In most countries of the world women continue to have fewer officially enshrined rights than men, and the discrepancies between the respective situations of women and men in the actually prevailing practices on the ground are often even worse. Women are disproportionately more likely to experience poverty and exploitation. The vulnerability of women is manifest in all walks of life: at home, at work and in the public realm.
Globally speaking, the average assets held by women are worth only about half that of the wealth held by men, and every third women is subjected to some form of violence at some point in her life. Women perform the majority of unpaid work such as caring for sick relatives at home or – in the developing countries – carrying water, while they tend to be severely underrepresented among both economic and political decision-makers almost everywhere in the world.
Eliminating these massive inequalities is a fundamental human rights concern that is also one of DemNet’s pre-eminent goals. We believe that improving the situation of women is among the most vital challenges that will shape our future; we cannot even begin to tackle the problems of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and ensuring sustainable development without first addressing the underlying problems that women face.
