Arshad Shaikh studies the recently released Annual Gender Gap Report 2023 by the World Economic Forum. The report brings home the fact that the world has a long way to go in achieving gender parity. While there has been substantial progress in education and health, the gender gap in economic participation and political empowerment is still substantial. The report brings out the striking contrast that exists among nations in terms of achieving gender parity. It is also a reflection of the glaring difference in political history, worldview and societal norms between various countries. But, is gender parity the panacea to all our ills? The answer takes us to the age-old debate about the role of women in society, patriarchy and male privilege. Gender parity needs to be dealt with nuance and subtlety; parity and a lack of it should not be used as a binary to judge cultures and civilizations.
The Global Gender Gap Report was first published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2006 to track progress toward gender parity and compare countries’ gender gaps across four dimensions. Those being – (1) economic participation and opportunity, (employment, wages, and participation in the economy), (2) educational attainment (access to education and literacy rates), (3) health and survival (life expectancy and maternal mortality rates), and (4) political empowerment (representation in government and decision-making positions). The report is published annually and ranks countries by a Global Gender Gap Index on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing perfect gender parity.
Some of the key findings of the 17th edition of the report indicate that the average global gender gap score for 146 countries is 68.4%. This is a marginal 0.3% improvement over the score of 68.1% last year. Compared to 2006, the score has gone up by 4.1%. At the current rate of progress, it would take 131 years to achieve 100% gender parity across all dimensions.
This year, the top five countries that have bridged the gender gap significantly are Iceland (91.2%), Norway (87.9%), Finland (86.3%), New Zealand (85.6%), and Sweden (81.5%). The following tabular data shows the marked difference in scores across the designated criteria. It shows good progress across the domains of education and health. However, the progress in ensuring gender parity in jobs, fixing salaries and enabling equal participation in the workforce is quite slow. We find a similar situation in giving women their due share in political power and decision-making.
| Economic Participation & Opportunity | Educational Attainment | Health and Survival | Political Empowerment | |
| Global Average (146 nations) | 60.1% | 95.2% | 96% | 22.1% |
| India’s score | 36.7% | 100% | 95% | 25.3% |
| India’s rank | 142 | 26 | 142 | 59 |
OUR RANKING
If we look at the data at the regional level, Europe and North America lead the pack in gender parity across all dimensions followed by Latin America, Eurasia and Central Asia, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia and finally the Middle East. India’s performance in the race for gender parity is not exactly laudable. Our overall rank is 127 of 146 countries with a score of 64.3%. In health and survival, we have a good score (95%), but our position is still 142. This is because of our skewed sex ratio at birth.
The report points out: “Compared to top scoring countries that register 94.4% gender parity at birth, the indicator stands at 92.7% for India.”
With a 100% score on the education front, we still lag in economic participation indicating a broad trend for Indian women to remain homemakers despite being educated.
When it comes to political empowerment, our performance is a little above the global average. India has 44.4% women’s representation in local governments, less than 7% ministers who are women, and 15% women-parliamentarians. The next table indicates the sub-indices where our performance is quite poor.
| LabourForce Participation | Estimated Income (int’l $1000) | Wage Equality for Similar Work | Enrolment in Secondary Education | Sex Ratio at Birth | |
| Rank | 139 | 141 | 116 | 80 | 140 |
| Score | 37.1% | 22.8% | 51.1% | 100% | 92.7% |
ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE ON GENDER PARITY
In her preface to the Global Gender Gap Report, 2023, Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, WEF writes – “Accelerating progress towards gender parity will not only improve outcomes for women and girls but benefit economies and societies more widely, reviving growth, boosting innovation and increasing resilience.”
Given the economic system (capitalism) that dominates and governs the affairs of the world, it is natural to suspect that the drive to gender parity is induced by the need to maintain economic growth rates overriding all other natural requirements like strengthening the family system, the corner stone of society and civilization.
Islam acknowledges that men and women may have distinct roles and responsibilities in society based on their biological and physiological differences. However, these differences do not imply superiority or inferiority. Islam recognises the complementary nature of gender roles, emphasising that both men and women have unique contributions to make in their respective roles.
The Qur’ān emphasises cooperation and mutual support between men and women, stating, “And the believers, men and women, are allies of one another.” (The Qur’ān 9:71) The Islamic perspective on gender parity is rooted through the Qur’ān and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which emphasises the fundamental equality and dignity of all individuals, regardless of their gender, and promotes the concept of justice and fairness.
Islam grants women a range of social and legal rights. Women have the right to education, property ownership, inheritance, employment, and participation in public life. Islam also places a strong emphasis on the protection of women’s rights, including protection from abuse, coercion, and discrimination. The Prophet ﷺsaid, “The best of you are those who are best to their wives.”
Islamic teachings encourage modesty and promote a sense of mutual respect and decency between men and women. This includes observing modest dress and behaviour to maintain the dignity and honour of both genders. Modesty is seen as a virtue that applies to both men and women.
THE STRONG FAMILY INDEX
Given the well-known adverse effects of liberal norms on having relationships outside marriage (before and after), the natural outcome of which is the breakdown of families and the phenomenal rise in single motherhood; it is important to focus on rebuilding the family system. Gender parity cannot be an end by itself with the assumption that it will solve all our maladies and challenges.
A cursory glance at the countries with the top three highest scores on gender parity indicate the following: (1) Iceland (rank 1) – 67% of babies are born to parents who are not married, (2) Norway (rank 2) – in a country of 5.4 million, nearly a fifth of their population consists of one-person family and 11% of their population with couples without children, (3) Finland (rank 3) – 13% of all families are single parent families and 36% families without children.
The world must come up with a new index based on the strength of the family system and allocate resources to spruce up the declining birth rates all over. Despite being debunked, Malthusianism appears to influence the minds of policymakers and there is little effort to make that tectonic shift towards enabling bigger, stronger and more prosperous families.
Study after study suggests that children have a greater chance of succeeding in life if they belong to strong families. CNN Health reported on a survey to gauge the relationship between successful children and family connections. The report found “Children with the greatest level of family connection were over 49% more likely to flourish compared with those with the lowest level of family connection.”
Gender parity is important but not at the cost of destroying our families.