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UN report: Prejudices against women run deep
40 percent of those surveyed were of the opinion that men were better at executive positions in business. photo
© Tobias Kleinschmidt/dpa
Around 25 percent of people believe that men hitting women is justified. According to the UN development agency UNDP, the data are “sobering”.
According to a new UN report, prejudice against women remains widespread around the world – but the situation has improved in Germany. Almost nine out of ten men and women worldwide still have prejudices against women, according to the report by the UN development agency UNDP published in New York on Monday.
For example, half of people worldwide believe that men are better politicians than women and more than 40 percent believe that men are better at executive positions in business. Around 25 percent of people believed that men hitting women was justified.
The UNDP said the data were “sobering”. “Social norms that restrict women’s rights also have a negative impact on society at large and hinder the advancement of human development,” said UNDP’s Pedro Conceição, who is responsible for the report. The report calls on governments worldwide to play their “critical role” in changing gender roles – including by supporting parental leave.
In some countries around the world, however, the situation has improved, according to the report – including Germany. The proportion of the population who have no gender prejudice at all has risen from an average of 42 percent in 2017 to 63 percent last year.
UNDP collected the data based on surveys from 2017 to 2022 with responses from 80 countries and territories, which together are home to around 85 percent of the world’s population.