them staying in the house and taking care of duties. In the present day, their role as members of a society changes and varies from different cultures. Women may feel empowered here in the United States to make a change because of the constant discrimination within American society. In other societies, and even within our own society however, not so much. Women have been used as prizes and trophies during times of war and aren’t even given the sympathy from their families once they have been ravaged. Women have to hide their attacks, their rapes, and their true feelings to stay within the roles of society, or they may be ostracized. WuDunn and Kristof (2009) explains that many survivors may not be believed and will bring “shame” upon the family for their behavior, thus leading her to kill herself. A woman may not have the proper care/resources for giving birth, thus resulting in nerve damage and fistulas. WuDunn and Kristof (2009) also talk about women not receiving proper education in some societies because of their role as a woman. Women have to take care of the duties in the home, so why do they need education? It’s unfortunate. There have been human rights laws that have been applied to women, but they didn’t address the risks of women, according to Gallagher (2005). To open up the conversation, a simple intervention of just addressing the issues and putting it out there for people to see, I think, is a first step. Not everyone sees the role of women and how there are many risks towards thinking of women in that role.Most communities ignore it because it’s not displayed enough, so giving people the space to talk about it may have a powerful effect on those who hear it. We, as people, tune in when someone talks about their struggles, so opening the door for women to talk about their struggles within their communities, societies, and even within their homes and how the role society gave them makes them feel would be a huge first step. Sources: Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the idea of Muslim women’s human rights. Journal of Mideast Women’s Studies, 1, 96-107. Kristof, N. and Wudunn, S. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Vintage.
Like most immigrant groups, south Asian’s immigrants are highly vulnerable to psychological distress because of migration, subsequent pressures to acculturate as well as other social determinants, which have an important result on the functioning and quality of life (Taylor, Brown, & Weinman, 2009). For instance, in United Kingdom research study on the rates of depression and anxiety among middle-aged Pakistan’s men as well as older Indians and Pakistan’s women showed significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety in contrast to whites of similar aged. Additionally, other research studies have explicitly indicated high vulnerability among south Asian’s female immigrants to self-harm as well as specific mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and eating-related psychopathology (Rehman, 2016). When conceptualizing the mental health of women and children, several factors ought to be considered. Immigrant women tend to exhibit higher degrees of mental health challenges compared to non-parents due to their parental role alongside their lack of a non-coping mechanism to factors such as limited finances and discrimination exhibited to them in their host nations. Women might manage with the mental challenges during their prenatal period but get overwhelmed during their post-natal care. This is because of the caregiving stressors build upon by the changes they experience and challenges they faced in both their native and host country. Whereas both fathers and mothers are at heightened risk for mental health challenges, such as depression in respect to their caregiving responsibilities, immigrant women are at greater risk in comparison to men due to their post-natal mood fluctuation. The women similar to their children might be more subject to cultural anticipations like personal and family sacrifice illustrating their vulnerability hence the need for their being provided with adequate and effective mental health services in immigrants’ institutions. Furthermore, due to gender-based roles, as typical in most immigrant cultures such as the Chinese, immigrant women are more expected to care for their family compared to men resulting to their fewer exposures to opportunities for their integration, employment, and environment making them more susceptible to health disorders. Mental illness is a very bad condition that is not only expensive to treat but also predecessor or in other words, causes of other diseases. Majority of immigrants, especially those from non-English speaking nations, have challenges assessing health services, an issue that is authentic regarding mental healthcare. Moreover, when individuals from culturally diverse societies such as the Chinese access mental health services, they consistently receive less than sufficient mental care. To ascertain the above-stated, research executed in the South Wales state found out that Chinese immigrants has amongst the lowest rates of hospitalizations for mental health disorders. When conceptualizing the mental health of women and children, several factors ought to be considered. Immigrant women tend to exhibit higher degrees of mental health challenges compared to non-parents due to their parental role alongside their lack of a non-coping mechanism to factors such as limited finances and discrimination exhibited to them in their host nations. Women might come up with the mental challenges during their prenatal period but get overwhelmed during their post-natal care. This is because of the caregiving stressors build upon by the changes they experience and challenges they faced in both their native and host country.
Rehman, T. (n.d) “Social stigma, cultural constraints, they’re very different”: Health and Social Care in the Community. Columbia Undergraduate J S Asians. 12(5): 414-421.
Taylor, R., Brown, J.S., Weinman, J. (2013). A comparison of the illness perceptions of North Indian and white British women. Mental Health Journal, 22(1):22-32.
In recent decades, technologic developments have swiftly transformed the world around us, creating immense career opportunities for nearly everyone holding a job in the industry. Nevertheless, the technology sector has also contributed to creating one of the largest gender gaps. It is no secret that the number of women working in technology-related positions varies across cities, countries and continents. Nevertheless, according to the latest numbers provided by the Small Business Trends publication, in 2018, only 20 percent of all jobs in technology were held by women. Some countries, such as Lithuania, where women hold over a quarter of jobs in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) sector, recognize the problem and have launched multiple initiatives to close the gender gap in the technology sector. While some were launched by the Government and even included ambitious, yet poorly-drafted policy proposals, the most successful attempts to promote the success of women in technology came from the country’s civil society. A programme that undoubtedly deserves to be highlighted in this report is called “Women Go Tech”. Launched in 2016 by the country’s ICT association called “Infobalt” and supported by Lithuania’s top tech enterprises, the programme has gained international recognition by facilitating the career path of some 240 alumni, liaising with over 120 mentors and organizing more than 100 events. And this is only the beginning. “Women Go Tech” has only one goal and it is to promote leadership of women in the technology industry by empowering them with the necessary knowledge, up-to-date skills and perseverance to succeed. The program envisages the creation of 500 success stories of women in the technology industry by 2021 and it plans to do this by enabling participating women to either find a job in the tech industry, get promoted in the tech industry or establish a tech-based start-up. Mentorship and awareness programmes such as “Women Go Tech” clearly demonstrate that success in closing the gender gap, ridding entire industries of discrimination and empowering women can evidently be achieved by thoughtful and driven members of civil society.
As a millenial generation that grew up in Africa, parenting styles that involves violent methods is not something that is new to me. I witnessed it all the time while growing up. If I were to lead a parent support group in another country, I would first of all study and make an extensive research on their cultural ways and norms of how things are done over there. Taking into account their history, experiences, patterns etc. over time. It not my place as social worker to make overall assumptions, criticize or dictate how things should be done.
According to Healy, “A social worker needs to be aware, develop cross- cultural knowledge and understanding. Social workers in international relief and development work utilize many of the skills learned in their professional training. They combine these with a commitment to development, knowledge of the international context, and well-honed sensitivity and communication skills for cross-cultural work”. (Healy; 2008).
Adhering to the values of my profession which includes ‘respect for differing cultures, traditions, beliefs, and expressed needs and a sense of personal responsibility for promoting development’ in going about the situation. I would adopt the ‘Dialogue and Strength Approach’ which is usually crucial to ethical cross-cultural practices such as this one to intervene and evaluate both the process and outcome of this issue. I do realize using may be viewed differently as it may not always be effective in some cultures for example, confidentiality principle didn’t work for a Zimbabwean social worker who suddenly became overwhelmed with a feeling of estrangement, after an encounter with an elder man over disclosure of information. As a social worker the best way for me is to adapt and search for ways to blend the principles of social work to relevant areas which I believe would be effective for solving problems. This also applies to other social work principles such as self-determination, equality and non-discrimination respectively.
In trying to connect this with how I would aim to promote parenting that does not encourage violence, because I realize how much parents can be misinformed and mostly raise their kids the same way they were raised, I would attempt to enlighten and reeducate them about the negative consequences such the adverse effect it would have on their child’s development. Taking into account the Russian parenting styles according to the Hart’s research, he discovered that psychologically controlling parenting styles have been linked to overcontrolled, internalizing childhood disorders, such as anxiety and depression (e.g., Siqueland, Kendall, & Steinberg, 1996) and also “Parental psychological control also has been associated with behaviorally under controlled adolescent delinquent behaviors (Barber, 1996) and, recently, has been linked to overt and relational aggression in school-age children (Grotpeter, 1997). Again, Dialogue is an important tool to be utilized here, as I would encourage them talk about their feelings and denounce practices such as child trafficking, female genital mutilation etc.
Works Cited:
Hart, Craig H.; Nelson, David A.; Robinson, Clyde C.; Olsen, Susanne Frost; McNeilly-Choque, Mary Kay (1998). Overt and Relational Aggression in Russian Nursery-School-Age Children: Parenting Style and Marital Linkages. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 687– 697.
Healey, Lynn M. (2008). International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World. 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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ReplyDeleteThe collapse of the Soviet Union and the totalitarian regimes has significantly accelerated the need to legitimize gender equality and equal opportunities. Accession to the European Union has opened up new horizons for women and men and social groups in the new Member States in terms of the legal framework, overcoming long-standing patriarchal society and family order, breaking gender and gender stereotypes, stopping domestic violence and implementing equal opportunities policies.
ReplyDeleteHowever, equal opportunities are not acceptable and understandable to all. Blind adherence to patriarchal norms, superstitions or national traditions, and the biological treatment of man still hampers the realization of gender equality and equal opportunities. Supporters of the traditional way of life, advocates of religious fundamentalism, propagators of traditional masculinity and femininity are still declaring the destruction of the traditional world, traditional morals and family values. They do not want to see and understand the changing nature of society, the diversity of family forms, the emergence of new roles of women and men in family and society, and sexuality as an important aspect of personality development, the emergence of new concepts, traditions and values. And, most importantly, they do not accept the right of liberated personality, the meaning of a free personality that is capable of being critical of the state, authorities, churches, institutions of society, because they still discriminate against women and social groups in one way or another. Lithuanian dogmatics are particularly discouraged by women who have independent thinking and self-confidence.
An excellent example of patriarchal mentality, Darwinism and behaviorism is the book by Lawyer Karolis Jovsasa, published in late 2009, entitled "Prevention of Domestic Violence: Anatomy of Illusions". In this book, the author argues that gender equality cannot exist, that "equal opportunity is an ideal and a legal mirage" because human beings are governed by instincts, especially the instinct of aggression that underpins the social inequality of human beings. The author of the book emphasizes that not only men but also women are the perpetrators of violence. Karolis Jovaiðs refuses to acknowledge that domestic and international research on domestic violence is related to masculine gender. The investigator tends to blame women for provoking or staging violence. This is the stereotypical attitude of a typical man towards women in the family.
After reading an article about Divorced From Justice, my view is that there is no equality between men and women in Egypt. Men have the greater advantage of being more valued, respected, having more power and authority than women. When it comes to divorce, a man in Egypt can apply for a divorce at any time and within 30 days the divorce will take place, and if a woman wants to divorce, then there are major difficulties. This process takes a long time and is usually encouraged to reconcile with or obey a man. Therefore, women are under obligation and do not have their rights. Thus, from the examples given in Lithuania and Egypt, we can say that women are still subject to discrimination.
1. Deif F., Divorce from Justice, Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall, 2005), pp. 108-115
2. Jovaišas, K. Smurto šeimoje prevencija: iliuzijų anatomija. Vilnius: Eugrimas, 2009, p. 381. Moterų politinio atstovavimo didinimas keičiant rinkimų sistemą. Rezoliucija Nr. 1706 (2010)
Reading about the legal system in Egypt and all Muslim coasts shocked me with gender inequality.
DeleteJust as humiliation, poverty, injustice, violence, both psychological and legal, must endure for women to break up in marriage.
Most often, being left without children, without finances, without a place to live, even marginalized societies.
Most women in the world suffer discrimination, for example. gender discrimination, age discrimination, employment discrimination. Intervention to reduce workplace exclusion, workload.
ReplyDeleteIt has become an accepted part of life, accessible to anyone with an internet connection and free time. It dehumanizes women as sexual objects, things, commodities. It is pornography. This is quite an awkward subject to talk about no matter where you are in the world, but I think it must be spoken about. I think on some level we all understand that porn is not good for women, but we choose not to acknowledge the extent of the harm it perpetuates.
ReplyDeleteIn Discourses on Life and Law, Catherine Mackinnon defines pornography as, “the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words that also includes women dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities; enjoying pain or humiliation or rape; being tied up, cut up, mutilated, bruised, or physically hurt; in postures of sexual submission or servility or display; reduced to body parts, penetrated by objects or animals, or presented in scenarios of degradation, injury, torture; shown as filthy or inferior; bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual.1” Porn is violence at its core. It teaches us violence against women as the path to pleasure. Manhood defined by the subordination and degradation of women for the world to witness. It is sad, really, how this brand of sex discrimination is so common and consumed that it has become an accepted part of life.
On many sites, especially those like Pornhub, it is impossible to know whether the women depicted have been trafficked, are of legal age, are being paid fairly, or are being coerced into the situation being recorded. Is what you are watching revenge porn? Is that girl being drugged? Does she have the right and ability to seek recourse if she has been wronged? If we cannot answer these questions definitively, why do we watch? Why do we continue to consume pornography like this? And even if these conditions are fulfilled, why do we seek out content depicting the sexual degradation of women in the first place? To do so inherently objectifies us, reduces us as a tool for pleasure. And this extends into our everyday interactions with others. If we grow up with porn, we can expect to replicate its violence in our own beds. Women do not expect pleasure, learn to expect pain as a part of sex, and men learn to inflict it. Women walking down the street are objects, existing for the sexual pleasure of men. Pornography is an institution of gender inequality.
It is difficult to find a solution to something that now is embedded in the fabric of our society. Previously, anti-porn advocates had used civil rights litigation as an approach to combat pornography2. I do not believe in arguments against pornography based in ideas of moral purity or sexual innocence. This is merely the other side of the coin when it comes to sexual oppression. Positing the harm done by Pornography as a human rights issue is essential to this fight for women’s equality. Most of the work done through sex discrimination litigation was done before the advent of the internet. Today, it is an entirely different game. One step that should be taken is shutting down sites like Pornhub. Sites where anyone can upload content become a breeding ground for pedophilia, rape porn, trafficking, and revenge porn. There is a long way to go but this would be a start. Further criminalizing the hosting of these illegal videos would help prevent their circulation and further harm to victims. There are currently organizations to help women who have been harmed by pornography seek legal recourse, but this is time consuming, expensive, and emotionally traumatizing. I do not see this situation improving without an extensive legal reform and new legislation. It must be fought for.
1 Mackinnon, C. (1987). Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Pp. 176.
2 Brownmiller, S. (1999). In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution. New York: Dial Press. Pp. 337.
Excellent expression of thoughts! 'Pornography is an institution of gender inequality' indeed.. How pitty that even women are consuming these contents and code all these behavours in their subconscious as normal.. then become an object in their own bed, seek for partner's please but not her own. Maybe its unavoidable to consume in todays' wolrd and maybe thats why there must be a legal reform..
DeleteI agree with unknown thouths."If we grow up with porn, we can expect to replicate its violence in our own beds. Women do not expect pleasure, learn to expect pain as a part of sex, and men learn to inflict it. Women walking down the street are objects, existing for the sexual pleasure of men." Thats why, social workers, schools, need to educate new generation, raise families to respect women and men alike, and so on.
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ReplyDeleteSocial exclusion
ReplyDeleteIn Lithuania, women earn on average 13 percent lower wages than men face stereotypes and discrimination in the work market, with unpaid work at home, rarely having higher and managerial education. In many cases, a woman often goes on a parental leave, during which she loses her professional ability, which in turn influences social exclusion. Women may also feel socially excluded for subjective reasons when they are unable to fulfill a particular professional role in society. Inferior treatment of a woman (than a man) as an employee makes it more difficult for women to meet their professional needs, to pursue a career and to achieve a higher social status. When providing assistance to women experiencing social exclusion, they should be taken into account that they are not prepared to compete in the work market and that is why in the first stage every social activity that develops social skills is able to communicate and take responsibility is important. Such activities could include involvement of women in organizing local community events, setting up mutual aid clubs, etc. Where there are pre-school facilities, child day care centers should be set up to enable women to participate in employment programs.
Also, women who lack social skills and professional experience should be offered public and part-time jobs supported by the Employment Fund. Part-time work would help women reconcile employment with family responsibilities.
Literature:
Melnikienė, R. (2005). Traditional public attitudes towards the role of women in the family and social exclusion. Bridges, (2), 65-72.
Iyer, A., & Ryan, M. K. (2009). Why do men and women challenge gender discrimination in the workplace? The role of group status and in-group identification in predicting pathways to collective action. Journal of Social Issues, 65 (4), 791-814
I agree with Stella that womens in lithuania especially singles moms felling social separate. I think that this is legacy from Soviet Union,because women is a house keeper and take all care of child growing.Man should be strong and seek for better carier.
DeleteI agree with Stella too. And i would like to add, that there are also employers who are often interested in a woman's marital status. Employers want to know how many children woman has. This is a violation of the privacy of a woman's human rights.
DeleteAlthough there are major changes in the world towards gender equality, the gap still remains and unfortunately may widen. Gender discrimination against women is defined as 'unfavorable treatment' of women in the public space : in employment, training, education, housing and other activities carried out by public authorities. In structural terms, discrimination implies a profound injustice to the prejudice of some groups, often due to unconscious stereotypes. I analyzed Gallagher's (2005) article on discrimination against women in divorce proceedings in Egyp. The unequal divorce system prevailing in Egypt undermines the damanding many women, establishment those in violent relationships, of trying to divorce. This system is based discriminatory views about women and their ability to make their own divorce . In view of the situation in Egypt, which includes discrimination against women in divorce proceedings, and in order to mitigate the situation of women in this situation, it is proposed that the Egyptian Government adopt legal and administrative reforms ensuring that women have equal opportunities to divorce with men. To reduce male domination in Egypt, thus given the situation of women, as this will reduce male impunity in relations with women and the process of divorce will be based on equality. Establish (2004) specialized family courts to deal with all family disputes. Women who are experiencing difficult divorce with their husbands to provide in programs that work with divorced Egyptian women and victims of domestic violence, which programe should include: interventions related to psychological services, health services and women's shelters; Create quality shelters for women that protect their autonomy and privacy. Collaborate with non-governmental women's and human rights organizations to advertise domestic violence public policy, widely disseminate information on how victims of domestic violence can for legal redress, and publicize services for victims of domestic violence, where women will be understood to be accepted. Interventions for women should focus on exploring the social functions of their violent behavior, and practitioners should be involved in the "systemic forces of inequality" and teach women how to engage in civic engagement and self-advocacy. Looking to Lithuania, progress has been made in the area of gender discrimination and gender equality. The Penal Code, equal opportunities and other legal provisions have been improved. Convention on Violence against Women is signed. A working group has been set up to work with women who are victims of domestic violence. The various ongoing projects teach to recognize violence.
ReplyDelete• Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107.
• Hazel, K. L., & Kleyman, K. S. (2019). Gender and sex inequalities: Implications and resistance. Journal of prevention & intervention in the community, 1-12.
• Žunić, N. (2014). Discrimination against women and the human rights of women. Зборник радова Правног факултета у Нишу, 53(67), 45-58
This is a fantastic insight into the institution of marriage in Egypt and its effect on women! Here in America, despite the advances the women's rights movement has made, it is still very hard for women to get divorced without suffering financial, social, or familial strife. It is often incredibly costly and emotionally stressful. It is really important for women to have access to mental health services when going through a divorce, in fact it should be standard practice.
DeleteThere are organizations here in Chicago that help to support women leaving domestic violence situations by offering them shelter, therapy, and job training, but there is a far larger need than our system can handle. These organizations also help with the legal process, whether it is for a restraining order, divorce, or criminal trial. But again, it is hard to meet the need of all these women, and without getting help, they often have no choice but to return to abusive partners. Breaking this cycle of abuse will be impossible without giving women the means to exit these relationships and achieve independence without so much hardship. Preventive practices are very important as well. Teaching kids how to recognize the signs of an abusive relationship (red flags) and where to get help is so important.
One of the major differences between Western civilization and the norms of the Islamic world is the attitude towards women and family relationships.
ReplyDeleteThe articles on Egyptian women's experiences of domestic violence, parenting, divorce clearly discern religious influences, narratives formed traditionally, profanely, and passed down from generation to generation. As a result, domestic violence and discrimination are increasing.
Gender discrimination, inequality in family survival is terrible. Children grow up in families where they assimilate the values they declare. And if, from generation to generation, the status of a woman in the family is unequal, more equal to the role of a nanny, slave, grown children will build families based on the same traditions, values.
Sharia law provides different laws and rights for women. Egypt has two different judicial systems for women and men. Violence against women is commonplace and justifiable, the woman's financial instability after divorce is emphasized, children are placed in the care of a man and so on. In countries where so much inequality is heavily felt by social workers or activists who fight for women's rights. They could psychologically, empower her to support women, provide them with the necessary knowledge, confidence, escort them to their positions, help prepare their children for legal proceedings, and help them find a job less dependent on men.
Although inequality of law and discrimination is strong in the eastern countries, there is also an abundance of discrimination against women and domestic violence in democratic states that recognize all articles of the United Nations, the Convention on Women's Rights. But here they are protected by the law, women are assuming their important role in society and are actively fighting for it.
So wherever we are in social work, along with other activists, we need to actively educate society against all forms of discrimination.
Free education for children should be guaranteed in all countries. In secondary schools, a unit is taught, where children are introduced to basic documents validating the equality of all people and the ship.
More social workers in public libraries, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers that could be contacted, families, women, children because of problems they have.
Empowering Women Economically To help ensure financial stability for women. Women are often left with abusive men and women because of the financial burden they face. Organize free legal assistance in finding volunteers.
Raise family awareness through targeted media, magazines to encourage them to take a wider interest, attend seminars, parenting courses.
Establish and strengthen organizations combating all forms of discrimination.
Many people with lower levels of education, experience, and low income do not understand how and what can be done to achieve a better emotional state, family consensus, and one of the initiatives is to negotiate with employers for joint meetings with employees to deliver positive parenting, stress, management, etc. programs that people are interested in and want to attend. I would also see a direct benefit to the employer, such as having a good family relationship, coping with the stress and improving the quality of her work.
Literature:
1. Deif F., Divorce from Justice, Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall, 2005), pp.108-115
2. https://manoteises.lt/encyclopaedia/jt-motheru-discrimination-cleaning-committee/
3. Jovaišas, K. Prevention of Domestic Violence: Anatomy of Illusions. Vilnius: Eugrim, 2009, p. 381. Increasing women's political representation by changing the electoral system. Resolution no. 1706 (2010)
4. Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107.
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ReplyDeleteThe wage gap is an often subject brought up when talking about gender inequality and discrimination. Its usually clouded by a lot of different opinions, facts and logic. As noted by Blau, Francine D., and Lawrence M. Kahn. 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations. Gender differences in occupations and industries, as well as differences in gender roles and the gender division of labor remain important, and research based on experimental evidence strongly suggests that discrimination cannot be discounted. From information I have read, I came to conclusion that women tend to focus on jobs that pay less overall, women tend to be more agreeable and less likely to move across countries for job offerings or take up a role in job with more responsibility.
ReplyDeletePregnancy also plays a role which could be counted as discrimination, while there is currently no good option to battle it, I believe there could be made some reforms with job-pregnancy policies which would be more favorable to both employer and employee such as doing work from home. While the times have changed, outlook on women and men and their social roles haven’t changed too much. Females are still expected to be feminine and more focused on family and men are still looked at as strong masculine figure with no emotion. To change this, reforms should be made where gender stereotypes should be broken. This would allow girls and boys from young age focus on what they like more rather than pre-determined stereotypical interest fields such as art for girls and mechanical work for boys. This would help in the long run with stereotypes breaking and young adults flourishing in new fields which is usually dominated by one gender such as STEM field. This way gender pay gap would reduce in time, due to women taking more paying jobs.
Social workers could help via media working together making people talk more openly about stereotypes and how much of influence it has over people. More seminar could be held about how women could handle difficult situations at work, making them more resilient to agreeableness which would increase the chances of getting higher pay rise. Releasing more information about responsibilities and how they affect your life in positive way would help everyone by making individuals more attracted to higher positions at work.
References:
Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2017). The gender wage gap: Extent, trends, and explanations. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(3), 789-865.
In Lithuania we have an Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. The mission of this office - to ensure equal opportunities and prevent discrimination in society. Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania enshrines the equality of persons and the prohibition on the restriction of human rights and privileges on the basis of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, social status, religion, beliefs or beliefs. In 1999 March 1, The Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, adopted by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, entered into force.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Pavilionienė (2010) an important role in changing the 20th century worldview was carried out by the United Nations, created after World War II, which aimed not only to stabilize the international relations of the states, but also to restore justice in society: promoting respect for human rights and freedoms, eliminating discrimination against women and promoting gender equality. The most important document on gender equality was the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This convention recommended that states be enshrined in their constitutions and laws the principle of equality between women and men, overcoming national prejudices, traditions, gender stereotypes that discourage gender equality policy, support single, male, gender domination and leadership in society. The document is considered to be the foundation of women's rights, as it emphasizes women's political, economic and social rights, family rights and the means to enforce these rights.
Discriminatory personal status laws throughout the Middle East and North Africa have denied women countless human rights enjoyed by their counterparts in other regions. These laws govern some of the most private aspects of women's lives (marriage, divorce, and child custody) and undermine women's standing before the law and in society at large. Governments that rely on these laws have- in favor of male citizens and a patriarchal social order- codified a system that treats women as perpetual legal minors under the eternal guardianship of their male relatives (Deif, 2005). Gallagher (2005) said that much violence against women occurs in the home. The Egyptian government, like many others in the region, has essentially created two widely disparate systems for divorce, one for men and one for women. Egyptian men have a unilateral and unconditional right to divorce. For example, in order to begin divorce proceedings in Egypt, women are required to obtain legal counsel, provide evidence of harm, often through eyewitness testimony, and submit to court-ordered mediation. From this example, we can see, that there is no equality between women and men in Egypt. Also, it’s very obvious, that Egyptian women suffer gender discrimination.
Domestic violence must be tackled when the state develops a system to deal with domestic violence: it not only creates a law but also provides lawyers, policemen, psychologists, social workers with appropriate knowledge on how to deal with the abuser and the victim; creates a network of social housing where the abuser or victim of domestic violence can live; educates the public on the reduction of violence (Pavilionienė, 2010). In my opinion, social work, which is not currently in this country, should occur in Egypt in order to carry out certain interventions. In my view, the absence of social work in Islamic countries is largely influenced by religion, which creates a confrontation between faith and discrimination against women. In Egypt could be set up organizations to help women who wish to divorce, to provide psychological, legal and social services. In my opinion, it would be wonderful for Egypt to have women's crisis centers to help women in difficult situations in their lives.
There is still a very large pay gap between men and women, up to a few days following the stereotypical view of a woman's single family, which prevents women from integrating into the labor market. Discrimination based on sex outside of education, culture, health and other areas can be experienced by people with disabilities, young people or the elderly, floor coverings, nationalities, religions, beliefs and social status. The claim that age has a greater negative impact on a woman's social life than that of a man remains relevant - it is a matter of multiple discrimination, which is much more common among women than men. It is much harder for older women to compete in the labor market than men of the same age.
ReplyDeleteIn order to reduce gender discrimination, women should receive appropriate information and services from socially vulnerable groups. In this case we are talking about women belonging to minorities or people with disabilities, migrant women, women living in rural areas and older people, and representatives of sexual minorities. It is also important to mention that not only should the legal framework be strengthened, but also various policy tools should be used, such as mainstreaming non-discrimination and gender equality, raising public awareness, collecting data on discrimination, affirmative action, dialogue, the development of non-discrimination and equal opportunities.
Concerning the labor market, Lithuania draws attention to the gender pay gap for work of equal value. To this end, labor inspectorates should be stepped up, data should be constantly analyzed and the public should be made aware that women and men should be paid equally for work of equal value.
It is very important to emphasize the importance of women's employment opportunities, with particular emphasis on older women, women with disabilities, migrant women, romani nationality and rural women, who tend to have less access to the labor market due to prevailing stereotypes.
Literature:
Neverauskienė, L. O. (2011). Diskriminacijos apraiškos: aktuali būklė bei tendencijos antidiskriminacijos srityje Lietuvoje. Lietuvos socialinių tyrimų centro Darbo ir socialinių tyrimų institutas.
Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, A. Ka Tat Tsang. (2004). When Asian Immigrant Women Speak: From Mental Health to Strategies of Being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
I agree with Akvilė that it is much harder for older women to compete in the labor market than men of the same age. From my personal experience I can add that sometimes women don't change work for this reason, they are afraid that after they left it woud be hard to find another job, just because they are older.
DeleteAs prof. Tyson says in lecture -Women have not achieved equality with men in any country. From the readings about Egypt law system for divorce, which have two widley desperate for man and for woman, usually if woman want to make a case for woman need evidence which show evidence of harm. Simply filing for divorce does not mean getting a divorce, judges delay divorce proceedings, and try to avoid paying alimony from a mens , woman agreeing to give up all her financial rights just to get divorse and other rights to a kids or home in order to get a divorce, so woman become homeless in divorce process (Deif, 2005). Human rights have a long journey prevent muslim population countries, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan from domestic violence againts woman, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and pregnancy, sexual slavery, and rape, and pointed out that women were far more likely than men to suffer from abuses that afflict both. Gallagher (2005, p. 105) in 2005, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed resolutions condemning marital rape, violence against women on the basis of dress codes, and calling for reproductive rights and sexual health. Moreover trafficking of young girls and women into prostitution become 21 century slavery (Tyson at al, 2018)
ReplyDeleteMy answer to all these readings and my thoughts about women discrimintion is in human rights. The importance and connection between social work and human rights realization is increasingly recognized. Social workers aim to eliminate exclusion of people from society, and contribute to social justice and human dignity Dibbets and Eijkman (2018, p. 212). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the first artical says that we all born free and equal in dignity and rights (The Universal Declaration of Human Right, 2008). Dignity is a way to be treated. That meaning of dignity coresponds to the idea of being treated with dignity or dignity respect (Moeckli at al., 2014 p.35). Malala in United Nation Speech is inspire to all of us make for action, rised voice for a rights. The amim thing is education and dignity.The right of education of evey child to get to know philosophy of none-violence life style. The power of education brings equality and change society (Malala, 2013). In conclusion I want say if we descriminate dignity like human right so any human being will not be treated in respect. The importans of education in all the world is saving lifes for youngs girls, also education is associated with later marriages, sexual slavery, help womens make their owen choises about genital cuting and make decision not to sacrifice selves instead of a mans.
Deif, F. (2005). Divorced from justice. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 108-11
Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107.
Dibbets, A., & Eijkman, Q. (2018). Translators, Advocates or Practitioners? Social Workers and Human Rights Localization. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 10(2), 212-228
Malala, Y., (2013, July 12). United Nation Speech [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRh_30C8l6Y&t=633s
Moeckli, D., Shah, S., Harris, D., & Sivakumaran, S. (Eds.). (2014). International human rights law. Oxford University Press.
Tyson, M., Ivanauskienė, V., Liobikiene, N., (2018).Global Social Work Practice: Reflective Practice for Justice and Peace. Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work and Vytautas Magnus University Department of Social Work.
Trindade, A. A. C. (2008). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Audiovisual Library of International Law.
Convention was the culmination of more than thirty years of work by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, a body established in 1946 to monitor the situation of women and promote women's rights. The commissioned work has been instrumental in bringing light to all areas in which women are denied equality with men. These efforts for the advancement of women have several declarations and conventions, one of which is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, is the central and most comprehensive document.
ReplyDeleteAmong the international human rights treaties, the Convention takes an important place in bringing the female half of humanity into the focus of human rights concerns. The spirit of the Convention is rooted in the goals of the United Nations: to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in dignity, and worth in the human person, in equal rights for men and women. The present document spells out the meaning of equality and how it can be achieved. In doing so, the Convention establishes only an international bill for rights for women, but also an agenda for action by countries to guarantee the enjoyment of those rights.
When I read the article Divorced from Justice (2005), I was shocked that the Egyptian government, like many others in the region, has essentially created two widely disparate systems for divorce, one for men and one for women. Egyptian men have a unilateral and unconditional right to divorce, marriages. Egyptian women, on the other hand, must resort to Egypt's notoriously backlogged and inefficient courts, where they confront a judicial process fraught with countless difficulties, delays, and legal uncertainty states that women may not have a strong keenness to stay in the family in order to divorce. Divorced women have no independent stake in marital assets and retain no ownership interest in marital home or any other property upon divorce. Women's nonmonetary contributions to the home are neither valued nor recognized; women are denied their share of marital property absent specific title in wife's name. In this case, I believe that the legal system must be the same for both, with equal access to property, etc.
References:
• Deif, F. (2005). Divorced from justice. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 108-115.
• Schluter, B. (1973). The domestic status of the human rights clauses of the United Nations charter. Calif. L. Rev., 61, 110.
ReplyDeleteThe roots of gender discrimination or gender stereotype attitudes has in childhood. Even “In most traditional societies, gender-stereotyped play activities during early childhood are accepted and encouraged as useful preparation for adult roles. In increasingly complex and technological modern societies, in which work and social roles are rapidly evolving, there is less acceptance of the concept that children should be encouraged to focus their play on traditionally stereotyped activities in preparation for gender-differentiated adult roles.” (Serbin, 2001). This case is quite visible in Turkey for instance when a large family is having evening tea all together, a 2 or 3 years old girl plays a game by serving tea with toys to everybody and is appreciated for this behaviour. I am not saying its wrong to appreciate the kid but boys should be encouraged to do so. Every products serving for kids like cartoons, books, toys, animations are sexualised (being attributed to a gender). Let alone buying a gender natural gift, we cant put them in gender neutral gift packs. In toy or clothing stores, as we want to buy something, the first question of the workers is that ‘is it a girl or boy?’ not likings. Stores are generally divided into main colours, blue and pink. Computer games are categorised as for girls (cooking, serving in a cafe, dressing, putting make up) and for boys ( car games or strategical games). Although parents get books for the mental development of kids, gender discrimination is always imposed by characters, compatibly with social roles in these books (e.g. engineer boy, working father, cooking mother, girl in need for help and boy as helper etc.). So in summary, discrimination in society takes its place in kids books and many other products as well.
Children’s toy preferences are a a discussion topic among scientist. In the literature there are some studies revealing that 14-20 month age kids show toy preferences consistent with gender stereotypes in the society (Serbin, 2001). However many scientist support the idea that children are thought to show these preferences (Martin & Halverson, 1981), as I mentioned in the previous paragraph. And importantly, children’s practices with sexualised toys may direct their cognitive and social development (Liss, 1983). And in this period, make social scientist discuss about it as a problem. Because it is a serious problem indeed. Especially in collectivistic cultures girls are raised with soft games instead strategic ones, appreciated for performing women’s duties accordingly society they live in and in turn they may dream of having a marriage with a partner who can take all the financial responsibility of the family including giving money for the women. Over time this life style becomes a problem for the women and even though she wants to divorce she cant due to lack of economic freedom.
In short, parents have to prepare their children no matter what gender they are, for the future world which is getting very competitive now. And I think social workers are responsible for creating awareness for the author of kid books, parents and even school teachers to promote gender equality during play times.
References
Liss, M. (Ed.) (1983). Social and cognitive skills: Sex roles and children’s play. New York: Academic Press.
Martin, C.L., & Halverson, C.F. (1981). A schematic processing model of sex typing and stereotyping in children. Child Development, 52, 1119–1134.
Serbin, L. A., Poulin-Dubois, D., Colburne, K. A., Sen, M. G., & Eichstedt, J. A. (2001). Gender stereotyping in infancy: Visual preferences for and knowledge of gender-stereotyped toys in the second year. International journal of behavioral development, 25(1), 7-15.
As my family begins to slowly grow given the new generation of family members born and celebrated for their birthdays each year this underlying conversation of gendered expectations comes up. I definitely find a strong correlation between gendered discrimination and early childhood experiences given the child's limitations and freedom to break a mold with clothing, toys, and past-times.
DeleteA layer to complicate in this conversation is also to what extent do we as scholars or parents project "sexualization" onto the experiences of children. Where a parent may see a child sucking on a phallic object a child developmental psychologist sees a transition between a child understanding the world through breast feeding and thus using that "skill" to explore the world around them. A dialogue that sparked just this past weekend with my cousin celebrating my nieces first birthday party. While so much is controlled for children little is provided for them to explore and understand some boundaries on their own. I also think about virginity balls that are practiced in the US where instead of focusing on the growth of their daughters, participating fathers center their young daughters sexual chastity as center. A counterproductive measure plays out.
Education starts at the womb with the new generation of parents celebrating a gender reveal party and building the rigid expectation of their child. I ponder at a reality where families celebrate new life and provide the room for a child to define themselves with access to a full spectrum of color (since grown adults don't choose between blue and pink) and a variety of activities to develop their own cognitive abilities and skills.
I totally agree with Ilk's opinion and want to add that no one can doubt that there is a difference between a female and a male. There are biological and social differences between the sexes. From a biological point of view, gender differences are manifested through anatomy and physiology, while the perception of social differences is expressed through feminine and masculine roles, behaviors, jobs, occupations, character traits, and so on. Gender differences that are more socially acceptable lead to gender roles that define how a man or woman should feel, behave, act, and what is best not done for one sex or another, which is less acceptable to society. All actions and feelings are learned through growth, acquired through observation and seeing specific examples in the educational process. As each person grows up, parents or others in charge of education develop a vision of the roles, actions and behaviors of men and women. Thinking about toys for kids, there are many toys that are sorted according to the standards created by society to fit a girl or a boy, and the color of the toy also gives you an idea of what it is best for, boy or girl. From an early age, girls play with dolls, embodying the role of a mother who needs to be gentle, responsible, caring, tidy and clean at home, cooking. At the same time, boyhood children are given to play with machines, guns, and various tools for repair. At that time, boys realize from childhood that they have to work harder, be strong, know how to defend and defend, and build or repair something. Readable tales are also very influential, creating a very clear gender distribution of roles and appearance. In addition, there is a tendency in society that a man or woman cannot wear the same clothes and dress in the same accessories.
DeleteThe female body and its functions define its social role, which is considered to be in a lower layer of the cultural process than the male. When a woman is raising a child, she is automatically associated with the family and identified with closeness to nature. The mother and their children, by common understanding, belong to each other.
The role of women in the labor market is intricately related to the society’s expectation of their roles at home. When the expectations of motherhood and the homemaker role are greater, the likelihood of women's labor market success will be smaller. This in turn discourages society to invest in women's safety and security outside their home environment. Inside their homes, society and state give priority to the spousal role of women ahead of their physical safety and mental well-being. Thus, conditions become rife for meting out violence and abuse towards them
ReplyDeleteWomen’s participation in the labour market often comes with a trade-off in their role at homemaking. This is very different to the trade-off men face in their labour market decisions. Success in the labour market may not necessarily improve a woman’s social status, if the society views her role primarily as one of a homemaker. But such views clearly deny the society of economic prosperity that women would unleash if they could participate in the labour market in a robust way. It has been abundantly evidenced that women who take time out to raise family find it difficult to re-enter the labour market, with their lifetime earnings being reduced by a variety of factors including motherhood. Considerations such as motherhood, child care and family obligations have tremendous impact on a woman’s decision to participate in the labour market, which in turn affects her income and her children’s welfare. Low labour market participation rate of women is a universal problem and different countries have sought to improve the rate in a variety of mechanisms.
Women’s decision to participate in the labour market depends not just on the wage they expect to get, but on a number of social factors, such as how safe the workplace is, to what extent she will have control over her fertility choice and particularly for Indian women, how welcoming her marital family will be to her spending time away from home. Additionally, there are caste-related taboos and prejudices (gender biases) that are carried over to the labour market that make employment relations fraught with social frictions. All these factors intricately affect a woman’s decision to work and seek economic independence.
In Lithuania, women earn on average 13 percent. Lower wages than men face stereotypes and discrimination in the labor market when doing unpaid domestic work, domestic violence, and are less likely to have higher and managerial education, although they are more educated and skilled men in the Polish country.
On the other hand, Lithuania has made progress in preventing violence, reducing discrimination against women and strengthening gender equality: the Penal Code, Equal Opportunities and other laws have been improved, the Convention on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence has been signed.
I want to give an example from my work, I work at the Women's Crisis Center. We have single mothers and single women who are victims of the burglary, lose their homes, relatives. etc. And the first help women receive from social workers is the recognition that they are respected and safe women. They receive free childcare while staying in the center so they can find work and start a new life. While they are at work, children go to school or kindergarten, spend time in the day care center, so there is always a baby-sitting room, a meal, a day and a safe. We have the opportunity to see them reborn. Self-esteem rises, recognition, finances arise and they then become stronger than ever.
References:
1. Lietuvos Respublikos socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerija (2020). Prieiga per internetą: http://socmin.lrv.lt/lt/naujienos/lyciu-lygybe-ir-moteru-diskriminacijos-panaikinimas-kas-pasiekta-ir-kokias-rekomendacijas-siulo-igyvendinti-jt-komitetas
2. Saha, B. (2015). Editorial Overview: Violence and Discrimination against Women. Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 27(2), 152–159.
Poverty, inequality, and discrimination endanger women's well-being. Economic inequalities within societies are associated with reduced life expectancy and a variety of negative physical health outcomes. Discrimination maintains inequalities, condemns women to lives of lessened economic security, and exposes them to unmerited contempt. Although the mental health impact of poverty is documented and largely understood, the implications of inequality and discrimination are less well known. In my opinion, one of the greatest discrimination against women is unemployment. There are still more women than men working in low-paid sectors, their wages are even lower, and we can still see a male presence in management positions. It has long been accepted that women are increasingly focused on the household, the family, especially children. Unfortunately, housework, childcare, and upbringing are not economically calculated and are not valued in wages. “The second reason that women earn less is the lower positions they hold. This is most pronounced in management and, as you know, salaries are highest in the management sector. The third reason is the areas in which women work. There are relative distinctions between female and male fields or professions. The lowest salaries are paid to women who have chosen to work in the field of education or medicine, ie educators, nurses. Women in the cultural, social care, protection and similar fields also earn the least.
ReplyDeleteLaws on equal rights for men and women have existed since the inception of the European Community. Since the 20th century A total of 13 pieces of legislation were adopted in the 1970s to ensure fair and equal treatment of women and men at work. Vareikytė (2006, p. 11) states that the importance of developing not only social ones is increasing in Lithuania a network of services for different client groups, but also the ability to organize local communities, to prepare and administer programs of social activities. For individuals providing social services, the role of community members activator and organizer is becoming increasingly important. Social players need new skills and knowledge as society changes structure, new social problems arise. Community based social services network of institutions, the growing number of social partners obliges the representatives of social activities to be and managers, i.e. understand and be able to identify the different social groups and institutions of people to cooperate with organizations of different subordinate and types. They have an important task -
coordinate the various social partners and strengthen their cooperation. According to Okonišnikova (2004), the representative of the social field can play many roles: social work specialist, mediator, assessor, mobilizer, teacher, consultant.
When working with women who suffer discrimination at work, the social worker should first be empathetic, i.e. to understand the emotional state of another person, to be able to empathize with his inner world. Based on the practical experience of social work, Leliūgienė (1997) identifies the main characteristics of a socioeducational specialist such as the ability to provide appropriate mediation, the ability to play the role of a "third person" associating personality with the microenvironment, informal communication in terms of being "behind the scenes", in an informal leader, facilitator position, compassion, cooperation, ability to be communicative, extroverted. Also, in my opinion, a social worker could help such a woman try to become bolder, who can stand up for herself and her rights.
In conclusion, there are still many cases of women not finding a job or being discriminated against in clothing because of being a woman. Therefore, the social worker can play an important role in helping women to defend their rights. He can write projects, do research, inform the public, set up awareness raising companies.
References:
ReplyDelete1. Vareikytė, A. (2006). Vietos savivalda ir socialinis darbas. Socialinio darbo administravimas. Vilnius: Lietuvos darbo rinkos mokymo tarnyba.
2. Okonišnikova, O. V. Profesinė kompetencija socialinio darbo praktikoje. Socialinis darbas. Profesinės veiklos įvadas (tarptautinis projektas). (2004). Vilnius: VU Specialiosios psichologijos laboratorija.
3. Leliūgienė, I. Socialinis darbas ir socioedukacinio darbo specialistų rengimo raida. Socialiniai mokslai. Edukologija. Nr. 3(12). (1997). Kaunas: Technologija.
Responding to the forces of globalization must take into account the major gender differences and differences in decision-making power, participation and return on effort that prevail in different societies. Gender inequality and discrimination all over the world may affect women more than men in the processes of globalization. On the other hand, cases of globalization can be significant for women. The gender impact of change needs to be systematically monitored to avoid sacrificing gender equality and human empowerment goals. Equality between women and men is still a goal. Although women's rights have expanded considerably in Europe in the last century, gender discrimination is still a widespread phenomenon. The European Parliament is keen to reduce violence and discrimination against women and is constantly looking into this issue and seeking ways to resolve it legally. Legislation adopted by the European Parliament guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, equality in the workplace, minimum maternity leave and gender equality has been in place in Europe for years. However, the reality is worse. Against the backdrop of a still gloomy situation, MEPs are keeping their hands open and are pushing states to take greater care of women. The fact that women are still considered different from men is illustrated by figures. In the last few years, women in the European Union earn on average 16.4%. less than men, according to Eurostat. There is ample evidence that women who need to spend time raising a family find it difficult to return to the labor market, as their lifelong earnings are reduced by a variety of factors, including motherhood.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the benefits of equal pay are increasingly emphasized: increasing career prospects for women would encourage the creation and development of better quality, positive jobs, unlock women's potential for business efficiency, reduce poverty, avoid workplace litigation and complaints of discrimination and unfair treatment at work. and money.
References:
1. Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, A. Ka Tat Tsang. (2004). When Asian Immigrant Women Speak: From Mental Health to Strategies of Being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
Humiliating attitude towards a woman is one of the discrimination forms against women. This discrimination form could be seen in Muslim history and in the Middle East and North Africa.
ReplyDeleteThe article about “Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights“ shows that domestic violence , female genital mutilation, forced marriage, pregnancy, sexual slavery and rape were big problems in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Women were raped in war or in prison more often than men. At that time, there were many reforms that included women's human rights provisions.
Other article, about “Divorced From Justice“, shows us, that there are laws that regulate women's private aspects - marriage, divorce, and child custody and undermine women's standing before the law and in society at large. The Egyptian government, has created two widely disparate systems for divorce, one for men and one for women. Egyptian men have a unilateral and unconditional right to divorce. They simply need to repudiate their wives, saying "you are divorced" three times and registering the divorce within thirty days with a religious notary to make it official. Men are considered more rational than women. So, a woman has almost no words at the time of divorce.
If a woman is humiliated in the family, and especially when children see it, it is expected that these actions will be repeated from generation to generation.
No matter what culture a person lives in. First of all, the person has begin to change himself and show it to their children. And not be afraid of what others will think. Also, the involving society is an opportunity to begin reforms and to get a support.
The article shows one of the interventions that the Egyptian government should adopt legislative, judicial, and administrative reforms to guarantee equal access to divorce for Egyptian women. And this is very important because the government must take care of members of the society of the whole country and reduce discrimination.
References:
1. Deif F., Divorce from Justice, Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall, 2005), pp.108-115
2. Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107.
Sex trafficking is a form of discrimination against women that takes places around the world. Not only does sex trafficking discriminate against women, but it also profoundly discriminates against women from certain ethnic backgrounds, for example, women and girls in India. The best way to combat sex trafficking is through prevention, however for women and girls who are already a victim and survivor of sex trafficking, this does not benefit them and their situation. Therefore, a social work intervention that already exits, which can be used to mitigate sex trafficking, is to work within and together with organizations such as Apne Aap Women Worldwide and New light, which provides resources, opportunities, and empowerment to at-risk and prostituted women and girls in India (Kristof & WuDunn, 2010).
ReplyDeleteBy working in and together with these types of organizations, a social work intervention will not only uphold our core value of human rights, but also empowerment, and social justice. A social work intervention with regard to sex trafficking, can be done on both a macro- and a micro-level. Advocacy by the social work profession, on a macro-level, for changes in current laws to recognize the buyers, sellers, and those profiting from the exploitation of women and girls as the criminals, rather than the women and girls being exploited is a realistic example (Okech, Elkins, & Choi, 2017). On a micro-level, a social worker can use interventions focused on empowering the girls and women, through providing and having readily available necessary resources such as therapies for girls and women who have escaped sex trafficking to begin healing from the traumas they may have encountered (Sen & Baba, 2017; Okech, Elkins, & Choi, 2017). Another example could be providing and organizing available opportunities and activities that will limit their exposure to potential encounters that could result in them being trafficked, such as by attending school and gaining an education which the organizations above strive to offer (Kristof & WuDunn, 2010). Lastly, a social work intervention that can be used to mitigate the discrimination women and girls being trafficked face, is to respect the client, their wishes, their knowledge, and to recognize the relationship they are creating is that of collaboration and partnership. An individual’s sense of power and control is destroyed with this type of discrimination and therefore it is important for a social work intervention to not further this power imbalance (Sen & Baba, 2017).
With this being said, I think one of the best things a social worker can do on a micro level is become aware and knowledgeable on the signs of sex trafficking. Not only do we have a social responsibility, but we have a responsibility as social workers to be competent in our practice (CASW, 2005). By being aware and knowledgeable, we as social workers can work to prevent, as well as work with the women and girls who are being trafficked to find resources available to them that have been created to better assist their needs and desires.
References:
1.Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW). (2005). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from https://www.casw-acts.ca/sites/casw-acts.ca/files/documents/casw_code_of_ethics.pdf
2.Kristof, N., & WuDunn, S. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York, NY: Vintage Books
3.Okech, D., Elkins, J., & Choi, Y. J. (2017). Seventeen years of human trafficking research in social work: A review of the literature. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761407.2017.1415177
4.Sen, S., & Baba, Y. (2017). The human trafficking debate: Implications for Social Work Practice. Social Work and Society International Online Journal. Retrieved from https://www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/502/1006
Very good attitude. Women who are trafficked are a very vulnerable group and the role of the social worker in the intervention is very important. I also believe that preventive work in educating the public and developing the perception that buying sex is unacceptable is equally important.
DeleteDiscrimination based on sex in the most widespread from of discrimination both in Lithuania and worldwide. This form of discrimination stem from stereotypes rooted in our society. Living with the stereotypes we inherited from our grandparents and parents is easier for people. Stereotypes help them to get a structured view of the world without any effort. Gender stereotypes „seal“ women and meni n peculiar „gender boxes“. Society attributes to them certain norms of ,,masculiniy“ and ,,femininity“. Combating stereotypes is difficult enough because they are widespread. Principle 1. Human Rights and Human Dignity Social work is based on respect for the inhherent worth and dignity of all the rights that follow from this. Social workers should uphold and defend eac Non-physical, peychological, emotional and spiritual integrity and well-being I Responding to the right to self-determination. Social workers should reshape their own choices and decisions, irrespect their values and life the choices provided by this do not threaten the rights and interests of others. Social work must contribute to the eradication of gender stereotypes, since gender stereotypes are created and maintained by society. If we realize that we also belong to society, it will bring us closer to tackling inequalities between women and men. When we arrive at the gas station, let‘s not desperately search for a man who can helf. If a woman works at a gas station, apparently she has the competece to solve car-related problems. For example, in Lithuania, there is often a lack of information tehnology specialists. Perhaps it is worth encouraging girls to become more active in this profession? So I would encourage everyone to start with themselves. I would encourage you to this critically about your daily actions. We should give children the opportunity to show their interest and not to divide human competences by gender. We can all contribute to gender equality because it is the small things that make up the big problems that we have.
ReplyDeleteGallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the Idea of Muslim Women's Human Rights. Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 1(3), 96-107
Different forms of sexism experienced by women these days are one of the most widespread topics not only in Lithuania but also around the world. In general, sexism is described as a negative attitude towards a person's gender, ignoring other characteristics of the person. In other words, sexism is an individual's preconception attitudes towards the male or female, which imposes a position of obedience and dependence on members of different genders, distinguishes one sex as worth more than another. E. A. Klonoff and H. Landrine, in their analysis of discrimination against women on the grounds of sex, stated that sexism experienced by women on a daily basis is psychological distress and symptoms of various diseases. Although the impact of discrimination on a person 's mental health; and psychological well-being has been extensively studied, nevertheless, however, there is little research on the impact of sexist attitudes. We can find a lot of research investigating the influence of sexism on women's health, emotional state, cognitive performance, self-esteem, etc., but there is still a lack of research to compare this effect across different cultural contexts. The cultural context of Eastern Europe is very different from the Western world, so it is possible to believe that women are exposed to sexism and health problem connections inherent in Western culture, not necessarily occurs in other countries as well. A really long socialist in countries such as Lithuania, the regime has helped to establish a patriarchal attitude that is counterproductive public attitudes towards women. So, analyze sexism phenomenon and its impact on women's physical and mental health is important for understanding how sexism is experienced affects Lithuanian women in different ways cultural contexts.Social work professionals can reduce gender inequalities by facilitating women to have access to formal education. The liberating nature of education is essential in promoting women's capacity to challenge and act on the conditions of their lives that impede them from enjoying the benefits of society. Through education, women are able to acquire knowledge and ideas that will help them to effectively challenge those conditions that inhibit their progress. Apart from having enhanced capacity to question the conditions of their lives, generally educated women on average delay marriage and childbirth, are less vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, exercise more power in their homes and in public and have fewer children who tend to be healthier and better educated. Social workers can also introduce non-formal education programmes for training in technical skills. These progrmmes can empower women by offering them practical skills and an opportunity of increasing their confidence and courage that are essential in challenging the entrenched oppressive aspects of the social structure. Social workers can also enhance the capacity of women through empowerment programs that seek to remove the barriers that work against them. In so doing, women are able to participate in political processes and local decision making. For example, social workers are capable of tackling the social barriers such as the traditional, religious, and social attitudes that undermine women's progress. Social workers can endeavour to identify the root causes of women's subordination. They can initiate activities that are geared towards reducing gender-based barriers by changing the deep-rooted beliefs about appropriate gender roles, as well as lobbying for greater gender equity in the operations of public institutions. References:
ReplyDelete1. Viktorija Gaidytė, Kristina Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė (2019). Ambivalentiško seksizmo poveikis moterų gerovei. Literatūros apžvalga. „VISUOMENĖS SVEIKATA” 2019/1(84)
2. Christopher Nkonge Kiboro, Octavian N. Gakuru, Josephine Misaro, Samson Wokab (2014). Role of Social Work in Minimizing Sexual and Gender Inequalities. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences. ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online) Vol.4, No.14, 2014
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ReplyDeleteIn all the world woman rights are more or less undermined, they are discriminated when it comes to salary gaps between men and woman, they have fewer opportunities compared to men when it comes to employment, woman is also weaker when it comes to physical and emotional strength. One of the most discriminatory crime is woman trafficking.
ReplyDeleteTraficking in human beings is one of the most serious transnational organized crime. Despite increased international efforts and resources from states and international
organizations, the number of people falling victim to human trafcking worldwide continues to grow. Data on the prevalence of this crime show that the majority of its victims are women and girls – they account for 80% of victims.
Today, trafficking has become an international industry. Traffickers profit from the unequal social and economic status of women around the world. Although the term ‘trafficking in women’ is not new, the problem appears to be increasing and acquiring grave new dimensions in the recent context of globalization
Around the world, millions of female victims of human trafficking are forced into sex “work,” often resulting in serious physical and mental-health problems.
Reasons why woman get involved into prostitution;
• Social factors – unemployability, addiction to substances, bad relationships in their families, childhood traumas.
• Economic factors – poverty in the family, chance to earn money, fast income.
• Psychological factors – sexual abuse during their childhood, failure relationship, hard experience in life, failures at school.
Trafficking in people is a latent crime, and not every victim applies for help. Thus, we lack exact information on the scale of this activity.
To organize help for woman who are victims of human trafficking is very important, especially for them to understand, that they need help and also it is very important for them to know that there is organizations which can help them. Yet they need to cooperate with those organizations in order to get help, because in social work to get the client involved is very important.
According to Augutienė, R., ir Adomaitytė – Subačienė, S., (2016), in order to create effective helping (prevention) process, firstly you need to identify, what that person needs the most in the exact moment. Social workers working with human trafficking victims need to be active and attentive – they should be the first ones to see the changes and determine victims needs.
According to Malinauską G,. Žičkutė, (2013), woman who gets involved into human trafficking gets physical/psychological abuse, their freedom is restricted, woman are abused and molested. They loose hope that something can change, they are just locked in place by their disbelief which stops them looking for help. The violence makes them act humble and obey without any resistance and lack of feelings. These women goes thru many post-traumatic stress disorders day to day.
In my country Lithuania only woman are punished – the victims are charged fines, meanwhile men- the costumer is not being charged at all
If I would work with woman who has been touched by human trafficking, I would create a contact with them and offer my help; I would need to determine clients current state as well as her needs in order for further cooperation when the other specialist would get involved. It needs to be done so that they could provide complex and systematic help. Also we would need to observe and coordinate the help they are getting. During this process the client should feel safe under the “confidential agreement” terms, they would not be judged on the decisions they made before. And also I would try to strengthen prevention of human trafficking.
References:
First of all, what is discrimination? Discrimination is defined as the denial or disqualification of a person or category of persons on the grounds of their racial or ethnic origin, language, religious or political beliefs, property or social status, place of birth, etc. They are also measures by which a state or several states restrict the rights of a state, its agents or citizens, legal and natural persons. Trying to carry out social work intervention for discrimination, in particular, should increase people's understanding of what is discrimination. And how people feeling when they experience it. Across the globe, women hold a minority of political and institutional decision-making positions. Gender norms and prejudices work to both reduce the number of female candidates (about 30% are women) and contribute to the obstacles faced by women in elections (United Nations Statistics Division, 2015).
ReplyDeleteIt is noticeable that men worldwide hold better and higher positions than women in the same profession. This situation of women shows that there is still an issue of equal opportunities for men and women that needs to be addressed and addressed, as women's intellectual potential and their contribution to the competitiveness of the country are not fully exploited. In democratic countries, active women are actively involved in important management decisions, reinforcing positive changes in the economy, social, social and political life. Despite laws prohibiting gender discrimination, a number of socio-economic indicators show that there is a large gap between formal and real gender equality in Lithuania. Gender equality in Lithuania is understood as one of the basic principles of democracy, which is based on gender equality, responsibility, opportunities in all spheres of life and equal treatment of both genders. This is one of the main goals of economic, social and democratic development. Although women still dominate the public sector, particularly in education, health care and other "feminine" activities, the decline in benchmarking in the public sector shows and statistics confirm that they are increasingly moving into masculine activities such as financial intermediation, electricity, gas and water supply, etc. However, the private sector is still considered a male domain.
References:
Dromantaitė-Stancikienė, A., & Gineitienė, Z. (2010). Moterų padėtis Lietuvoje siekiant karjeros. Socialinių mokslų studijos, (4), 69-88.
Hazel, K. L., & Kleyman, K. S. (2019). Gender and sex inequalities: Implications and resistance. Journal of prevention & intervention in the community, 1-12.
Discrimination of women often leads their marginalization and exclusion from mainstream programs and services thereby creating glass ceilings for women. Gender and sex shapes all aspects of lives including access to key resources and services such as information, education, employment, health and credit facilities. Gender being a socio-cultural construct, in terms of socially and culturally ascribed roles of males and females, often produces inequalities between sexes.
ReplyDeleteWomen discrimination has always been on the increase in every sector. Social work intervention can reduce gender inequalities by facilitating women to have access to formal education. The liberating nature of education is essential in promoting women's capacity to challenge and act on the conditions of their lives that impede them from enjoying the benefits of society. Through education, women are able to acquire knowledge and ideas that will help them to effectively challenge those conditions that inhibit their progress. Apart from having enhanced capacity to question the conditions of their lives.
Social workers can also introduce non-formal education programmes for training in technical skills. These progrmmes can empower women by offering them practical skills and an opportunity of increasing their confidence and courage that are essential in challenging the entrenched oppressive aspects of the social structure. Social workers can also enhance the capacity of women through empowerment programs that seek to remove the barriers that work against them. In so doing, women are able to participate in political processes and local decision making. Also, tackling the social barriers such as the traditional, religious, and social attitudes that undermine women's progress. A Social work intervention that can identify the root causes of women's subordination, initiate activities that are geared towards reducing gender-based barriers by changing the deep-rooted beliefs about appropriate gender roles, as well as lobbying for greater gender equity in the operations of public institutions. Because if the root causes of women subordination are identified and addressed, programs aimed at improving women's status may not yield the expected results.
One significant form violence against women take around the world is health and reproductive discrimination as seen in the rate of preventable deaths and injuries due to complications with childbirth and pregnancy. The authors in Half the Sky note that 99% of all deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth occur in poor countries where there are less resources and less access to specific needed care (Kristof and Wudun, 2010). Healey also calls attention to the injuries and deaths around the world that result from illegal abortions; it is estimated that 68,000 women died in 2000 from unsafe abortions (2005). There are a variety of factors that contribute to these injustices and they include poverty, misogynistic policies, patriarchal structures, and lack of access to family planning options. There cannot be gender equality when so many women are dying from preventable complications and issues. One social work intervention could be to increase access to birth control and other family planning options worldwide. One way this could be done is finding a central building or organization in a community and providing free birth control options along with a doctor to answer questions who could rotate locations in certain areas. In addition to birth control, family planning education would also need to be provided to accommodate for cultural and religious belief that prohibit specific forms of birth control. An example of a program like this operating would be providing services in community centers in the poorest neighborhoods of cities with doctors who could travel to surrounding rural communities on a regular basis. However, this intervention would have to be done along with policy advocacy to even allow these services to be offered and for the funding.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Healey, Lynn M. (2008). International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World. 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kristof, Nicolas, and Wudun, Cheryl. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Vintage.
It seems that we, here in the United States, never really seem to stress about the role of childbirth and the effects it could have on the mother because we have advanced technology and the funding to expand on such a thing. However, the fact that, even in the United States, the poorer economies may not have the resources for something that could be preventable, resulting in the same thing that happens in poorer countries. I agree on the intervention of having better access to birth control and other family options. I actually thought about teaching people what it means because there might be people out here making policies but not understanding what the policies will oppose. Some people really don’t know how dangerous it is for women to go through childbirth, especially under more extreme conditions. Family planning courses and parenting support groups would probably be the way to go if that’s the case.
DeletePart 1:
ReplyDeleteAcross the world, I consider physical violence a danger that takes place across the world and takes hold in unique forms for women. From the US context where it’s a cultural norm to understand the additional precautions women take in their daily lives from commuting to work to going out with friends. There’s an omnipresent conditioning that takes hold on how women present themselves, the behaviors they exhibit, along with other precautions to prevent gendered violence. “Beyond the sky” does well to encapsulate a myriad of national examples across the globe with regards to the physical safety of women and young girls. Bloom’s article on women martyrs then presented a loosely related example of physical violence on women’s bodies. While there is an urgency to address the physical symptoms of inflicting violence on women’s bodies or even the normalization of that cycle, there is also the deeper-rooted factor of education and cultural influences.
I zero in on the Senegalese accepted norm of women’s genital mutilation and how that context echoes the need to address education and cultural norms but with an awareness of colonialism. Molly Melching draws attention to effective intervention and says, “Law is a quick fix solution, and then people think you don’t have to do anything else” (Kristof and Wudunn, 2010). The chapter then speaks to the testimony of Melching’s daughter coming to her and requesting to “getting cut’ because of her peers receiving the operation. The strategy that the group utilizes is encouraging wider education to alert communities that genital cutting is not universal but at the same time not advocating the practice. Due to historical precedence, it common for various African countries to now challenge western influences because of the violence that was implicated through colonization. The model as a result utilizes a nonjudgmental model to discuss human rights and health related concerns around the practice.
The violence on women’s bodies then illustrated with Bloom’s article with shahidas or female martyrs posed a complex phenomenon around nation-states and the relationship with women’s wellbeing. Considering the trajectory of women who turn to suicide bombing as a viable solution, Bloom’s article points to connected experiences around childhood trauma and often accept the indoctrination of the organization recruiting martyrs for a cause (Bloom, 2005). While violent in portrayal the motivation to consider self-sacrifice is a common theme for mother around the globe. Themes of self-sacrifice repeat in different geographic context with the example of women searching for war bombs (The all-women team searching for Vietnam war bombs, 2019). The theme also repeats throughout history with the example of women revolutionaries in latin America involved with armed struggle, yet experiences are intertwined with patriarchal beliefs in culture (Lobao, 1990).
Part 2:
DeleteFor a social work intervention to be effective, the immediate safety of women along with cultural shifts of education need to simultaneously take hold. Efforts need to be initiated by women impacted and supported by others. I leave with an empty feeling in my stomach that for shahidas there was a narrow tunnel of options where they perhaps sit in isolation and prepare for the next state sanctioned act of violence or they find a place in martyrdom. The options for communities of women anywhere facing occupation, family separation, deaths of loved ones, patriarchal violence need the support because I’m confident that they already hold a vision of the future with peace and fruition.
References:
Bloom, Mia. (2005). Mother, daughter, sister, bomber. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 54-62.
Kristof, Nicolas, and Cheryl Wudunn. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Vintage.
Lobao, L. M. (1990). WOMEN IN REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS: CHANGING PATTERNS OF LATIN AMERICAN GUERRILLA STRUGGLE. Dialectical Anthropology, 15(2/3), 211–232. JSTOR.
The all-women team searching for Vietnam war bombs. (2019, June 9). South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3013641/44-years-after-war-us-vietnam-has-all-women-team-searching
A problem that many women face in the present day is their role in society. This consists of multiple different factors, from money, to family position, to being a citizen of a country, to other forms. Throughout the different cultures of society, a common thread might be the role that women take within the societies. Women have children and raise them, while also taking care of the duties within their residence. Throughout history, even the role of women were mostly about them staying in the house and taking care of duties. In the present day, their role as members of a society changes and varies from different cultures. Women may feel empowered here in the United States to make a change because of the constant discrimination within American society. In other societies, and even within our own society however, not so much.
ReplyDeleteWomen have been used as prizes and trophies during times of war and aren’t even given the sympathy from their families once they have been ravaged. Women have to hide their attacks, their rapes, and their true feelings to stay within the roles of society, or they may be ostracized. WuDunn and Kristof (2009) explains that many survivors may not be believed and will bring “shame” upon the family for their behavior, thus leading her to kill herself. A woman may not have the proper care/resources for giving birth, thus resulting in nerve damage and fistulas. WuDunn and Kristof (2009) also talk about women not receiving proper education in some societies because of their role as a woman. Women have to take care of the duties in the home, so why do they need education? It’s unfortunate.
There have been human rights laws that have been applied to women, but they didn’t address the risks of women, according to Gallagher (2005). To open up the conversation, a simple intervention of just addressing the issues and putting it out there for people to see, I think, is a first step. Not everyone sees the role of women and how there are many risks towards thinking of women in that role.Most communities ignore it because it’s not displayed enough, so giving people the space to talk about it may have a powerful effect on those who hear it. We, as people, tune in when someone talks about their struggles, so opening the door for women to talk about their struggles within their communities, societies, and even within their homes and how the role society gave them makes them feel would be a huge first step.
Sources:
Gallagher, N. (2005). Amnesty International and the idea of Muslim women’s human rights. Journal of Mideast Women’s Studies, 1, 96-107.
Kristof, N. and Wudunn, S. (2010). Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Vintage.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLike most immigrant groups, south Asian’s immigrants are highly vulnerable to psychological distress because of migration, subsequent pressures to acculturate as well as other social determinants, which have an important result on the functioning and quality of life (Taylor, Brown, & Weinman, 2009). For instance, in United Kingdom research study on the rates of depression and anxiety among middle-aged Pakistan’s men as well as older Indians and Pakistan’s women showed significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety in contrast to whites of similar aged. Additionally, other research studies have explicitly indicated high vulnerability among south Asian’s female immigrants to self-harm as well as specific mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and eating-related psychopathology (Rehman, 2016). When conceptualizing the mental health of women and children, several factors ought to be considered. Immigrant women tend to exhibit higher degrees of mental health challenges compared to non-parents due to their parental role alongside their lack of a non-coping mechanism to factors such as limited finances and discrimination exhibited to them in their host nations. Women might manage with the mental challenges during their prenatal period but get overwhelmed during their post-natal care. This is because of the caregiving stressors build upon by the changes they experience and challenges they faced in both their native and host country. Whereas both fathers and mothers are at heightened risk for mental health challenges, such as depression in respect to their caregiving responsibilities, immigrant women are at greater risk in comparison to men due to their post-natal mood fluctuation. The women similar to their children might be more subject to cultural anticipations like personal and family sacrifice illustrating their vulnerability hence the need for their being provided with adequate and effective mental health services in immigrants’ institutions. Furthermore, due to gender-based roles, as typical in most immigrant cultures such as the Chinese, immigrant women are more expected to care for their family compared to men resulting to their fewer exposures to opportunities for their integration, employment, and environment making them more susceptible to health disorders. Mental illness is a very bad condition that is not only expensive to treat but also predecessor or in other words, causes of other diseases. Majority of immigrants, especially those from non-English speaking nations, have challenges assessing health services, an issue that is authentic regarding mental healthcare. Moreover, when individuals from culturally diverse societies such as the Chinese access mental health services, they consistently receive less than sufficient mental care. To ascertain the above-stated, research executed in the South Wales state found out that Chinese immigrants has amongst the lowest rates of hospitalizations for mental health disorders. When conceptualizing the mental health of women and children, several factors ought to be considered. Immigrant women tend to exhibit higher degrees of mental health challenges compared to non-parents due to their parental role alongside their lack of a non-coping mechanism to factors such as limited finances and discrimination exhibited to them in their host nations. Women might come up with the mental challenges during their prenatal period but get overwhelmed during their post-natal care. This is because of the caregiving stressors build upon by the changes they experience and challenges they faced in both their native and host country.
ReplyDeleteRehman, T. (n.d) “Social stigma, cultural constraints, they’re very different”: Health and Social Care in the Community. Columbia Undergraduate J S Asians. 12(5): 414-421.
Taylor, R., Brown, J.S., Weinman, J. (2013). A comparison of the illness perceptions of North Indian and white British women. Mental Health Journal, 22(1):22-32.
In recent decades, technologic developments have swiftly transformed the world around us, creating immense career opportunities for nearly everyone holding a job in the industry. Nevertheless, the technology sector has also contributed to creating one of the largest gender gaps. It is no secret that the number of women working in technology-related positions varies across cities, countries and continents. Nevertheless, according to the latest numbers provided by the Small Business Trends publication, in 2018, only 20 percent of all jobs in technology were held by women. Some countries, such as Lithuania, where women hold over a quarter of jobs in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) sector, recognize the problem and have launched multiple initiatives to close the gender gap in the technology sector. While some were launched by the Government and even included ambitious, yet poorly-drafted policy proposals, the most successful attempts to promote the success of women in technology came from the country’s civil society. A programme that undoubtedly deserves to be highlighted in this report is called “Women Go Tech”. Launched in 2016 by the country’s ICT association called “Infobalt” and supported by Lithuania’s top tech enterprises, the programme has gained international recognition by facilitating the career path of some 240 alumni, liaising with over 120 mentors and organizing more than 100 events. And this is only the beginning. “Women Go Tech” has only one goal and it is to promote leadership of women in the technology industry by empowering them with the necessary knowledge, up-to-date skills and perseverance to succeed. The program envisages the creation of 500 success stories of women in the technology industry by 2021 and it plans to do this by enabling participating women to either find a job in the tech industry, get promoted in the tech industry or establish a tech-based start-up. Mentorship and awareness programmes such as “Women Go Tech” clearly demonstrate that success in closing the gender gap, ridding entire industries of discrimination and empowering women can evidently be achieved by thoughtful and driven members of civil society.
ReplyDeleteAs a millenial generation that grew up in Africa, parenting styles that involves violent methods is not something that is new to me. I witnessed it all the time while growing up. If I were to lead a parent support group in another country, I would first of all study and make an extensive research on their cultural ways and norms of how things are done over there. Taking into account their history, experiences, patterns etc. over time. It not my place as social worker to make overall assumptions, criticize or dictate how things should be done.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Healy, “A social worker needs to be aware, develop cross- cultural knowledge and understanding. Social workers in international relief and development work utilize many of the skills learned in their professional training. They combine these with a commitment to development, knowledge of the international context, and well-honed sensitivity and communication skills for cross-cultural work”. (Healy; 2008).
Adhering to the values of my profession which includes ‘respect for differing cultures, traditions, beliefs, and expressed needs and a sense of personal responsibility for promoting development’ in going about the situation. I would adopt the ‘Dialogue and Strength Approach’ which is usually crucial to ethical cross-cultural practices such as this one to intervene and evaluate both the process and outcome of this issue. I do realize using may be viewed differently as it may not always be effective in some cultures for example, confidentiality principle didn’t work for a Zimbabwean social worker who suddenly became overwhelmed with a feeling of estrangement, after an encounter with an elder man over disclosure of information. As a social worker the best way for me is to adapt and search for ways to blend the principles of social work to relevant areas which I believe would be effective for solving problems. This also applies to other social work principles such as self-determination, equality and non-discrimination respectively.
In trying to connect this with how I would aim to promote parenting that does not encourage violence, because I realize how much parents can be misinformed and mostly raise their kids the same way they were raised, I would attempt to enlighten and reeducate them about the negative consequences such the adverse effect it would have on their child’s development. Taking into account the Russian parenting styles according to the Hart’s research, he discovered that psychologically controlling parenting styles have been linked to overcontrolled, internalizing childhood disorders, such as anxiety and depression (e.g., Siqueland, Kendall, & Steinberg, 1996) and also “Parental psychological control also has been associated with behaviorally under controlled adolescent delinquent behaviors (Barber, 1996) and, recently, has been linked to overt and relational aggression in school-age children (Grotpeter, 1997). Again, Dialogue is an important tool to be utilized here, as I would encourage them talk about their feelings and denounce practices such as child trafficking, female genital mutilation etc.
Works Cited:
Hart, Craig H.; Nelson, David A.; Robinson, Clyde C.; Olsen, Susanne Frost; McNeilly-Choque, Mary Kay (1998). Overt and Relational Aggression in Russian Nursery-School-Age Children: Parenting Style and Marital Linkages. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 687– 697.
Healey, Lynn M. (2008). International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World. 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.