11 ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER ALL GIRLS AND WOMEN
When we examine our world through a gender equality lens, we can see that we have made many advances and we have come a long way in ensuring girls and women have the same opportunities as the boys and men in our world. However, we still have much work to do as many barriers for girls and women still exist today. This goal examines the ways women and girls are discriminated against in our world and how to put a stop to it. From ending violence and exploitation to empowering women, or protecting their mental, physical and sexual health, there are many areas to focus on if we are going to achieve this goal by 2030. Just like many of the other Sustainable Development Goals, gender equality is interconnected with the other goals —everyone’s actions and support make the difference in achieving gender equality.
Learning Objectives
- Learners will understand the concepts of gender, gender equality and gender discrimination in addition to the current and historical causes of inequality in their own country and around the world.
- Learners will understand the basic rights of women and girls, including their reproductive rights and their right of freedom from exploitation and violence.
- Learners will understand the opportunities and benefits that exist with full gender equality, as well as the role of education and legislation in the empowerment process.
- Learners will be able to recognize and question traditional perceptions of gender roles in a critical approach, while respecting cultural sensitivity.
- Learners will be able to measure gender equality in their surroundings and then plan, implement and support initiatives to empower themselves and others who are discriminated against because of their gender.
Essential Questions
Media (Identification of Value/Biases):
Article: Media Watch (Challenging racism, sexism & violence in the media through education & action) https://www.mediawatch.com/
How does the media report on gender issues?
How do you think this impacts the ways we talk about gender issues in society?
Environment
How is climate change a gender equality issue?
Poverty, wealth and power
How does the poverty cycle affect women uniquely?
How does a lack of power or resources affect the lives of women?
Indigenous Peoples
What are gender equality barriers and opportunities within Indigenous communities?
Oppression and genocide
How are women and girls uniquely impacted by oppression and genocide?
Health and biotechnology
What are important health issues facing women today?
What policies and practices are needed to support them?
Gender politics
What laws would you put in place to ensure gender equality? How would you monitor them?
Social justice and human rights
How have women’s social justice and rights changed over the course of history?
Peace and conflict
How are women supporting peace and post-conflict reconstruction in our world?
Overview of The Goal
What does Gender Equality look like around the world?
What if everywhere on Earth, people had the same opportunities, regardless of our gender? What if we all had equal access to education and health care? What if everyone felt safe and respected? What if we were considered for the same jobs, then treated fairly and paid the same for our work? What if we had equal representation in government and equal treatment under the law?
Despite incredible gains for women and girls, a global gender gap still exists. Gender equality is not just about improving the lives of women and girls. It’s about making the world a fairer and freer place, where we benefit from everyone’s contributions.
What does gender equality look like around the world?
What if everywhere on Earth, people had the same opportunities, regardless of our gender? What if we all had equal access to education and health care? What if everyone felt safe and respected? What if we were considered for the same jobs, then treated fairly and paid the same for our work? What if we had equal representation in government and equal treatment under the law?
We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”- Malala Yousafzai
Despite incredible gains for women and girls, a global gender gap still exists.
DID YOU KNOW:
Women are more likely than men to live in poverty.
Women’s average salary is 24 percent less than men.
1 in 5 women has experienced domestic violence in the last year.
Women perform 2.6 times more unpaid domestic care and labor.
Women own less than 20 percent of the world’s property.
Gender equality is not just about improving the lives of women and girls. It’s about making the world a fairer and freer place, where we benefit from everyone’s contributions.
Learning Activities
Article: The War Within (Nancy Gibbs) Sexual assault within military personnel
TIME magazine March 8, 2010 http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968110,00.html
Websites for Research: HOW IS GENDER EQUALITY CONNECTED TO THE OTHER GLOBAL GOALS?
This goal intersects with several other SDG goals. Many issues in gender equality are issues that are a part of other goals such as hunger, poverty, education and health care.
Fact Sheet – Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Global
For these women, reading is a daring act – an intersection with Goal 4: Quality Education
Websites for Research: WHERE DOES GENDER EQUALITY EXIST? HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
There is still much work to do in closing the gender gap, but some countries are closer than others. These resources will help you investigate:
Countries with the Most and Least Gender Equality
Gender equality? It doesn’t exist anywhere in the world
Once more, Iceland has shown it is the best place in the world to be female
Women Are Free, and Armed, in Kurdish-Controlled Northern Syria
Websites for Research: WHY IS THERE GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE WORKFORCE?
We’ve come a long way in recent years, but gender inequality still persists in the workplace in many different forms.
Commentary: 8 big problems for women in the workplace
Lean In Sexual Harassment Survey
TED Talk: “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders”
The Inequality Beneath the Sexual-Harassment Headlines
Engineering The Future: GE’s Goal To Bridge The STEM Gender Gap By 2020
Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Website for Research: HOW ARE GIRLS AND BOYS TREATED DIFFERENTLY AROUND THE WORLD?
Gender inequality can start as early as childhood—take a look at how boys and girls are raised differently around the world and the effect it has.
TED Talk: “How Movies Teach Manhood”
How Dads Treat Their Daughters Differently Than Sons
How Today’s Toys May Be Harming Your Daughter
In Their Words: How Children Are Affected by Gender Issues
Girls Not Brides – About Child Marriage
Website for Research: HOW DO GENDER AND CULTURE IMPACT EACH OTHER?
Despite our best intentions, our culture often affects our gender biases and expectations. Explore how our culture affects gender issues and how we can affect change.
TED Talk: “Why Gender Equality is Good for Everyone–Men Included”
Beyond Pink and Blue: Studying Gender Stereotypes (newsela Lesson packet)
Macho Man, Little Princess: How Gender Norms Can Harm Kids Everywhere
Website for Research: WILL THERE EVER BE GENDER EQUALITY?
People all over the world are working to close the gap, but will the work pay off? Take a look at where we are now and the current outlook for gender equality.
TED Talk: “We Should All Be Feminists”
The Global Gender Gap Report 2017
Websites for Research: Portraits of Equality
5-Minute Film Festival: 8 Videos to Encourage Girls in STEM
Games: Walk a Mile: Building Empathy through Games.
Videos
TED Talk: Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger·TEDWomen 2016
“Our story of rape and reconciliation”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyPoqFcvt9w
TED Talk: Jimmy Carter·TEDWomen 2015
“Why I believe the mistreatment of women is the #1 human rights abuse”
From: https://app.participate.com/pages/goal-5-gender-equality
Social Media
Below are links to several dynamic conversations, communities and experts on social media.
Assessment and Reflection
Reflection Journal
- Describe the learning activities (articles, videos, etc.) and your experience – What did you do/hear/see?
- Interpret and evaluate the events from your perspective – What do I think about it now? How does it relate to other things that I know?
- Explain your experience; reveal your new insights, connections with other learning, your hypotheses, and your conclusions.
- Reflect on how this information will be useful to you – What questions do I have? Have I changed how I think about the situation? Where do I go from here?
- What did you particularly value and why?
- Is there anything you would do in the next unit? What have you learned? What will you do with these lessons?
Renewable Assignment Options
Learn about gender equality in your community. How are people in my community experiencing the effects of gender inequality? How might a lack of gender equality affect me or others in my community now, or in the future? How might it affect others around the world? Take action based on what you discover.
Start a social justice or gender equality group in your school to work on these issues.
Join the HeForShe campaign. Use their materials to plan and promote your own equality events. HeForShe is a project of UN Women dedicated to gender equality, and offers action ideas, resources and information.
Challenge sexist language. We can make advances in gender equality when we challenge sexist and gender-biased language, especially in the classroom. Ask the speaker to think about how their comments reinforce gender stereotypes. The Internet should also be a safe space for everyone. Enlist your friends and followers on social media to send messages of support to victims of online bullying. Challenge your unconscious biases and assumptions that can contribute to barriers for equal opportunity.
Talk about health issues. It shouldn’t be shameful. Talk about women’s hygiene and sexual health topics to help others see them as concerns that affect us all. Your health is your concern, so insist that doctors and health professionals address you directly. Be sure to exercise your right to access sexual and reproductive health services.
Teach peace. Stand up to violence and bullying. Check in with people and ask if they need help. It may offer a potential victim a way out of a dangerous situation.
Be encouraging. Encourage female students to stay in school, and look for ways to empower female colleagues.
Learn about the issues. Join a cause like The Malala Fund and #HeforShe to take a stand for gender equality and learn how to take action in your school, your community and the world.
Check out the Because of Them We Can campaign. The movement started out as a photo campaign for Black History Month meant to “share our rich history and promising future through images that would refute stereotypes and build the esteem of our children.” Create your own version of this empowering photo campaign with your students. Find inspiring women throughout history and the world to feature and have students act as the photo subjects.
Examples and resources
Combat gender inequality by empowering girls and women and equipping them with the tools they need to be successful. Host a career fair, a STEM field information night or a job skill workshop at your school.
Gulf Coast State College holds girls’ STEM night
Workshops teach high school students valuable career skills
Classroom Activities for Teaching Job Readiness
According to research mentioned in the article below, women are just as likely as men to win an election—the issue is getting women to run. Write letters to women in your community encouraging them to run for local government positions. Contact women in your local government and motivate them to go for state and federal positions.
How Social Media Is Encouraging More Women To Run For Office
Many women around the world are forced to spend their time doing unpaid labor, like laundry and cooking. This prevents them from pursuing paid jobs or furthering their education. Challenge your students to invent something that could make unpaid labor easier or less time consuming. Draw up your design and share it out. Take it further and create a prototype of your invention.
Culture contributes to many gender inequality issues. The way men and women are portrayed in advertisements can either reinforce or challenge stereotypical gender roles. As a class or in small groups, create your own ad campaign that challenges typical gender roles and other stereotypes (#LikeAGirl, Dove, Men in Cleaning ads).
- Always #LikeAGirl
- Dove campaigns
- Britain Cracking Down on Gender Stereotypes in Ads
- Media Breaker – tool for editing videos and adding comments. Get started with Gendered Advertising Remixer
According to the dictionary, empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Start an empathy campaign in your classroom or school focusing on how girls feel about gender equality issues. Make a video or use photos to deliver your message.
- Feminism is important to us
- Start Empathy
- How our Implicit Biases Fuel Gender Inequality, and Why We Need Empathy
You don’t have to be a multimillionaire to support women entrepreneurs and their businesses. Find businesses owned by women in your community and consider micro-investing. Actions as simple as giving them your business can help. Take it further by raising money or awareness for local businesses.
- 20 Ways to Support Women-Led Businesses
- Tory Burch Foundation
- Kiva – find women around the world to support with a micro loan
