9 out of 10 people found to be biased against women - UNDP report

[Deleted member 16516]

Almost 90% of people are biased against women, according to a new index that highlights the "shocking" extent of the global backlash towards gender equality.

Despite progress in closing the equality gap, 91% of men and 86% of women hold at least one bias against women in relation to politics, economics, education, violence or reproductive rights.

The first gender social norm index analysed data from 75 countries that, collectively, are home to more than 80% of the global population. It found that almost half of people feel men are superior political leaders and more than 40% believe men make better business executives. Almost a third of men and women think it's acceptable for a man to beat his wife.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP), which published its findings on Thursday, is calling on governments to introduce legislation and policies that address engrained prejudice.

"We all know we live in a male-dominated world, but with this report we are able to put some numbers behind these biases," said Pedro Conceição, director of the UNDP's human development report office. "And the numbers, I consider them shocking.

"What our report shows is a pattern that repeats itself again and again. Big progress in more basic areas of participation and empowerment. But when we get to more empowering areas, we seem to be hitting a wall."

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Of the 75 countries studied, there were only six in which the majority of people held no bias towards women. But while more than 50% of people in Andorra, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden were free from gender prejudice, even here the pattern was not one of unmitigated progress.

Sweden, for example, was one of several countries – including South Africa, India, Rwanda and Brazil – in which the percentage of people who held at least one bias increased over the nine years the data covered. More than half of people in the UK and the US held at least one bias.

"UNDP is very conscious of the backlash against women's rights. We are aware and we are concerned, so we think the report … is an answer to push back the pushback," said Raquel Lagunas, acting director of UNDP's gender team. "We cannot pick and choose, [saying]: 'These human rights are for women, and these ones are not.'"

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Nine out of 10 people found to be biased against women

Analysis of 75 countries reveals ‘shocking’ scale of global women’s rights backlash

www.theguardian.com

The full report here:

http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hd_perspectives_gsni.pdf

Still a long way to go and lots of progress to be made before women are truly treated as equals around the world.

 

[RROCKMAN]

Seriously? Damn... I don't have much to say. The world is still very backwards.

 

[mclem]

The first gender social norm index analysed data from 75 countries that, collectively, are home to more than 80% of the global population. It found that almost half of people feel men are superior political leaders and more than 40% believe men make better business executives. Almost a third of men and women think it's acceptable for a man to beat his wife.

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The first two are bad, fair enough. But that last one is utterly horrible to even contemplate.

 

[John Caboose]

Humanity was a mistake.

Spoiler

obviously joking. Serious note: horrifying statistics.

 

[VN1X]

To the twittermobile!

 

[Dan Thunder]

Of the 75 countries studied, there were only six in which the majority of people held no bias towards women. But while more than 50% of people in Andorra, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden were free from gender prejudice, even here the pattern was not one of unmitigated progress.

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What's depressing is that having the majority i.e. more than 50% apparently having no bias is seen as an achievement!

 

[Renna Hazel]

The numbers don't surprise me aside the stat about how many people think it's ok for a husband to beat their wife. Wtf is wrong with people...

 

[Fiction]

Not surprised all. Live this shit daily.

 

[Huncho_Houdini]

91% of men and 86% of women

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Really goes to show how bias can be extremely pervasive.

 

[Deleted member 7051]

Really goes to show how bias can be extremely pervasive.

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When you're told your whole life you're lesser than men, you start believing it. It takes a lot of courage and effort to undo a lifetime of brainwashing.

 

[Serene]

Almost a third of men and women think it's acceptable for a man to beat his wife.

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what the fuck

 

[Zyrox]

That's...jesus that's horrific. I don't even know what to say. The world still has a long ways to go :(

 

[Kernel]

The numbers don't surprise me aside the stat about how many people think it's ok for a husband to beat their wife. Wtf is wrong with people...

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The dark reality of Russia’s domestic violence laws - BBC Three

www.bbc.co.uk

In January last year, Russia's domestic violence laws were changed. Some forms of violence were decriminalised, first by the lower parliament, known as the Duma, then endorsed by President Putin.

Now, if you batter your wife - or indeed any family member - but not severely enough to hospitalise them, and it's your first recorded offence, you no longer go to prison for two years, as was previously the law. Instead, you'll receive a fine of anything between 5 and 30,000 rubles (around £375), or up to 15 days in prison. In addition, some women are being forced to pay the fines handed down to their abusers, with unpaid fines often taken from shared bank accounts.

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It's all about "Traditional values".

It's ok as long as you don't send them to a hospital.

 

[Askherserenity]

Checks out.

Everyone is trash.

 

[iapetus]

One question comes to mind about how this headline figure comes up:

"Despite progress in closing the equality gap, 91% of men and 86% of women hold at least one bias against women in relation to politics, economics, education, violence or reproductive rights."

This is meaningless to me without knowing what those biases are and what the equivalent numbers are for other groups (men, for example, would be a good control group).

It's one of those types of statistic that always looks suspicious, and is very similar to the research used to prove that left wingers are more antisemitic than right wingers.

 

[Mr.Vic20]

This does not surprise me! As a young man, I had absolutely no clue that I thought I was superior to women. Many years later I see myself for the culturally sculpted fool I had been. I've had enough experiences since then to know that women are people, I am a person, and we are all just trying to make it through this life! I was never outwardly rude or abusive mind you, but I definitely had misplaced, non factual, assumptions. It was just a series of subtly reinforced believes, and that's what made them so insidious.

During the 2016 election I was reminded of what this looks like in a broader societal context. I was taken off guard by how many of my male friends, who had historically voted democrat, didn't turn out to vote for Hilary. I've asked several of them what specifically they didn't like about her and her platform and not one could point to policy they had any specific objection to. "She just didn't seem right for the job". That's when I truly understood just how pervasive misogyny really is in our culture. Its even deeper than racism, because its happening in ALL(nearly all?) homes. Women are party to it as well because, again, years of cultural indoctrination. So yeah, I don't have a hard time believing this at all!

I'm happy to say that I'm now raising children with very different beliefs than I was raised with, and that my daughter has high self worth and my son understands that he and his sister are equitable beings. The truth is though that I'm still a work in progress, because I still find little moments where I have to challenge my assumptions. One thing you learn as you get older is, just trying to be a "good person" is more challenging than you younger version may have imagined. Culturally its a moving target that continues to shift and change over time. But hey, at least I am moving in a kinder, more respectful, direction.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

These are bad, the one about a third finding it acceptable to beat a wife is shocking, to be honest.

Please correct me if I'm mistaken but I don't understand why it's necessary to frame these findings in a manner that makes them seem worse than they already are. Feels a bit dishonest and that's not helpful to the cause.

Saying 90% of people have some bias against women, while true, puts the emphasis on a meta-statistic of biases with varying degrees of severity, rather than putting it on the most urgent ones.

Certainly all biases against women are unwarranted but beating a wife and having a prejudiced political opinion are not similar enough that they should be bundled together.

Just my opinion - as a man - and I welcome criticism.

 

[iapetus]

These are bad, the one about a third finding it acceptable to beat a wife is shocking, to be honest.

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That's one that I'd be more interested in seeing broken down by gender, age, nationality.

 

[Lightning Count]

This is all seriously fucked up but themost disturbing thing here is the fact that a third of people are ok with domestic violence, what the fuck?

 

[Deleted member 9035]

That's one that I'd be more interested in seeing broken down by gender, age, nationality.

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Yep, it feels like the much bigger story and bundling it together with other biases (that certainly need to change as well!) doesn't feel like an effective way to raise awareness.

 

[Shining Star]

That's honestly surprisingly high and a little sad. I thought things were getting a bit better but maybe that's just a product of growing up and being around different people.

 

[psilocybe]

It makes me wonder about my own bias I don't even notice. It sucks.

Even trying to be aware, some things are just so ingrained.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

It makes me wonder about my own bias I don't even notice. It sucks.

Even trying to be aware, some things are just so ingrained.

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Yeah that's what I was just thinking, it's entirely possible that so much of this stuff is baked into our society that it's impossible to fully separate yourself from it even if you know it's wrong or are against it.

I wouldn't even be shocked if a lot of women were biased against women, in a very "oh she shouldn't be doing that, that's not a woman's job" kind of way.

 

[Pancho]

Its the kind of shit you know...but seeing actual data to back it up is depressing as fuck.

 

[Tom Penny]

Everyone is biased. The rate condoning beating women absolutely bananas.

 

[WellbornWarrior]

I could imagine many countries drag this down because most of them aren't exactly developed democratic nations. Goes to show the world at large is still underdeveloped in various areas.

 

[Aprikurt]

Read the comments on anything about Brie Larson on anything ever and realise how true this is.

 

[A. D. Skinner]

Changing that sentence from prison time to a fine is insane.

You told them and now I have to pay. I'm not going to pay, you're going to pay, and you're never telling anyone again! *beats more*

Who didn't see this coming?

 

[Cyanity]

Sanders' supporters reaction to Warren is a great example of how even the most "woke" among us still hold biases

 

[Addi]

What happened in Sweden to make them go from 19% to 30% in 5 years? Social media?

 

[Mona]

i hope beating their wife doesn't mean what i think it means

shameful

 

[Fulminator]

progress takes time unfortunately. we are still much better off today than we were 50 years ago, even if we still have a LONG way to go.

Almost a third of men and women think it's acceptable for a man to beat his wife.

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this one got me though. damn.

 

[Yerffej]

Looking at this election and the last...sounds about right.

 

[FTF]

what the fuck

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I refuse to believe that one because it's just too fucked up.

 

[Piccoro]

I could imagine many countries drag this down because most of them aren't exactly developed democratic nations. Goes to show the world at large is still underdeveloped in various areas.

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One of the most developed nations on Earth (US) still has a lot of gender inequality, so I don't think being a "developed democratic nation" has any meaning in all of this.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

i hope beating their wife doesn't mean what i think it means

shameful

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It means beating her at checkers!

 

[Chopchop]

A lot of cultures have these biases very deeply ingrained. Obviously the ones like beating your wife are super egregious, but there are plenty of sexist undercurrents in first world western cultures as well. Not to mention that there are very obvious ones in our culture too, such as biases against women in leadership roles, tech, games, and so on.

When you grow up in these cultures, it can be hard to realize that parts of what you believe are wrong or abnormal until you actually examine them and compare them to what other people are doing.

Same goes for things like hitting your kids to discipline them. That is still extremely common in some cultures.

 

[jaymzi]

Wonder what this figure would have been 50 years ago and if any progress has been made at all.

 

[shadowkat]

This is depressing yet also unsurprising.

That stat about men beating their wives is shameful.

 

[weekev]

I really hope the beating your partner question has been interpreted to it being acceptable to use BDSM in your relationship. Sadly i dont think thats the case. Really eye opening report, I knew it was bad but i didnt think it was THAT bad. Now add on racial bias and you realise how shit it must be for a black women in the current society.

 

[Lost Lemurian]

I literally just muted someone I was fighting with on imgur (yes, I know this is a waste of time) because they had this huge screed about how toxic masculinity doesn't exist and is a tool of evil feminists to silence people. This shit is deeply ingrained in people.

 

[iapetus]

Okay, a few more details. This isn't an attempt to minimise the result of the research, just to present some of it in a slightly clearer light.

First the definition of bias. This comes down to seven questions - I've listed the possible answers with those indicating bias in red/bold - in some cases the actual paper gets these wrong (answers don't match up to the bias indicators) and I've tried to rationalise these:

1. Men make better political leaders than women. Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree
2. Women have the same rights as men. 1 (not essential), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (essential)

3. University is more important for a man than a woman. Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

4. Men should have more right to a job than a woman. Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree
5. Men make better business executives than women do. Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

6. Proxy for intimate partner violence. 1 (never), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (always)
7. Proxy for reproductive rights. 1 (never), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (always)

That headline 90% figure is quite skewed - a lot of countries are around the 50-60% mark (Canada, FInland, France, US, UK, Spain, Switzerland etc.) and a lot are up close to 100% (Algeria, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Rwanda etc.) In most countries, the bias number skew higher for men, though in the section on trends, men are generally getting better and women are generally getting worse.

They also track the number with 2+ biases, and again there's a difference between some countries (mostly but not all those with initial lower values) where this drops off around 50% and others where there's much less of a drop off (there are a fair few countries where >90% of people have 2+ biases).

A couple of countries stand out - Andorra, with 73% of people showing no bias and less than 7.5% showing 2+, and Sweden (70% no bias, less than 11% 2+ biases). Go Andorrans!

Still plenty of data that I'd like to see more breakdown on, and I'd like to see the exact form of questions for the 1-10 scales. But yeah, interesting stuff, still shocking in parts, and let down by a somewhat misleading and sensationalist headline.

 

[iapetus]

I really hope the beating your partner question has been interpreted to it being acceptable to use BDSM in your relationship. Sadly i dont think thats the case. Really eye opening report, I knew it was bad but i didnt think it was THAT bad. Now add on racial bias and you realise how shit it must be for a black women in the current society.

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Looks like that question has pretty much zero tolerance (for obvious reasons). I was also wondering whether saying it would be okay as a last resort in a case of self defence would land you a 2 out of 10 and a bias marker.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

This is depressing as hell

 

[Rosebud]

Well, some people actually said "A woman can't be president, imagine if she gets angry and starts a war or something" unironically.

 

[DanteMenethil]

The wife beating stat is crazy

 

[WellbornWarrior]

One of the most developed nations on Earth (US) still has a lot of gender inequality, so I don't think being a "developed democratic nation" has any meaning in all of this.

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You could argue if the US falls under that moniker in it's current state.

 

[Deleted member 4367]

You can't live in a racist and sexist society without internalizing some of the racism and sexism. That's what is so insidious about racism and sexism. Thinking you're above it definitely doesn't help recognizing your biases.

 

[weekev]

Looks like that question has pretty much zero tolerance (for obvious reasons). I was also wondering whether saying it would be okay as a last resort in a case of self defence would land you a 2 out of 10 and a bias marker.

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Yeah it's one of these ones where you almost need an interview with the folks who answered it to understand what their thinking is.

 

[Amnixia]

Almost a third of men and women think it's acceptable for a man to beat his wife.

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Holy shit. I hate this world.