The focus of this article is on several areas of gender equality and female participation. The author discusses gender roles, women's work, wages, education, political power, and safety. Further, it discusses the gender gap in a variety of fields like education, political participation, and other areas. Gender inequality in organizations is a mind-boggling phenomenon that should be visible in hierarchical designs, cycles, and practices.

From one side of the world to the other, women have fewer doors for economic support than men, less induction to primary and high-level training, more prominent wellbeing, and less political depiction. Guaranteeing the opportunities for women and offering them opportunities to show up at their most extreme limit is fundamental for achieving gender equity.

Empowered women and girls contribute to the health and efficiency of their families, communities, and countries, making a far-reaching influence that benefits everybody all around the world, women have fewer opportunities for economic participation than men, less admittance to fundamental and advanced education, greater health, and less political portrayal. However, till the 21st century, women looked for and acquired numerous legitimate freedoms including the option to cast a vote yet, no nation has completely achieved gender equality.

Introduction:
The notion of gender equality holds that everyone, regardless of gender, should have the same rights and opportunities. It is a significant issue in today's society but unfortunately, not everyone has access to it or even believes it exists. In 1955, the dubious and creative sexologist John Money first use the expression "gender" to portray a human characteristic. The term "gender" refers to the duties and obligations that society views as being most suited for men and women, with a particular emphasis on social roles. Not only is gender equality a crucial human right, but it also serves as the foundation for peace, prosperity, and economic growth.

Gender equality indicates that all sexes are free to pursue any profession, way of life, and abilities they require without hindrance. Their privileges, opportunities, and admittance to society are not different in view of their gender. Gender equality doesn't be guaranteed to imply that everybody is dealt with exactly the same. As Mary Wollstonecraft said, I do not wish them (women) to have power over men but over themselves.

Their various requirements and dreams are esteemed equally. Gender equality is frequently talked about simultaneously as gender equality for this reason. Since society has been inclined toward men for such a long time, men enjoy many benefits. Equality fills in the holes so every other person can "catch up" to men. It tends to address discrimination and uneven balance in society with the goal that equality can turn into a reality.

Problems like gender inequality and limited female participation in society are a cause for concern for many people. This is especially true when we consider the fact that many developing countries still have some of the worst issues with gender equality.

As per the latest report of UNICEF In comparison to 1 in 10 boys, roughly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are not in employment, education, or training globally.[1]

Furthermore,13 million girls worldwide, or 1 in 20 females between the ages of 15 and 19, have ever engaged in forced sex.[2]

The UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres has expressed that 'accomplishing gender equality and empowering women and girls is the unfinished business of our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world.'

United Nation on gender equality:

The founding Charter of the UN established support for women's rights. The UN's stated goals, found in Article 1 of its Charter, include To achieve international co-operation … in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.[3]

The Economic and Social Council established the Commission on the Status of Women during the first year of the UN as the primary global policy-making body devoted only to gender equality and the advancement of women. Securing gender-neutral language in the draught Universal Declaration of Human Rights was one of its first successes.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, included gender equality as a component of international human rights law.

The General Assembly declared 1975 the International Women's Year and planned the first World Conference on Women, which was held in Mexico City as the global feminist movement began to gain momentum in the 1970s. Thus, at the Conference's suggestion, it declared 1976–1985 the UN Decade for Women and established a Voluntary Fund for the Decade.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), also referred to as the International Bill of Rights for Women, was ratified by the General Assembly in 1979. The Convention explicitly defines gender discrimination in its 30 provisions and lays out a strategy for national action to abolish it. It is the first human rights agreement to discuss women's reproductive rights.

A second World Meeting on Women was convened in Copenhagen in 1980, following the first conference in Mexico City by five years. This guarantees women's property ownership and management as well as advancements in their rights regarding inheritance, child custody, and loss of nationality.

In 1985, Nairobi hosted the global conference to assess the results of the UN Decade for Women: Equality, Development, and Peace. An equal NGO Forum was held with the participation of 15,000 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at a period when gender equality had finally attained true global acceptance. Many saw the event as "the dawn of global feminism".

The Fourth World Conference on Women followed, which went above and beyond the Nairobi Conference and was held in Beijing in 1995. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action recognized women's rights as fundamental human rights and emphasized the need for concrete measures to ensure their respect.

The Women's March in Washington, DC, on January 21, 2017, evolved into the largest global mass demonstration in favor of women's rights. Several dozen to several hundred thousand people participated in affiliated marches that took place in towns and cities all over the world, including Nairobi, Belgrade, Bangkok, Paris, Buenos Aires, Accra, Krakow, and even Antarctica. Training sessions were held alongside many marches for women running for political office, youth projects, and discussions on topics including wage disparity and the right to be free from abuse.

What improvements have been made for women and girls?

As per the report of UNICEF, the life expectancy of a female at birth rises from 67.5 years in 1995 to 75.2 years in 2020.

At the elementary level, the proportion of females who are not in school falls from 65 million in 1995 to 32 million in 2020, while at the lower secondary and upper secondary levels, it falls from 52 million in 1995 to 30 million in 2020 and from 91 million in 1995 to 67 million in 2020, respectively.

The percentage of female youth that are literate increases from 80% in 1995 to 90% in 2020. (for girls aged 15-24).

Data on child marriage in 1995 shows that 1 in 4 girls married before the age of 18 years which sifts to 1 in 5 girls in 2020.

HIV infection which is a serious problem that women suffer decreases from 2,80,000 in 1995 to 1,40,000 in 2020 (among girls aged 10-19 years).

However, there is no doubt that gender inequality is still rampant across different societies around the world today despite past movements meant to correct it. Even though there are still many women who do not get the same opportunities as men, progress is being made.

Despite this lack of representation, some women have risen to power within individual states as well as internationally while others continue to fight against it.

Here, an assessment is made looking at gender inequality by considering the following aspects:

1. Female political representation:
   According to a UN Women estimate, there would be 26 women leading 24 countries' governments as of 1 September 2021. There are only 10 countries with a female head of state and 13 with a female head of government.
   
   Only 14 countries had attained 50% or more women in cabinets, with women making up only 21% of government ministers. Gender parity in ministerial positions won't be reached until 2077 with a mere 0.52 percentage point rise each year.[4]
    
2. Female education:
   Admission to school has a profound impact on one's life. Girls who attend school advance more rapidly in terms of literacy, earnings, and income growth. Premarital sex is less likely, early marriage is less likely, first deliveries take longer, and it helps moms learn how to plan and space their births out. Despite the numerous benefits, girls continue to confront obstacles in secondary and post-secondary education around the world. Only fifty-five girls continue their education after high school in low-income nations for every 100 guys who do the same.[5]
    
3. Outdoor harassment:
   A 2017 Runners World poll found that men don't get catcalled when running, but 40% of women have experienced harassment while running in public (and the percentage rises to 58%).[6]
    
4. Inequality in sports:
   Sport England conducted a study in 2019 including 130,000 kids and discovered that, between the ages of five to seven, girls were much less likely to participate in team sports, despite the fact that they claimed to love being active.[7]
    
5. Gender bias in the advertisement:
   The portrayal of women on television was observed in a 2020 research from Enders Analysis, which noted how frequently and inaccurately females are portrayed as stereotypes. For instance, 41% of advertisements featured women in the role of a homemaker and 28% in the role of an employee. But when a new family car is being purchased, 82% of the decision-makers are women.[8]
    
6. Workplace environment:
   In spite of the fact that over 90% of respondents felt that their symptoms were having a negative impact on work, a 2019 poll of 1,132 menopausal women by Newson Health Clinic found that 76% of their workplaces were not providing any type of menopause support.[9]

Women: The equal half (Indian Scenario):

India has a 1.38 billion-person population as of 2020, with women making up 48.04 percent of the total. We discover that the percentage of women who participate in the labor force has decreased by a decade, from 36.7% in 2005 to 26% in 2018, with 95% (195 million) of women working in the unorganized sector. Compared to women, men participate in the labor force at a rate of 76.08 percent, which is four times higher than that of women.

India dropped four spots from 2018 to rank 112 out of 153 nations on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Inequality Index, mostly because of its economic gender gap. India today has the lowest labor force participation among its South Asian neighbors, trailing only Pakistan and Afghanistan, whose FLFP (Female Labour Force Participation) was half that of India's in 1990.

In order to increase women's labor force participation in India by 10 percentage points between now and 2025, 68 million additional women must join it. The question is will India be able to reach that mark? While it is good to speak about the $ 5 - trillion economy if this has to come to pass a lot more needs to be done to bring more women into the workforce.

The report is not positive when looking at the situation of women who are currently in the workforce. The overall gender pay gap in India in 2016 was 25 percent, per the Monster Salary Index 2016 Gender Pay Report. Men receive a median gross hourly pay of 345.8 rupees, compared to women's only 259.8 rupees. It's crucial to address the gender pay gap as well.

Conclusion:
Gender equality is an important thing that needs to be accomplished. Discrimination against women and girls is an inescapable and long-running peculiarity that describes society at each level. As the above data shows we have accomplished a lot in late history on the way to, gender equality, yet we have far to go to rising to enrichments, cooperation, and voice for women. Achieving gender equality helps in many ways.

According to studies, when people of both genders are given equal employment chances, society gains, and their labor is more productive. Success in work also contributes to economic expansion. Equal career opportunities for men and women lower poverty rates, strengthen communities and boost a country's GDP significantly.

According to UNICEF, a girl who completes secondary school sees a significant boost in her lifetime wages, the rate of national growth rises, the incidence of child marriage falls, the rate of child mortality drops, and the rate of maternal mortality drops.

According to a different study, gender disparity has a deleterious effect on several aspects of health. Better health outcomes—including a decline in depression, PTSD, and other conditions occur when all genders have equal access to medical care. Numerous studies have shown that gender equality is crucial for the preservation of natural rights and peaceful society and is necessary for all communities to prosper.

There are many strategies to promote gender equality in daily life, from separating household chores into equal groups to combating gender stereotypes. Nevertheless, gender equality stays an industrious challenge for countries worldwide and the absence of such equity is a significant obstruction to sustainable development.


End-Notes:

1. https://www.unicef.org/gender-equality
2. Id.
3. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/gender-equality
4. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures#_edn1
5. https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/lifestyle-wellbeing/shocking-gender-inequality-facts-melinda-gates
6. Id.
7. Id.
8. Id.
9. https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/lifestyle-wellbeing/shocking-gender-inequality-facts-melinda-gates