Ishfaq Shafi
Zero Discrimination Day is observed Every year on 1st March.The theme of this year is “Zero Discrimination against Women and Girls”. The day is universal in nature and does not confine itself to HIV or health related themes and aims to highlight issues related to discrimination. In human social behavior discrimination is prejudiced treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction towards, a being based on the group, class, or category to which they are perceived to belong. These include age, caste, criminal record, height, disability, family status, gender identity, gender expression, generation, genetic characteristics, marital status, nationality, color, race and ethnicity , religion, sex and sex characteristics, sexual orientation, social class, species, as well as other categories. Discrimination consists of treatment of an individual or group, based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or social category, “in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated”. It involves the group’s initial reaction or interaction going on to influence the individual’s actual behavior towards the group leader or the group, restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to another group, leading to the exclusion of the individual or entities based on illogical or irrational decision making. Discriminatory traditions, policies, ideas, practices and laws exist in many countries and institutions in every part of the world, including in territories where discrimination is generally looked down upon. In some places, controversial attempts such as quotas have been used to benefit those who are believed to be current or past victims of discrimination—but they have sometimes been called reverse discrimination. The paper “Causes and Consequences of Gender Discrimination in Developing countries ” was carried out to determine the reasons behind gender discrimination in developing nations and its negative effects on the lives of women in particular and developing nations in general. Women face discrimination in almost all aspects of life but it is the least in education and healthcare whereas it is at peak in social behavior. As the sample population was diverse, variations in views and opinions exist. According to findings basically there are two mindsets in developing countries , the literate and the illiterate.
Very few people are in favour of women pursuing a career. According to the data the narrow minded views of people who claim to be an authority on religion are largely responsible for this discrimination; in the media too educated and modern women are portrayed as women with weak morals who later on suffer. These negative projections further reinforce restrictions on women and are used by me to justify discrimination.
The illiterate group believes that only boys should pursue education as they are they will grow up to be bread earners. People still believe that investing in the education of girls is a waste of resources. The literate believe that girls should be educated and that they are entitled to better healthcare facilities. However when it comes to decision making, both groups are of the opinion that women are incapable of making decisions and therefore the men in their families fathers or husbands take decisions on their behalf. This shows that education has not completely changed the patriarchal mindset of the people in developing nations because not only men think that deciding the fate of the women in their family is their right but women also support this notion. They still believe in the age old tradition that sons are a blessing while daughter is a burden. Male members of the family are given more importance in every aspect, even in basic things like food. Both boys and girls need approximately the same amount of nutrition but boys get to eat better food than girls. From the very beginning girls are taught that the needs of the men are more important and must be fulfilled. They are also raised in an environment where men are considered superior and control lives of women. Hence the feeling of inferiority and low self-esteem is deeply etched in the minds of women who then accept discrimination and abuse as a part of their lives and a norm of the society. Both literate and illiterate male respondents believe that women should observe purdah and should not go out alone. Very few people are in favour of women pursuing a career. According to the data the narrow minded views of people who claim to be an authority on religion are largely responsible for this discrimination; in the media too educated and modern women are portrayed as women with weak morals who later on suffer. These negative projections further reinforce restrictions on women and are used by me to justify discrimination.
(The author is a content writer. Views are his own, [email protected])
