The UN regretted on Monday that sexist prejudices ingrained in societies have not diminished in the last decade, despite campaigns such as MeToo that seek to promote women’s rights. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), biased gender social norms prevail around the world, with nearly 90% of people admitting to having at least one prejudice out of the seven analyzed.
These biases are widely accepted by both men and women, suggesting that they are deeply entrenched and affect both genders in similar ways, the UNDP report notes. UNDP updated its Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI), which considers political, economic, educational, and physical integrity dimensions, using data from the Global Values Assessment, an international project that examines how values and beliefs change around the world.
The index reveals that there has been no improvement in prejudice against women over the past decade, despite powerful global and local women’s rights campaigns such as MeToo. For example, 69% of the world’s population believes that men make better political leaders than women, and only 27% consider it essential for democracy that women have the same rights as men. In addition, approximately half of the population thinks that men have a greater right to a job, and 43% believe that men are better business leaders.
The report also highlights that 25% of the population considers it justifiable for a man to beat his wife, and 28% believe that university education is more important for men. Pedro Conceicao, head of the UNDP Human Development Report, stated that social norms that affect women’s rights are detrimental to society as a whole, as they limit the expansion of human development. He stressed that everyone benefits when women’s freedom and power are guaranteed.