1. Introduction
The paper will present the gender gap in the Chad based on the Global Gender Gap Index report from 2015. The report ranked the 145 economies based on the female participation in economic, educational, health and political indicators. The inequalities between genders are seen all around the world, but the issue is even more concerning in developing countries than in developed ones. The inequality between genders has severe impacts on every aspect from economy to personal ones. The World Economic Forum in his reports since 2006 onward includes almost all countries in the world and based on the level of inequality between the sexes it is not unusual that Chad is also present in there. The country is in fact one of the most interesting to research the gap between genders since it is ranked among the countries where the greatest inequality between sexes exists (World Economic Forum, 5-69). The paper will present the basic information about the country and further on focused on examining the four major categories that are included in the measurement of the Gender Gap Index.
2. Basic information about the country
Republic of Chad is an African country with six neighboring countries, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Libya, Niger and Nigeria. It is located in the geographical area where conflicts among various groups and tension exists and pose security risks and uncertainties. The country is much diversified with more than 120 different languages and around 10 biggest ethnic groups. In 2015 the total number of the population was at 11,631,456. The population structure is composed of were young citizens since more than 44% of the total population was 14 years old or younger and the median age in the country was 17.4. It is ranked on the sixth place based on the death rate. Sex ration shows the number of males for each female and was 1.04. The ratio is showing that the separation and the structure of the population are equal distributes based on the gender. The landlocked country is among developing ones with the majority being occupied in the agricultural sector with a very high poverty rate (The World Factbook, n.p.). Further on the gender gap in the country will be presented that is showing severe inequality among the genders.
3. Gender gap in Chad
Based on the gender gap index country is ranked on the 142 places out of 145 which means that only three countries in the examination had greater inequality based on the gender then Chad. The score was 0.580 where 0.0 means inequality and 1.00 means equality. The country is one of the most unequal countries based on the unequal economic participation, education attainment, health and survival and political participation between of females. Chad has been since 2006 onward ranked among the countries with the biggest inequalities among the gender (World Economic Forum, 136-137). The country has been treating the women differently as men in almost all vital areas. Women are unequal in the economics, education attainment, and political empowerment and even in the law. The specifics of all are examined in the next paragraph.
3.1. Economic participation
Women are unequal in every measure that measures the equality in economic participation in the economic participation area. Women have far less opportunities which are presented below with the different female-to-male ratio. Comparison to a world based on the economic participation the country was on the place 77 which means that half of the world countries have a greater gender inequality in economic participation. Economic participation measures labor force participation, wage equality in the same work and earned income. The indicator includes also legislators, senior officials and managers which could show the equality of sexes in the leading and decision making roles and professional and technical workers. The last two data was not included in the report for the country. The data presented for the labor force participation shown with the female-to-male ratio was 0.82. This means that 65% of females and 79% of males were participating in the labor force. The ratio means that for every male employed 0.82 of women are employed, or for the better imagination with 100 men participating in the labor force there were 82 women, or with every 1000 men participating in the labor force there were 820 women. The wage equality has been in Chad more concerning since the ratio female-to-male was 0.61. This means that for the same work women were paid far less than males. The ratio 0 means there is total inequality, and 1 represents total equality. Earned income had the same ratio – 0.61 which is showing that males are earning more than females. The average income for females was $1205 in PPP US in comparison to males $2781. Unequal income has vast consequences on the economic situation of women in the country and result in economic dependence of women to men. For every dollar earned by men, women got 0.61 dollars (World Economic Forum, 136-137).
The gap between the sexes in the decision making position is wide even in the developed countries where the data for the United States shows that only 5% of women were CEOs in 2015 (Pew Research, n.p.). The decision making and managerial role are partly in the man’s hand, even in the developed world. From the comparison we can assume that the score for Chad in the ratio female-to-male in managerial role is close to zero which means that those functions are usually occupied by men. Taken all this into an account we can see that women have far less economic opportunity and are less present in the labor force in Chad in comparison to men. Economic situation of women is the most important factor in leading the independent life for women and has also roots in other segments such as education attainment inequality.
3.2. Education attainment
Chad is a country that has a very low literate rate and enrolment in the higher education. The situation is typical for the developing country. The overall situation is concerning even more, because the women are underrepresented in every level of participating in education. Education attainment is also composed of various factors and hence of literacy rate, enrollment in primary, secondary education and enrolment in tertiary education. In this category of measuring the gender gap in the country was on the last place among all examined countries. Literacy rate, female-to-male ratio was at 0.66, where only 32% of females and 48% were literate. The ration is shown that for every 100 literate men we can find 66 literate women. When looking the attainment in school the vast difference between the sexes exist and are growing with higher education. 1% of females and 4% of males are enrolled in tertiary education which means universities. For every 100 men enrolled in the tertiary education, there are only 24 women. The secondary enrollment difference among genders is also big with the ratio at 0.33 where a very small percentage of the total population is enrolled - 5% of females and 16% of males. Primary education enrollment is the most equal from all three enrolments and also higher % of the population is attending – 75% of females and 96% of males. For every 100 men attaining the primary education there are 78 of females (World Economic Forum, 136-137).
The educational attainment is for women less likely than for men and the inequalities are severe which also ranked the country on the last place. The women are perceived to participate in more traditional positions and are seen more as wives and mothers and not so much as the educated personnel. The participation in education is also showing that the average education attainment was very low in the enrolment after the primary school. The education is the first factor that must be improved in order the inequality between genders can be reduced. The education is the factor that can lead to better paid job, more presence in the economy sphere and more equality in income, wealth and employment. The situation is very dire and is calling for improvements. The next paragraph will present the health and survival indicator based on the genders.
3.3. Health and survival
Health and survival in the country is concerning regardless of the gender. Very low life expectance is seen because of the lack of access to the health care, low number of hospitals, doctors and medical personnel and lack of medications. Health and survival are composed of the sex ration of birth and health life expectancy. The country is ranked lower not because of the vast gap between the genders, but rather because of the lower life expectance that was for females at 45 and 44 year for men. This means that the women had a better health life expectancy than men. The sex ratio at birth was 0.96 which means that that for 100 males being born there are 96 females (World Economic Forum, 136-137).
3.4. Political empowerment
The area is another one where the gender inequality is very severe in the country. Underrepresentation of women in the political area has vast consequences on all other areas, since the women are not included in the decision making. The political consequences of inequality between genders are showing the inequality of sexes also in the law. With the men being the majority in the politics the women voices are not heard and further perpetuation of inequality is seen. Political empowerment was measured based on the number of women in parliament, in ministerial positions and year with female head of state. The gender inequalities are the biggest compared to the all measurement already examined in the World Economic Forum report. 15% of women were in parliament with comparison to the 85% of males. This means that for 100 men being present in parliament there were only 18 women. The inequality is even bigger when looking at the ministerial positions since 86% of all positions were held by men and only 14% of women. This means that for 10 ministerial positions hold by men only 1.6 positions were held by women. There was no female head of state in Chad (World Economic Forum, 136-137).
For better understanding we should make comparisons as previous in managerial roles for the United States to show a more holistic picture what difference exists between the developed and developing countries. In the United States in 2015 only 20% of women were seen in the Senate and even lower % among the House of members (Pew Research, n.p.). The difference is not so immense, but still big. Political empowerment for women is smaller than for men. Men still have more opportunity and are more present in the political arena all around the world and the difference is even bigger in developing states such as Chad. The next paragraph will show the important information that are connected and also the reasons for vast gender inequality in the country. All four areas examined so far have also roots in the law that is dictating the way of women lives.
3.5. Important information on gender inequality in Chad
The next data will present that women do not have the equal position in society and family. All this inequality is resulting in the political and economic sphere examined prior. The OECD has ranked Chad among the countries where very high discriminatory family code exists. 45% of women aged 16 and 19 are being married. The problem of forced marriages has been discovered in the country. Reports from the United Nations from 2005 reported of around 30% of women being forced to marry. A great inequality is also inside the marriages where men are having more rights than women. Wives are not solely in charge of their income since the husband has the right for inspections and management over it. The basic law in the country represents the inequalities among genders. Based on the customary law women do not have the right to inherit after her husband and girls usually inherit more than boys. The married women must follow husband’s decisions on place to live. The women do not have the same legal right to be a guardian and get the custody over a child after divorce. They can get custody if the fault for divorce is on the men’s side. Women have the right to divorce, but are facing problem of lower social status. The fact that women do not have the same status in the country is also the fact that around 45% of them have experienced female genital mutilation. Inequality is shown also in the gender-based violence where 57% of Chad women have experienced sexual or physical violence in their lifetime (OECD, n.p.). Political, economic, and educational inequalities result from the common law in the country which is making the women secondary citizens with less right than men. Gender inequality in the country is one of the most conserving in the world based on the statistics.
4. Conclusion
Chad has been ranked among the countries with the greatest gender inequality. The inequality results in the economic, educational, political inequalities between females and males. Men are more present among the working force and have higher education and literacy. Men earn more for the same work and are more independent than women. Legal sphere is the first that needs to be changed. Laws in the country include many inequalities based on the gender that must be erased in order for the country to achieve a smaller difference in the gender inequality. Women do not have the same opportunities and possibilities as men. A lot of improvements are still to be made in the African country that has been one of the worst places to live in if you are women based on the inequalities between genders.
5. Work Cited
The World Factbook. Chad. N.d. Web. 9. Mar. 2016. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cd.html
OECD. Social Institutions & Gender Index: Chad. N.d. web. 9. Mar. 2016. http://www.genderindex.org/country/chad
Pew Research Center. (2015). Women in Leadership. Retrieved http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/chapter-1-women-in-leadership/
World Economic Forum. The Global Gender Gap Report. 2015. Web. 9. Mar. 2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR2015/cover.pdf
The Global Gender Gap Report In Chad Reports Examples
Type of paper: Report
Topic: Women, Economics, Men, Social Issues, Inequality, Gender, World, Gender Equality
Pages: 9
Words: 2500
Published: 02/20/2023
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