GENDER

INJUSTICES
MA. CIEJAY J. CALARA  GENDER AND SOCIETY  SAINT VINCENT COLLEGE OF CABUYAO
 Gender bias in education.
 The gender pay gap.
 Gender disparities in agriculture.
 Poor access to healthcare.
 The high price of collecting water.
 Child marriage and other forms of gender-based violence.
 Lack of representation for women and girls at the policy level.
  Achieving gender equality is key to ending
extreme poverty. The evidence is clear:
In order to fight
when women and girls have a quality
poverty, we have to education, access to health care,
begin by investing sustainable livelihoods, and a seat at the
in women. decision-making table, economies
shift. Communities escape poverty
permanently.
 There are many forms of gender inequality
that perpetuate the cycle of poverty, and
they all must be eliminated in order to
make true progress.
1. GENDER BIAS IN EDUCATION

 Yet an estimated 130 million girls will never set foot inside a classroom. And the
same will happen to their own children. Children of mothers who completed at
least basic primary education generally have better access to quality education
 and healthcare themselves. These are two of the basic building blocks of an
empowered community. 
 Child marriage, lack of adequate sanitation, and gendered violence in the
classroom are some of the obstacles specific to girls when it comes to this very
basic human right. 
 Gender discrimination is one of the many barriers to education around the
world
 2. THE GENDER PAY GAP

 Financial and economic empowerment is one of the key factors in keeping the
gender balance or out of balance. A 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) report
suggests that, if we keep at our current pace of correcting this imbalance, it will be
another 100 years until women receive equal pay for equal work. 
 Ensuring that women not only earn the same salaries as their male counterparts but
also get the same access to economic independence boosts economies. It also means
that other basic needs, like healthcare, education, and adequate food and water, are
more likely to be available for the whole family. 
3. GENDER DISPARITIES IN
AGRICULTURE
 Women make up nearly half of all farmers (possibly more), yet they have less
productive fields than men.
 Reports show that women have less access to critical tools and resources like fertilizer,
seeds, training, and farm labor. Even when they receive equal access to these resources,
it often doesn’t lead to equality of income. As the primary caretakers of children,
women struggle to get their goods to market, particularly in rural areas. Reduced
harvests and access mean reduced income.
 Women tend to reinvest their earnings back into their families and their community.
When women don’t earn as much, everyone loses. 
 4. POOR ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE

 People living in poverty have less access to quality healthcare. It is also a cause of poverty.
 Gender inequality contributes to high levels of female mortality. Each day, almost 1,000
women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
 The chronic absence of healthcare, combined with the ongoing, unnecessary loss of so
many women result in massive negative impacts on families and communities. Children of
sick mothers are less likely to access healthcare themselves, and older siblings are usually
forced to drop out of school to take care of younger siblings and contribute to the
household.
 5. THE HIGH PRICE OF COLLECTING
WATER

 Water is a women’s issue.

 More than 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water at home.
 According to UNICEF, women and girls spend a collective 200 million hours
collecting water every day. This is time that they could spend studying in school, in
employment, or running their own businesses. One study shows that school
attendance increased by as much as 12% when water was available within 15
minutes of home. For every minute that a woman spends collecting water, a minute
that could be used to earn and save money is lost.
 6. CHILD MARRIAGE AND OTHER
FORMS OF GENDER-BASED
VIOLENCE
 More than 700 million women were married before they turned 18 (UNICEF). More
than a third of them — about 250 million — were married before the age of 15.
Compare that to 156 million boys married before the age of 18
 Child marriage affects girls much more than it affects boys.
 But how is child marriage linked to poverty? 
Girls who marry young are less likely to receive a complete or quality educatio
n
, and child brides often suffer from higher discrimination, violence, and increased
maternal mortality rates.
Forced and early marriage is one of the many forms of violence
against women and girls. This includes sexual violence, female
genital mutilation, trafficking, and honor killings. All forms of GBV
contribute to the belief that men and women can be treated
differently, based on gender stereotypes that vary from culture to
culture. While these harmful practices remain in place, the rights of
women will continue to be tied up with the false belief that these
forms of violence are part of the norm. 
7. LACK OF REPRESENTATION FOR
WOMEN AND GIRLS AT THE POLICY
LEVEL

 Keeping women away from the decision-making table

means that legislation and public policy is unlikely to be
created equitably.
 Consider, for instance, the lack of recognition for unpaid
care and domestic work. Or consider, at a higher level of
severity, the threats that women face every day based
entirely on their gender. 
 CONCERN AND GENDER EQUALITY

 The United Nations identifies gender equality as Goal #5 of

its 17 Sustainable Development Goals to hit by 2030. To
reach this, our approach at Concern is to address the root
causes of gender disparity. Many of these causes are similar
to the factors that perpetuate global poverty and hunger. 
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
2030 Agenda

 In2015, 195 nations agreed with the United Nation that they can
change the world for the better.
 This will be accomplished by bringing together their respective
governments, businesses, media, institutions of higher education,
and local NGOs to improve the lives of the people in their country
by the year 2030.
Gender Profile of the
Philippines
 The Filipino women may be considered as one of the most

“ advanced compared the women in other countries, in the

areas of academic, professional, politics and legislation.
However, they also suffer from domestic violence, economic
disadvantages, discrimination at the workplace,
exploitation as migrant workers, and as prostituted women
and displacement brought about by the intermittent wars
in conflict affected areas. ”
Current Situation of Women in the Philippines
 “ The Philippines is the only country in
Asia to have closed the gender gap on
both education and health and is one of
only six (6) in the world to have done so
”
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Report 2021, the Philippines has ranked 17th
among 156 nations in closing gender inequality. The Philippines, based on the report, has remained the
top-performing country in Asia after closing 78.4 percent of its overall gender gap.
“ The Philippines’ scores on political empowerment continues to
improve as its economic indicators such as estimated income,
labor force participation and income equality for similar work.
The Philippines is the only country in the world where women
have parity to men in senior management roles. However, despite
the remarkable achievements above, thousands of Filipino
women suffer from sex and other gender related abuses ”
 “ While Filipino women suffer the same domestic violence, and
economic disadvantages all over the country, women in some
parts of Mindanao and other conflict affected areas in the
Philippines suffer more.

”
As in most countries affected by displacement brought about by armed conflict,
women and children make up the great majority of the displaced population in
the Philippines, and experience additional vulnerabilities. The intermittent wars
affect women’s livelihood, health, education and family life, among other things.
 The country has passed important laws :
 The Rape Victim Assistance and Protection
In the area of Act of 1998,
legislative reforms,  The Anti Sexual Harassment Act of 1995
the Philippines has and
ensured the  The Anti-Violence Against Women and
protection of women Their Children Act of 2004
against economic,
social and political The Philippines also has a vibrant women’s
forms of movement which is recognized for its work in
discrimination. the international and national levels.
Government
Policy on The Philippine government adopted the Philippine
Plan for Gender Responsive Development
Gender (PPGD) 1995-2025, a 30 year strategic plan that
translated the Beijing Platform for Action into
policies, strategies, programs and projects for
Filipino women. To operationalize the PPGD, the
Philippine government, with its partners in the
non-government organizations, and the academe
formulated the Framework Plan for Women (FPW)
in 2001.
Government The FPW has the following three (3)
Policy on priority areas:
Gender (i) promotion of women’s economic
empowerment,
(ii) protection and advancement of
women’s rights, and
(iii) promotion of gender responsive
governance.
Government  The Philippines is one of the few
Policy on countries in the world that has adopted
Gender a GAD Policy Budget
 All government agencies (including
local government units) to utilize at
least 5% of their respective total
budgets for programs, activities and
projects that address the needs and
uphold rights of women.
  The National Commission on the Role of
National Filipino Women (NCRFW) was established on
7 January 1975
Machinery  It serves as an advisory body to the President.
Among its mandate is to review, evaluate and
recommend measures, including priorities to
ensure the full integration of women for
economic, social and cultural development at
national, regional and international levels.
 It is also mandated to ensure further equality
between men and women.
  Female students in the Philippines fare very well in the area of
Situation of education.
 Relative to male students, females have a higher participation
Women/Gender in rate in the elementary and secondary levels.

Education  Female students have a better survival rate in elementary and

secondary levels because the drop out rate for males is higher
than that of the female students. The female students’
completion rate is also higher than that of the male students’ in
both levels.
 Poor families tend to make boys work because they are
considered to be more physically able than girls. Since boys
generally perform poorer in school, it seems easier for parents
to make them quit and get a job. Moreover, girls value
education more than boys do because they no longer see
themselves merely staying at home when they grow up, they
expect to have careers. Boys tend to assume they would be able
to work even without finishing school.
Situation of  Results of recent National Board Examinations show
that female examinees scored better than male
Women/Gender in examinees in most of the engineering courses. On
the other hand, male examinees fared better than
Education female examinees in medicine, midwifery, nursing,
nutrition-diabetics and social work.
 Female students can excel on areas where men
traditionally excel on and vice versa. At the post
graduate level, more females than males are enrolled
in graduate courses.
 Overall, in terms of basic and functional literacy,
females have higher rates than males, except in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Situation of  Across the regions in the Philippines, women
Women/Gender in have varying levels of access to health
Health facilities during delivery. While 69.5% of live
births occurred in health facilities in the
National Capital Region, only 10.7% occurred
in the same facilities in CARAGA.
 Consequently, the number of deliveries
assisted by trained health professionals vary
according to the region. CARAGA has the
least number of deliveries assisted by health
professionals while the NCR has the most
number.
 The Philippines has a number of women in
Situation of especially difficult circumstances. These include
Women/Gender in (i) women in armed conflict
Health (ii) women victims of domestic violence,
(iii) women in prostitution,
(iv) women in prison, and
(v) single women.
In general, women are put in disadvantaged
position due to the differences in gender roles.
This limits their access to resources and their
ability to provide and protect their health.
 Violence against women and their children
Situation of (VAWC) is an act or a series of act committed
Women/Gender in by any person against his wife, former wife, a
Health woman with whom he has or had a sexual
dating relationship, or with whom he has a
child, or against the woman’s child.
This act may have been committed within or
Related issue affecting outside the family residence resulting to (i)
women: Violence physical violence (bodily or physical harm),
committed against (ii) sexual violence, (iii) psychological
them and their children violence, and (iv) economic abuse
 The Department of Health has identified the
following factors that lead to poor health
Situation of among Filipino women:
Women/Gender in  low social status of women
Health  reproductive risks
 inadequate gender-responsive services and
facilities for women,
 environmental hazards and contaminants
 increased participation of women in the
workforce (reproductive health risk at
work especially during pregnancy and
lactation)
Situation of
Women/Gender in
Agriculture,
Female hired workers in agriculture is lower
Forestry, Fisheries than that of the males
There are more unpaid female family workers
than male family workers.
Situation of
Women/Gender in Despite the important role played by women
Agriculture, in Philippine agriculture, most of the land
titles of land owning households are in the
Forestry, Fisheries name of their husbands.
This may be explained by the patriarchial
system in the Philippines
In the Philippines, women are still strongly
tied to their traditional roles as mother, wife,
and housekeeper.
Situation of More men than women employed in forest based
Women/Gender in industries and in the fisheries sector.
Agriculture, Women are engaged in almost all areas of rice
Forestry, Fisheries production. Besides the actual rice production, women
are also primarily tasked to prepare food to be brought
to the field during meal time.
Women’s scope of influence extends beyond
household maintenance, it also includes decisions
relating to budget allocation for farm input expenses
and productive activities. Most of the women are
directly involved in capital procurement.
Situation of
Women/Gender in Among the individuals of farming households
Agriculture, who out migrated, a higher proportion of
Forestry, Fisheries females than males migrated.
Although rural to urban migration occurs,
domestic to international migration is more
prevalent. Female migrants mainly worked as
domestic helpers and entertainers within the
Philippines and in the Middle East, Italy,
Singapore, and Hong Kong. Others worked as
factory workers in Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
  Majority of the labor force are male
Situation of  Filipino women are prevented from entering
Women/Gender in the labor force because of the gender role
stereotyping, particularly in relation to
Economic
reproductive responsibilities.
Activities
 Compared with its neighbors in the region, the
Philippines has the highest percentage of
female professionals and technical workers.
The Philippines is the only country where
women have parity to men in senior
management roles.
Situation of
Women/Gender in  The lack of employment in the country has
Economic led millions of women to leave and work
Activities abroad as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
From 1998-2006, women outnumbered men
in terms of newly hired OFWs.
  Women OFWs outnumber men as professionals,
clerks, service and sales workers, laborers and
Situation of unskilled workers.
Women/Gender in  Working overseas has brought a lot of difference
Economic in the lives of Filipino women. Domestic workers
Activities are now getting remuneration for domestic work
which they have been doing in their own homes
but were not credited for any economic value.
 The women’s ability to contribute financially to
their families has not only empowered them but
also gave them a greater sense of self-worth.
Situation of
 As early as 1937, Filipino women were already allowed
Women/Gender in to vote and stand for election.
Political and  As early as 1941, a woman has already been elected
Public Life into Parliament (the first in the region).
 Numerous Filipino women have played significant roles
in the United Nations to advance women’s global
agenda. As early as 1964, Filipino women already
GERONIMA T. PECSON is the occupied high position in the U.N. Commission on the
first Woman Senator of the Status of Women. They have also sat as Commission on
Philippines. Born in Barrio
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Libsong, Lingayen, Pangasinan
on December 19, 1896.
Women (CEDAW) Committee Chair and Experts.
Situation of
Women/Gender in  There are more female employees than males in
Political and the Philippine government bureaucracy. Filipino
Public Life men dominate as decision makers and managers
while women are predominant professional in
government.
 The Philippines has produced two women
Presidents.
 In the judiciary branch of government most of
the judges are males.