Gender Equality in the Digital Age
Written by Tuana Ece Gezer | Edited by Adaria Crutcher
In October 2000, the United Nation Security Council passed the Women, Peace, and Security Act, based on the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325. This act’s purpose was to guarantee the involvement of women in achieving peace throughout the world. The United States and 80 other nations adopted the act globally. Oftentimes, issues related to gender equality are reduced to simply being “women’s issues,” but the extent of these problems affects everyone. There is a close correlation between gender equality and overall social stability. The WPS framework provides us the chance to scrutinize human factors, such as gendered dynamics, in this digital age.
There are economic repercussions for failing to achieve gender equality. Women hold a decent amount of wealth in the United States, as well as often having a lot of spending power in a majority of households. Organizations and businesses that exclude women, as well as other marginalized groups, fail to account for the losses they are inflicting upon themselves. The participation of these groups can expand the already-growing economy of the digital age. Products that are curated towards women’s health, such as birth control, are also a growing market. Although these products are mostly designed by men, there is little to no consultation with the women who will be using them.
Over the past twelve years, women in STEM-related fields have been leaving their careers at an increasing rate. They recount instances of unfair treatment, a toxic workplace, and sexual harassment as being among the many reasons for their leave. Harassment in the workplace is unfortunately very common; 14% of men and 38% of women reported having experienced it. Women working in male-dominated fields claim that there is a considerable amount of sexual harassment that inhibits their work performance as well as discouraging other young women from entering the field all together to avoid being victims.
In this current age, social media is a very prominent tool, used by half of the world’s population (4.76 billion people), and while it offers many advantages, these platforms can be breeding grounds for harassment that can lead to real harm. Oftentimes, online harassment is targeted more towards women, especially women in positions of power. Women lawmakers are three times more likely than their male counterparts to receive comments containing sexually abusive language. Almost all of them were threatened with rape, death, or kidnapping, and 40% of them have been targeted with sexually degrading images of themselves spread across social media. Hence, they have abandoned the prospect of having a successful career in politics due to these disgusting circumstances.
There are many solutions that are either possible or are currently being implemented. The Gender Equality Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality, which was organized by the U.N., is making moderate progress towards achieving its goals. Governments that are included in this coalition include Finland, Chile, Tunisia, Armenia, and Rwanda, as well as many major tech companies like Microsoft and Salesforce. International institutions and civil society foundations such as Unicef, the International Telecommunications Union, the Global Fund for Women, Digital Grassroots, and the Rockefeller Foundation are also a part of this act. Their overarching goal is to be able to form and sustain a safe digital environment for women, encouraging young girls to pursue a career in STEM. This is just one example of the actions taken to attain equal footing for women in the digital age, as there is hope for more in the future.
The Urgent Case for Gender Equality in the Digital Ag. E.P Analytics . (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://fpanalytics.foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/13/the-urgent-case-for-gender-equality-in-the-digital-age/
Barrios, Nayeli, et al. “The Challenge of Gender Bias: Experiences of Women Pursuing Careers in Stem.” University of Nevada, 8 Apr. 2022, https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/blogs/2022/the-challenge-of-gender-bias-in-pursuing-stem-careers.
