Gender footprint

“Women are half the world’s population, yet they do two-thirds of the world’s work, earn one-tenth of the world’s income, and own less than one per cent of the world’s property. They are among the poorest of the world’s poor”.
Barber Conable, former President of World Bank

Women on an unequal footing
Gender inequality starts early and keeps women at a disadvantage throughout their lives. In some countries, infant girls are less likely to survive than infant boys because their parents favour the boys and neglect the girls.

Girls often receive less food than boys do. They are more likely to drop out of school and to receive less education than boys.

Historically women have been seen as less important than men socially, economically, politically and culturally.

So what is a gender footprint ?

Put simply, this is the environmental, economic, social and political impact men and women have purely as a result of whether they are male or female. In most cultures men have a much larger footprint than women. This gives men much greater power. This power is often used over women and leaves them disempowered. When women have a larger and stronger gender footprint families, communities and societies at large tend to benefit.

Gender inequality: how it measures up

Of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty around the world, 70% are women
130 million primary school age children do not attend school; 60% of these are girls.
By age 18, girls have received an average of 4.4 years less education than boys.
Pregnancies and childbirth-related health problems take the lives of around 500,000 women each year; that’s one woman every minute.
In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman faces a 1 in 13 chance of dying in childbirth. In Western Europe, the risk is 1 in 3,200.
Women do about 66% of the world's work in return for less than 5% of its income
At least one in three girls and women worldwide has been beaten or abused in her lifetime.
Of every 10 people killed or wounded during armed conflict 8 are women or children
Only around 6 in every 100 government ministers in the world are women.

Printer friendly Includes all menu sections: Inequality, Human rights, Millennium Development Goals, Equal footprints, Put your foot down, Glossary, Women: Case studies

Download the Women’s Rights Leaflet Includes activities, resources, case studies, and websites