Introduction

Great progress has been made in recent decades in terms of gender equality. However, the gap between formal and substantive equality must be acknowledged: differences still remain, and no country can claim to have achieved perfect equality.

A change of mindset is unavoidable, but compensatory measures can and must be put in place to facilitate the transition to a new way of thinking. Indeed, societal phenomena, whether obvious or insidious, still exist today:

• Gender-based violence, both in the private and public spheres (domestic violence, street harassment, among others)
• Internationalised misogyny and self-censorship of girls and women
• Ordinary sexism, and the stereotypical construction of gender that creates rigid and categorised boxes from which it is difficult to escape
• The limiting social structures, which make any project of parity half effective, notably because of the unpaid work largely assumed by women in the world today
• And many other issues

Thus, gender inequalities must be understood within the structure they rose in. Any superficial change would not be effective in the long term, since inequalities are reproduced in a structural way. Some avenues of work have already been explored:

• The promotion of equal opportunities
• The progressive recognition of unpaid care work, which is mostly the responsibility of women
• Quotas and other compensatory measures (sex ratio)
• The fight against selective abortion
• And other measures

These advances are largely due to a growing conceptualisation of gender issues at the individual, collective and societal levels by activist, political and international movements.

The program

GENEVA FORUM Weekly program: Women Empowerment Approaches

If you wish to attend one of these conferences either as an auditor or a speaker, please click the following link: GENEVA FORUM Programme

By attending this exceptional meeting, you will be able to enjoy the beautiful setting of the GENEVA FORUM within the Palais des Nations. Your attendance at the United Nations headquarters will allow you to have an impact on international awareness and decision-making, thanks to the presence of multiple representatives and stakeholders in the field of sustainable development.

Through the GENEVA FORUM, the NGO Objectif Sciences International, promotes discussion on these key modern-day issues. In this meeting of scientific, political and international academic communities, an update will be given on scientific and technological advancements, as well as future projects regarding women empowerment.