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3<br />

FIGURE 3.4:<br />

Few women hold leadership positions in corporations <strong>and</strong> governments in middle <strong>and</strong> high income countries<br />

Percentage of women on executive boards <strong>and</strong> legislative bodies<br />

50<br />

45<br />

40<br />

35<br />

Executive boards<br />

Legislative bodies<br />

Percentage of women<br />

30<br />

25<br />

20<br />

15<br />

10<br />

5<br />

0<br />

Qatar<br />

Oman<br />

Kuwait<br />

Thail<strong>and</strong><br />

Bahrain<br />

Brazil<br />

Japan<br />

Malaysia<br />

India<br />

Russian Fed.<br />

Turkey<br />

Chile<br />

Rep. of Korea<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong><br />

Indonesia<br />

U. A. Emirates<br />

United States<br />

Saudi Arabia<br />

Israel<br />

United Kingdom<br />

Greece<br />

China<br />

Pol<strong>and</strong><br />

Canada<br />

Singapore<br />

France<br />

Australia<br />

Switzerl<strong>and</strong><br />

Austria<br />

Italy<br />

Portugal<br />

New Zeal<strong>and</strong><br />

Gemany<br />

Netherl<strong>and</strong>s<br />

Mexico<br />

Denmark<br />

Belgium<br />

Norway<br />

Spain<br />

South Africa<br />

Finl<strong>and</strong><br />

Sweden<br />

Note: Data for female share in parliament are from 2015. Data for female share in executive boards comes from sources between 2010 <strong>and</strong> 2014.<br />

Source: United Nations (2015b).<br />

social organizations, including those of major religions<br />

(Domingo et al., 2015). Formal requirements for women’s<br />

representation in local government, such as reservation<br />

schemes in India <strong>and</strong> municipal representation in<br />

South Africa, may increase women’s visibility <strong>and</strong><br />

some economic outcomes (Deininger et al., 2011), but<br />

their impact on underlying power dynamics is unclear<br />

(Beall, 2010).<br />

Gender-based violence is a significant global issue.<br />

Recent conflict, instability <strong>and</strong> migration have been<br />

associated with particularly high levels of sexual <strong>and</strong><br />

gender-based violence. In many countries, social media<br />

are creating new spaces for sexual harassment (Parkes<br />

<strong>and</strong> Unterhalter, 2015). Around one-third of women<br />

worldwide have experienced physical <strong>and</strong>/or sexual<br />

violence from an intimate partner, or sexual violence<br />

by a non-partner, at some point in their lives; in most<br />

countries less than 40% of them sought help at any point<br />

(United Nations, 2015b).<br />

Due to a combination of biological <strong>and</strong> social factors,<br />

many health challenges have a gendered dimension.<br />

In low income countries, a woman living in a rural<br />

area is 38% less likely to give birth with a skilled health<br />

professional than her urban counterpart (UN Women,<br />

2015). In some countries, limited reproductive rights<br />

mean that maternal conditions <strong>and</strong> AIDS are the leading<br />

causes of death for young women; the right to abortion<br />

is selectively available <strong>and</strong> frequently challenged,<br />

including in the United States. More than 200 million<br />

girls <strong>and</strong> women alive today have been subject to female<br />

genital mutilation (UNICEF, 2016). Men, meanwhile,<br />

experience a higher burden of disease <strong>and</strong> have higher<br />

risk behaviour <strong>and</strong> lower life expectancy than women<br />

(Hawkes <strong>and</strong> Buse, 2013).<br />

Legal rights for women have not translated into gender<br />

equality. Therefore, to clarify the issue <strong>and</strong> motivate<br />

responses, UN Women has defined ‘substantive equality<br />

for women’ as encompassing ‘three interconnected<br />

dimensions along which actions need to be taken’<br />

to develop real equality: redressing women’s socioeconomic<br />

disadvantage, addressing stereotyping, stigma<br />

<strong>and</strong> violence, <strong>and</strong> strengthening agency, voice <strong>and</strong><br />

participation (UN Women, 2015). A holistic approach is<br />

2016 • GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 71

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