North America, Canada: Still struggling to close the gender gap
The Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discriminative practices by gender. Discriminative practices include paying a woman less than a man for work of equal value and following practices or policies that deprive a woman of employment opportunities. The United States abides by the Universal Declaration of Human rights where Article 1 begins: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
The The World Economic Forum has measured the global gender gap for the last ten years across 145 countries on how well they are leveraging the female talent pool based on economic, educational, health-based, and political indicators. We have made progress since 2006. However, in Canada and the United States women are still paid less for work of the same value and are poorly represented due to limited opportunities to lead in political, public, or corporate spheres.
While we celebrate progress, progress in and of itself is not sufficient nor does progress satisfy. Progress, rather, becomes the fuel for greater change. Women are still held back from reaching their full potential, and their talents are buried. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2015, women in the United States and Canada are as educated and as healthy as men, yet women only hold a fraction of political, corporate board, and senior management positions. Why are qualified and capable women deprived of the opportunity to lead?
In fighting for equal rights—each in our various circles of influence—we must take active measures to close the gender gap. The Lord Jesus gave us the tool when He commanded, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12: 31). Rather than bury talents, we must utilize the talents which God has given to their full potential. Then, instead of fighting for rights and freedoms, we work together using these talents to reach our goals.
(Reference: The Global Gender Gap Report 2015. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2015/)
More:
- 50 + 50: Thoughts on International Women’s Day
- North America, Canada: Still struggling to close the gender gap
- Africa, Nigeria: Women's rights invariably translate to human rights
- Asia, Philippines: We have to see ourselves as a team and not as opponents
- Europe, Germany: A woman should be free to choose what she wants
Article info
Date:
07.03.2016
