Gender equality is ‘300 years away,’ U.N. chief warns
Washington PostAPR 2023
Report: Gender Equality Remaining Same or Declining Globally
Above: Activists march to protest the killing of women on January 27, 2024 in Kisumu, Kenya. Image copyright: Brian Ongoro/Contributor/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Left narrative
The road to global gender equality is darker than it has been in almost a decade. Even in the US, the Supreme Court stripped women of their national abortion rights. Across the world, women hold less wealth, education, and political power than men. And they have a higher likelihood of facing violence. If this trend continues, it will take more than a century to reach full gender equality.
Right narrative
These reports contain serious contextual issues. When women in Western countries choose to be mothers or decline to climb the corporate ladder, NGOs often claim those societies are falling "backwards." Equality means allowing men and women to live how they want, not forcing them to achieve an abstract UN agenda. Context is required for interpreting findings like these.