Current Affairs - MAHAMAG Magazine beyond boundaries

New York Women Demand Equality

Discrimination based on gender is a common civil rights violation that takes many forms; including sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and unequal pay for women who do the same jobs as men. Unfortunately, most of our ladies are all too familiar with all of these inequalities.

Advocates of women’s economic equality gathered on the steps of New York City Hall to speak out against the various barriers women encounter in the workplace.

The rally was one of several events throughout the country marking Equal Pay Day, the day intended to highlight the wage disparity between men and women, with some places finding creative ways to poke at the persistent gender pay gap. At bake sales in a handful of cities and towns, cookies and other treats were priced according to gender and race to

illustrate the varying degrees of inequality.

At the New York City rally, Public Advocate Letitia James decried the exploitation of women workers, which she said starts with companies and agencies that offer no transparency in terms of what they pay employees. James also discussed legislation she sponsored to prevent employers from inquiring about previous salaries.

James introduced the legislation to ban salary history in August 2016 after releasing a report that showed the dramatic scale of wage disparity in New York City, where Hispanic women make only 54 percent of what white men are paid for the same job.

“Asking questions about salary history during the hiring process perpetuates a cycle of wage discrimination, which is why I introduced legislation to ban

this practice” said James. “On equal pay day, we recognize a huge step towards closing the pay gap as the bill is slated for an upcoming vote. We mustcontinue working to promote policies and legislation that ensure economic equity and fairness for women and all New Yorkers.

Behind the speaker stood a crowd of workers, many of them black women, who hold administrative jobs with the city of New York. They wore the color red to symbolize being “in the red” economically. Their union, Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1180, sued after finding that the city was dramatically underpaying female workers and workers of color.

Meanwhile, research at the Economic Policy Institute shows that even as women climb the ladder to positions with more responsibility and higher pay, the gap widens – with men being paid even more money for the same job.

On its current course, according to the report, New York State may not close the wage gap until 2049. For women of color, the rate of change is even worse. Black women will wait until 2124 and Hispanic women will have to wait until 2248 to see equal pay.

Egregious gender inequality still exists globally despite of substantial national and international measures that have been taken towards gender equality. Measures of gender equality include access to basic education, health and life expectancy, equality of economic opportunity and political empowerment. Although there have been progresses, many alarming issues regarding gender discrimination still prevail today; therefore, total gender equality must be made a global priority as a fundamental step in both human development and economic progress.

The degree and causes of gender inequality vary throughout the world. Noticeable crimes against women consist of violence, femicide and rape. Honor killing, one such offense, is when a female member of a family is killed for the perception of

having brought dishonor to the family. It has become a massive issue in countries such as Pakistan and the Muslim Middle East, and is on the rise.

The Gender Inequality index is an index for measurement of gender disparity that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report 20th anniversary edition by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to the UNDP, this index is a composite measure which captures the loss of achievement within a country due to gender inequality.

The top four countries in terms of gender equality according to the GII are:

Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark.

The lowest ranked countries are:

Yemen, Afghanistan, Niger, Congo

Women are not the only ones demanding equality, many men too are crying to discrimination in the name of gender. So, Men should not be treated as the enemy. Women need to seek change in society’s views- which includes changing how some men think, but it also includes changing how many women think.

The real enemies behind gender stereotypes are ignorance, intolerance, and stagnant societies that resist change.
Like what these lawyers had done before the New York City hall, we should stand up and fight for our justice. Nobody will come to fight for our justice. Blame games are outdated, it’s time to act!! Sarika