Economics of Race and Gender - Essay Example

(Task) Economics of Race and Gender Introduction Gender based discrimination is prevalent in many areas around the world. The biggest challenge is that is it acceptable in many societies around the world. It is usually extremely traumatizing because discrimination can be associated with abuse. The gender-based violence is violence that is done by a man to a woman or a woman to a man. This leads to negative effects on the health, production and security of the victim. Normally, the victims of gender-based violence are women and the men who abuse them do it to prove their masculinity. The victimizers of the cruel abuse do it and go unpunished because of the societal view of the vice. The effects of gender-based violence are many and profoundly affect the victims and even the nation in general. Acts and laws have been implemented to curb the vice. They have gone a long way in ensuring protection from discrimination. This paper will look at the gender-based violence attributed to gender discrimination. It will look at the different factors that lead to gender discrimination. It will also look at the ways that can reduce the gender discrimination. Gender based discrimination is more prevalent in women than it is in men. Many of the countries globally have seen women severely suffer because of gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is a vice that some people use to get back at their enemies. For example, during the war in Congo, the men raped and murdered the women as a way of getting back at their enemies. In Iraq, the men burned the women regardless of whether they were young or old. These acts against women have adverse effects as the women in Asia, for example, have not access to nutritious food, and they end up malnourished (Paludi 45). The gender based violence acts include physical or mental abuse, or the warning to do an act of violence on a person based on their gender. The effects of violence are particularly adverse because they leave the victim with low self-esteem. They consider that they are not worthy than their male counterparts. In most cases, gender based violence is usually against women. However, this does not mean that men do not receive violations because of their gender. The reason that men receive gender-based violence is mostly because of being gay. This is because people believe they do not conform to the masculine level the society accepts. Violence against women is done to show the woman the inferior position they have in the society. Many communities accept the behavior and men get away with it. The violence that is done against the women robs them of their rights socially (Fredman 171). This has made the rights and laws that protect women from violence not to be able to protect them fully. This is because of the different ways that women can be violated based on their gender. The violence can also be against the male because of their way of life that conflicts with the societal beliefs of masculinity (McCreary 212). This includes the homosexuals whom the society punishes because they do not live in ways that are acceptable by the society. They are thus punished for the ways that they decide to express their sexuality. The person that commits the violence is may be seen by the society as a wrong person who should be punished. This happens because the society looks at the pain and other impacts of violence on the victim (Buckley 32). The society should also look at other factors before they blame the victimizers of gender-based violence. This is because the victimizer might have influence from a group of people that changed his attitude and provoked gender based violence. The women that are sexually abused in some cases are the ones that provoke the males that victimize them. The women who walk alone at night and those who wear provocative clothes can illustrate this. They provide an environment that can make men go out of control (Gill 68). This is because if the women had dressed better and not walked alone in lonely places, the gender violence could have been avoided. Therefore, the society should consider the situation before they fully blame the victimizer of the gender-based violence. Again, the victimizer may have psychological problems like a troubled childhood where he received violence that made him become a violator. Therefore, to end gender based violence, factors like why the violence happened are necessary so that the underlying causes can be changed. There are different factors that lead to people having attitudes that make them commit Gender based discrimination. One of the factors that lead to gender based discrimination is the religion of people. From religion, people learn to behave in a certain way and know what God considers as morally acceptable or bad (Williams 103). Some religions teach the society that men are superior that the women. This defines what the men think of the women. Therefore, it leads to the different ways these men will treat the women they meet. Therefore, some people do not believe that beating women physically or sexually abusing them is wrong. They are more superior and thus allowed to do to them whatever they want. Another factor that leads to gender based violence is the cultural laws of a community. Some cultures give the men the right to choose the women that they will marry even when the woman does not want the marriage (Mabry 143). These cultural practices create the attitude in men that the opinion of women is not valid. Therefore, they commit atrocities against them, as they know that the community does not hold their view with much importance. Therefore, they commit physical and sexual abuses against them and get away with it (Krame and Solotoff 36). Some employers also make their employees cultivate the gender discrimination because of the jobs they give the women. For example, some of the job positions are given to the men. Women in the same company are told that they cannot perform those jobs. This makes the men in the workplace to view the women as the weak sex and treat them as such. This can ultimately lead to gender based discrimination and the men will never view the women as their equals. There are adverse effects of gender-based discrimination. They affect the victims negatively. Discrimination against women in a family setting will lead to poor reproductive health of women (Lindgren 93). This is because the husband believes that the woman has no other function but to give him children. This will make the woman miss contraceptive methods that can help her plan her family. Therefore, the woman will not be able to have time to improve her financial status or contribute to the economy of the country. She will be held back as she has children to nurse every day. Ultimately, this will lead to illiteracy increment among women. In the workplace, the women receive less pay than the men who do the matching jobs. This is because the gender-based discrimination is so deeply rooted. Thus, the employers do not believe in paying the women employees well. When a corporation has to lay off some workers, the women are usually the ones that the management targets. This is because they view them as weaker than men do. The little pay that the women receive cannot sustain their needs especially for women who are single parents. This can at times affect the jobs that women do as they see that they are not valued as much as the males. In the end, the economy of a nation reduces substantially because of the fewer workforces. Because of the reduced aggregate economy output, the financial status of many places reduces (Burnet 78). An example is like the Asian economy, which saw the reduction in its economy to nearly $47 billion of yearly output. This is because of the high gender based discrimination that occurs in Asia. There are rights and laws that have been placed to protect the people from gender based violence. These laws have gone a long way in ensuring that people receive equal pay in the workplace. For example, the Title VII Act protects people from workplace based on discrimination. Rights like the Title VII ensure that women are able to take care of their families especially those who are single parents. With the act, the economy of a nation can substantially increase because they are able to work peacefully and diligently. This will be attributed to the rights that protect them. Conclusion It is clear that gender based violence exists in the world today and affects many people both emotionally and physically. The gender-based violence is not only against the women but also against the men that do not conform to the acceptable masculine way of the society. Gender based violence is a common effect of gender discrimination. Many people are led to discriminating people based on their gender because of their religion, workplace and culture. Discrimination has adverse negative. This includes effects like the reduced economic growth and low self-esteem. This ultimately leads to reduced production of people in the place of work. Consequently, it leads to the reduced increment in the economy of the country. There are laws and acts that exist that serve to protect people from gender-based discrimination. However, additional laws and acts should be instituted so that gender-based violence becomes outdated. Works Cited Buckley, John. Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Guide, 2011 Edition. New York: Aspen publishers. 2011. Print. Burnet, Stuart & Holland, James. Employment Law 2008. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. Print. Fredman, Sandra. Discrimination Law. New York: Oxford University Press. 2011. Print. Gill Ritu. Gender Discrimination: Emotions and In group Strength : a Stress and Coping Perspective. Ottawa: Carleton University. 2008. Print. Krame, Henry & Solotoff, Lawrence. Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. New Jersey: Law Journal Press, 2008. Print. Lindgren, Ralph. The Law of Sex Discrimination. New York: Cengage Learning. 2010. Print. Mabry, Michael. Gender Discrimination. New York: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011. Print. McCreary, Donald & Chrisler, Joan. Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology, Volume 2. New York: Springer Publisher. 2010. Print. Paludi, Michele. Feminism and Womens Rights Worldwide, Volume 1. Greenwood: ABC CLIO. 2010. Print. Williams, Christine. Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace. River: Emerald Group Publisher. 2010. Print. Read More