Women face sexist and prejudiced views and attitude

 9 out 10 people holds prejudiced attitude towards women

According to a study published by United Nations three days before the International Women’s Day -Nearly 90 percent men and women of the world holds some prejudice against women. This report has revealed that many women also holds prejudice views against women.

The common prejudiced views are: that men are better politicians and business leaders than women; that going to university is more important for men than women; and that men should get preferential treatment in competitive job markets.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) studied 75 countries representing 80 percent of the world´s population and found that nine in 10 people -- including women -- hold such beliefs. The main purpose of this report is to highlight the prejudices against women hold by both men and women.

Pakistan has largest number of people including women- who holds sexist views and prejudice about women. In Pakistan 99.81 percent of people held similar prejudices -- followed by Qatar and Nigeria, both at 99.73 percent.

Andorra has the lowest population with sexist beliefs. Where only  at 27.01 percent people holds negative and sexist attitude- Sweden with 30.01 percent and the Netherlands, 39.75 percent also among the lowest population with prejudice towards women.

France, Britain and the United States each came in with similar scores, 56 percent, 54.6 percent and 57.31 percent of people respectively holding at least one sexist belief. The numbers show "new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality" despite "decades of progress," says the UN Development Programme in a statement.

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said that "the work that has been so effective in ensuring an end to gaps in health or education must now evolve to address something far more challenging: a deeply ingrained bias -- among both men and women -- against genuine equality."

The UNDP called on governments and institutions to change discriminatory beliefs and practices through education. Beyond inequalities in education, health and the economy, the statement also called out one of the report´s most chilling findings: 28 percent of people believe it is okay for a man to beat his wife.

                                                           Rukhsana Manzoor Deputy Editor