Commentary: Have We Achieved Gender Equality?

With the current wave of feminism, an opposing party has risen, commenting that the movement isn’t necessary as women are already in an ideal position. However, when discussing our rights and opportunities, we tend to forget about those who normally aren’t given a platform. The truth about the world is that we are moving at different speeds. And while the US, Europe, and Australia are looking for the next great invention, thinking about economic growth and strengthening their political position, countries like India, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia are facing completely different situations, with overpopulation, illiteracy, and inequity respectively. This contrast has been historically present, starting with the installation of women’s suffrage. The first country to establish equal voting rights was New Zealand in 1839, however, Saudi Arabia only achieved it until 2011, nine years ago. This circumstance is replicated when talking about

the recognition of spousal rape. In the 1870s and 1880s, a

husband could not rape his wife as her consent, upon marriage, could be assumed. It wasn’t until 1997 that a woman could report her husband for rape in Germany. However, in The Bahamas, India, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Syria and a lot of other countries, the criminalization of marital rape is explicitly excluded from the penal code. Other additional forms of sexism are still present, such as frequent and normalized FGM (female genital mutilation) in Africa, the inability to own or inherit land in Zambia, and the fact that a man can stop his wife from taking a job in Cambodia. Can we call this equality?

Whilst many of us may feel that formal equality has been in place for a considerable period of time, for many countries this has not been the case. Our role as privileged women is to fight for those who can’t, to speak for those who haven’t gotten the chance yet. This is the true purpose of today’s feminism, to look for intersectionality and recognize that we still have a lot of room to grow. Today’s movement is necessary because, as Malala Yousafzai stated, “we cannot succeed when half of us are held back”.

By Sofía Prada Ávila, 10A