Sexism

By Keeley L.

                                     

Did you know that one in three women globally has experienced physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime? If you thought all genders were equal, then you’ll be surprised to know that it’s estimated to take another 200 years to achieve gender equality just in the U.S.

Imagine living in a country of conflict and war, for example, Afghanistan. If you were a girl you would be 2.5 times more likely than a guy to not be allowed to go to school. UNICEF says, “worldwide, nearly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are neither employed nor in education or training - compared to 1 in 10 boys.” In fact, 9.7 million children, mostly girls, are at risk of being forced out of school due to war and conflict. It gets even worse in the workplace, so bad that 4 in 10, or 42%, of women in the U.S. have been discriminated against in their work just because of their gender.

Savethechildren.org says, “Right after girls and boys are born they are taught and face unequal gender norms.” What are unequal gender norms you may ask? They are unequal treatment and expectations of individuals based on their gender. For example, a woman would be expected to stay home to cook and clean, but a man would be expected to play sports and go to school. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?

Speaking of unfair, imagine getting pregnant at 15 against your will, or getting married. An estimated 12 million girls worldwide will be married before they turn 18, and four million will be married before they turn 15. Currently, around the world, 40 million girls under the age of 18 are married or in a union, and by the year 2030, about 150 million girls will be married. If a girl gets married as a child there is a very good chance that she will get pregnant before she’s 18 too. Also, a lot of times 13 year old females aren’t marrying a 13 year old male; they’re most likely marrying 40 to 50 year old men.  As if losing your childhood to marriage isn’t appalling enough, imagine getting pregnant soon after you get married. In fact, dilemmas during pregnancy and childbirth are the number one killer of females ages 15 to 19 all around the world.

Domestic violence is one of the worst cases of abuse. A woman named Blanche was being held captive by her husband and ended up in the hospital due to the abhorrent injuries she suffered. Her husband at the time had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. He also had bipolar schizophrenia, a mental disorder including psychosis. This can also be classified as marital abuse, which is much like domestic abuse in some cases.

         Much like Blanche, some abuse cases get so bad that some people are afraid to tell anyone, or they’re ashamed. In the past two years, a hashtag on social media has developed, letting women know that it’s okay to speak up and tell their stories; this is called the #MeToo Movement. Women speak out and share how they have been exposed to gender-based violence and assault. Some of the women who spoke out were believed and their criminals were held accountable for their actions. Just imagine something like that happening to someone you know and they were too terrified to talk to anyone about it.

Gender-based violence is still a thing and will continue to get worse the longer we let things slide. Even though we have made a large amount of progress, there is still an enormous amount more to be made.