The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) 2023 report was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Key highlights of the report
- The report has revealed no improvement in biases against women in a decade, with almost 9 out of 10 men and women worldwide still holding such biases today.
- Half of people worldwide still believe men make better political leaders than women, and more than 40 percent believe men make better business executives than women.
- A staggering 25 percent of people believe it is justified for a man to beat his wife.
- It emphasized that governments have a crucial role in shifting gender social norms, from adopting parental leave policies, that have changed perceptions around care work responsibilities, to labour market reforms that have led to a change in beliefs around women in the workforce.
- Biases are also reflected in the severe underrepresentation of women in leadership. On average, the share of women as heads of state or heads of government has remained around 10 percent since 1995 and in the labour market women occupy less than a third of managerial positions.
- Women are more skilled and educated than ever before, yet even in the 59 countries where women are now more educated than men, the average gender income gap remains a staggering 39 percent in favour of men.
- It emphasizes that despite the continued prevalence of bias against women, the data shows change can happen.
- An increase in the share of people with no bias in any indicator was evident in 27 of the 38 countries surveyed.
