[Editors Note: Today, I'm pleased to feature a research paper written by my sister, Katherine, on Joe's Musings. Katherine is a freshman in high school and she involved in numerous activities in her community and school. Right now, she plans to pursue a career either in musical theatre or law. This paper was written as a part of a research project and is reprinted with her permission. - Joe]
Comparison of Gender Equalities in Turkey and Norway
Gender inequality is a major issue in the world today. One of the biggest problems we are facing is the equality level shown in the roles of men and women. In this research paper, I am going to compare the equality between men and women seen in the country of Norway to the harsh inequality between genders apparent in the country of Turkey. Not only are these countries in completely different parts of the world, but their values and outlook on equality are also on different ends of the spectrum, as reflected in their standards. When exploring opportunities available to men and women, gender inequality is blatant in Turkey, where women's economic participation is slowly shrinking, yet it is almost non-existent in the country of Norway, where gender mainstreaming and gender specific actions are in full effect.
Based on the Global Gender Gap Report, coming in a close second behind Iceland is the country of Norway. (238) Norway was one of the first countries in the world to enforce a Gender Equality Ombud, which is an “independent agency with the task of promoting equality and combating discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability and age.” Norwegian women are looked upon as male's equal, not as the inferior gender. For example, according to the Global Gender Gap Report, in the year 2010, the men in the workforce received an estimated amount of $40,000, while women received the exact same $40,000. (239) Nevertheless, Norway certainly maintains a fair and just atmosphere for people of all different ages, races, and sexes to live in.
Differing from Norway, Turkey treats men and women quite differently. According to the Global Gender Gap Report, Turkey is ranked 126 out of 134 countries. (297) Half of all women are victims of crime, and more than half have extremely low literacy rates due to the lack of education available to them. Clearly, Turkey isn't nearly as efficient as Norway when providing a gender equal country for their people. They have rapidly regressed in their ranking as the years have passed. For example, the Global Gender Gap Report stated that in 2010, the estimated earned income of an average male was $20,441.00, while that of the average female was only $5,352.00. (297) In addition, the lack of access to good education for women is significantly decreasing the average female literacy rates.
Norway is taking steps forward to achieve the number one spot and receive the title as the worlds most gender equal country. One specific area in which they are seeking improvement is the paternity leave for men. It is quite impressive that they have this practice in the first place, but it is even more impressive that they are working to further expand this law. It was first introduced in 1993 and within only two years of this law being in effect, the percentage of new fathers who used the paternity leave to it's full advantage was increased from 45 to 70. This made it apparent that most Norwegian males will indeed take extended time off, with pay, to take care of their new children and wives.
On the other hand, Turkey is a very conservative country. With more than half of the population being Muslim, the people of Turkey are primitive in their apparel, actions, and customs. One of their customs is the vulgar “honor killing.” Don't let this title be deceiving, because there is nothing honorable about this custom. Honor killings are, by definition, “An ancient tradition still observed; a male member of the family kills a female relative for tarnishing the family image.” The prime Ministry's Human Rights Directorate reported that the number of Honor killings occurring in Turkey escalated to a whopping 220 back in 2007. Imagine living in an environment where women are beaten for acts like staring out the window, greeting male friends on the street, or speaking to long to shopkeepers. Even worse, daughters of Turkish men are sometimes strangled for being a victim of rape. These are just a few instances of the terrible abuse and disrespect for women in Turkey. When something this serious is happening in a country, it should strike a red flag to the government officials immediately. Unfortunately, all the government officials are men, which means that they all have the same theories regarding the treatment of women.
The practices of the citizens in these these countries are at extreme opposites, which is why they are ranked at opposite ends of the Global Gender Gap Report. The industrialized country of Norway is accepting and fair towards both men and women in their communities. This is shown through their high percentage of women in the workforce, along with the high level of parliament seats occupied by Norwegian women. In Turkey, on the other hand, there are low literacy rates among women. Essentially, if you have a child, you simply don't work in the country of Turkey. In addition, women have very few rights. They are controlled by the Turkish men and limited in their lifestyle because of the social norms and what the men enforce as rules for their wives.
In summary, Norway has demonstrated an environment where men and women operate on par with each other in work and home life. They each enjoy a high standard of living and being treated with respect in the community. When looking at pay, rights, and benefits, men and women in Norway are equal. Alternatively, in the country of Turkey, women continue to be subservient to men. Their rights are not considered, as they are viewed often times as the property of men. There is a double standard where men are free in all actions while women are condemned and sometimes even killed when they stray from what is considered the norm. Women are not offered opportunities to gain education nor meaningful employment. Norway and Turkey are indeed on opposite ends of the equality spectrum when it comes to women's rights and gender equality.
External Links
1. Gender in Norway- Information and Resources on Gender Equality and Gender Research in Norway
2. The Female Factor- A NY Times article that discusses a Norwegian law that requires 40% of all company board members to be women.
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