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Gender equality
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== Criticism == There has been criticism from some feminists towards the political discourse and policies employed in order to achieve the above items of "progress" in gender equality, with critics arguing that these gender equality strategies are superficial, in that they do not seek to challenge social structures of male domination, and only aim to improve the situation of women within the societal framework of subordination of women to men,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Man's dominion : religion and the eclipse of women's rights in world politics|last=Sheila|first=Jeffreys|date=2012-01-01|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-59673-2|page=94|oclc=966913723}}</ref> and that official public policies (such as state policies or international bodies policies) are questionable, as they are applied in a patriarchal context, and are directly or indirectly controlled by agents of a system which is for the most part male.<ref>{{cite journal|title=EU Gender Policy: Trapped in the 'Wollstonecraft Dilemma'?|first=Emanuela|last=Lombardo|date=1 May 2003|journal=European Journal of Women's Studies|volume=10|issue=2|pages=159–180|doi=10.1177/1350506803010002003|s2cid=143732030}}</ref> One of the criticisms of the gender equality policies, in particular, those of the [[European Union]], is that they disproportionately focus on policies integrating women in public life, but do not seek to genuinely address the deep private sphere oppression.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Multiple meanings of gender equality : a critical frame analysis of gender policies in Europe|last1=Lombardo|first1=Emanuela|last2=Jalušiè|first2=Vlasta|last3=Maloutas|first3=Maro Pantelidou|last4=Sauer|first4=Birgit|publisher=Central European University Press Budapest|year=2007|isbn=978-615-5211-39-3|editor-last=Verloo|editor-first=Mieke|editor1-link=Mieke Verloo|location=New York|pages=79–108|chapter=III. Taming the Male Sovereign? Framing Gender Inequality in Politics in the European Union and the Member States|oclc=647686058}}</ref> A criticism of the Western concept and policies of gender equality relates to the degree to which this approach is able to genuinely address in a successful way the problem of [[violence against women]].<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0217015 | doi-access=free | title=Prevalence of intimate partner violence against women in Sweden and Spain: A psychometric study of the 'Nordic paradox' | date=2019 | last1=Gracia | first1=Enrique | last2=Martín-Fernández | first2=Manuel | last3=Lila | first3=Marisol | last4=Merlo | first4=Juan | last5=Ivert | first5=Anna-Karin | journal=PLOS ONE | volume=14 | issue=5 | pages=e0217015 | pmid=31095614 | pmc=6522122 | bibcode=2019PLoSO..1417015G }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361630140X | doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.03.040 | title=Intimate partner violence against women and the Nordic paradox | date=2016 | last1=Gracia | first1=Enrique | last2=Merlo | first2=Juan | journal=Social Science & Medicine | volume=157 | pages=27–30 | pmid=27058634 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/the-nordic-paradox-professionals-discussions-about-gender-equalit | doi=10.1080/08974454.2021.1905588 | title=The Nordic Paradox. Professionals' Discussions about Gender Equality and Intimate Partner Violence against Women in Sweden | date=2022 | last1=Wemrell | first1=Maria | last2=Stjernlöf | first2=Sara | last3=Lila | first3=Marisol | last4=Gracia | first4=Enrique | last5=Ivert | first5=Anna-Karin | journal=Women & Criminal Justice | volume=32 | issue=5 | pages=431–453 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/20/europe/iceland-domestic-violence-intl-cmd/index.html | title='The world's best place to be a woman' is being sued for misogyny | date=20 December 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2019/04/rape-and-sexual-violence-in-nordic-countries-consent-laws/ | title=Nordic countries do not define rape on the basis of lack of consent | date=3 April 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/mar/05/violence-against-women-european-union-physical-sexual-abuse | title=Violence against women: What the EU-wide survey tells us | newspaper=The Guardian | date=5 March 2014 | last1=Sedghi | first1=Ami | last2=Sedghi | first2=Amy }}</ref> A further criticism is that a focus on the situation of women in non-Western countries, while often ignoring the issues that exist in the West, is a form of [[imperialism]] and of reinforcing Western moral superiority; and a way of "othering" of domestic violence, by presenting it as something specific to outsiders – the "violent others" – and not to the allegedly progressive Western cultures.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Othering of Domestic Violence: The EU and Cultural Framings of Violence against Women|first1=Celeste|last1=Montoya|first2=Lise|last2=Rolandsen Agustín|date=1 December 2013|journal=Social Politics|volume=20|issue=4|pages=534–557|doi=10.1093/sp/jxt020|s2cid=22204941}}</ref> These critics point out that women in Western countries often face similar problems, such as domestic violence and rape, as in other parts of the world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An introduction to feminist philosophy|last=Alison|first=Stone|publisher=Polity Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7456-3883-6|pages=209–211|oclc=316143234}}</ref> They also cite the fact that women faced de jure legal discrimination until just a few decades ago; for instance, in some Western countries such as Switzerland, Greece, Spain, and France, women obtained equal rights in [[family law]] in the 1980s.{{Refn|In Switzerland in 1985, a referendum guaranteed women legal equality with men within marriage.<ref group=upper-roman>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17988450|title=Switzerland profile – Timeline|date=28 December 2016|website=Bbc.com|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=17 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617053429/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17988450|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group=upper-roman name="auto3"/> The new reforms came into force in January 1988.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book|title=Women's movements of the world : an international directory and reference guide|publisher=Cartermill International|year=1988|isbn=978-0-582-00988-2|editor-last=Schreir|editor-first=Sally|page=254|oclc=246811744}}</ref>|group=lower-roman}}{{Refn|In Greece in 1983, legislation was passed guaranteeing equality between spouses, abolishing [[dowry]], and ending legal discrimination against illegitimate children.<ref name="auto2" group=upper-roman>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/26/world/around-the-world-greece-approves-family-law-changes.html#|title=AROUND THE WORLD; Greece Approves Family Law Changes|agency=Reuters|date=26 January 1983|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=16 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616093929/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/26/world/around-the-world-greece-approves-family-law-changes.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group=upper-roman>''Demos, Vasilikie. (2007) "The Intersection of Gender, Class and Nationality and the Agency of Kytherian Greek Women." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. August 11''.</ref>|group=lower-roman}}{{Refn|In 1981, Spain abolished the requirement that married women must have their husbands' permission to initiate judicial proceedings<ref group=upper-roman>{{cite web|url=http://wbl.worldbank.org/~/media/FPDKM/WBL/Documents/Reports/2014/Women-Business-and-the-Law-2014-Key-Findings.pdf |title=Women Business and the Law 2014 Key Findings |access-date=2014-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824032832/http://wbl.worldbank.org/~/media/FPDKM/WBL/Documents/Reports/2014/Women-Business-and-the-Law-2014-Key-Findings.pdf |archive-date=2014-08-24 }}</ref>|group=lower-roman}}{{Refn|Although married women in France obtained the right to work without their husbands' permission in 1965,<ref group=upper-roman>{{cite web|url=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/explore/cmcf-vsi-women-in-france.pdf |title=Modern and Contemporary France: Women in France |access-date=2016-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092212/http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/explore/cmcf-vsi-women-in-france.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> and the paternal authority of a man over his family was ended in 1970 (before that parental responsibilities belonged solely to the father who made all legal decisions concerning the children), it was only in 1985 that a legal reform abolished the stipulation that the husband had the sole power to administer the children's property.<ref group=upper-roman>{{cite web|url=http://ceflonline.net/wp-content/uploads/France-Parental-Responsibilities.pdf|title=National Report: France|first=Frédérique|last=Ferrand|website=Parental Responsibilities|publisher=Commission on European Family Law|access-date=2015-01-05|archive-date=2014-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811145534/http://ceflonline.net/wp-content/uploads/France-Parental-Responsibilities.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>|group=lower-roman}} Another criticism is that there is a selective public discourse with regard to different types of oppression of women, with some forms of violence such as [[honor killings]] (most common in certain geographic regions such as parts of Asia and North Africa) being frequently the object of public debate, while other forms of violence, such as the lenient punishment for [[crimes of passion]] across [[Latin America]], do not receive the same attention in the West.<ref name="National">{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html|title=Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"|last=Mayell|first=Hillary|date=February 12, 2002|website=National Geographic News|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905122357/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Refn|In 2002, Widney Brown, advocacy director for [[Human Rights Watch]], pointed out that "crimes of passion have a similar dynamic [to honor killings] in that the women are killed by male family members and the crimes are perceived [in those relevant parts of the world] as excusable or understandable".<ref name="National" />|group=lower-roman}} It is also argued that the criticism of particular laws of many developing countries ignores the influence of [[colonialism]] on those legal systems.{{Refn|Especially of the French [[Napoleonic Code]],<ref group=upper-roman>{{Cite book|title=Secular and Islamic feminist critiques in the work of Fatima Mernissi|last=Raja.|first=Rhouni|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-17616-4|page=52|oclc=826863738}}</ref> which was extremely powerful in its influence over the world (historian Robert Holtman regards it as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world<ref group=upper-roman>{{Cite book|title=The Napoleonic revolution|last=Holtman|first=Robert B.|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|year=1979|isbn=978-0-8071-0487-3|oclc=492154251}}</ref>) and which designated married women a subordinate role, and provided for leniency with regard to 'crimes of passion' (which was the case in France until 1975<ref group=upper-roman>{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/107521/Common-Ground-Europeans-Muslims-Among-Them.aspx|title=Common Ground for Europeans and Muslims Among Them|last1=Rheault|first1=Magali|last2=Mogahed|first2=Dalia|date=May 28, 2008|website=Gallup Poll|publisher=Gallup, Inc|access-date=February 5, 2016|archive-date=September 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907161300/http://www.gallup.com/poll/107521/Common-Ground-Europeans-Muslims-Among-Them.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>)|group=lower-roman}} There has been controversy surrounding the concepts of [[Westernization]] and [[Europeanisation]], due to their reminder of past colonialism,<ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1286&context=diss |title=Complexity of Women's Liberation in the Era of Westernization: Egyptian Islamic and Secular Feminists in their Own Context |last=Alkhawaja |first=Assim |date=2015 |publisher=University of San Francisco |access-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911081340/http://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1286&context=diss |archive-date=September 11, 2015}}</ref> and also due to the fact that some Western countries, such as Switzerland, have been themselves been very slow to give women legal rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/country-that-didnt-let-women-vote-till-1971/|title=Non! Nein! No! A Country That Wouldn't Let Women Vote Till 1971|date=26 August 2016|website=News.nationalgeographic.com|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=1 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101101633/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/country-that-didnt-let-women-vote-till-1971/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/swiss-suffragettes-were-still-fighting-for-the-right-to-vote-in-1971-10514445.html|title=Swiss suffragettes were still fighting for the right to vote in 1971|date=26 September 2015|website=Independent.co.uk|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115015025/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/swiss-suffragettes-were-still-fighting-for-the-right-to-vote-in-1971-10514445.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There have also been objections to the way Western media presents women from various cultures creating stereotypes, such as that of 'submissive' Asian or Eastern European women, a stereotype closely connected to the [[mail order bride]]s industry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/21/italian-tv-programme-axed-portraying-eastern-european-women/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/21/italian-tv-programme-axed-portraying-eastern-european-women/ |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Italian TV programme axed after portraying Eastern European women as submissive sex objects|first=Nick|last=Squires|date=21 March 2017|access-date=14 November 2017|newspaper=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Such stereotypes are often blatantly untrue: for instance women in many Eastern European countries occupy a high professional status.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grantthornton.global/en/press/press-releases-2015/women-in-business-2015/|title=Women in business 2015 results|website=Grant Thornton International Ltd. Home|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=13 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413230553/https://www.grantthornton.global/en/press/press-releases-2015/women-in-business-2015/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/women-in-tech-why-bulgaria-and-romania-are-leading-in-software-engineering/|title=Women in tech: Why Bulgaria and Romania are leading in software engineering – ZDNet|first=Andrada|last=Fiscutean|website=Zdnet.com|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=5 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105211644/http://www.zdnet.com/article/women-in-tech-why-bulgaria-and-romania-are-leading-in-software-engineering/|url-status=live}}</ref> Feminists in many developing countries have been strongly opposed to the idea that women in those countries need to be 'saved' by the West.<ref>''Transmediterranean: Diasporas, Histories, Geopolitical Spaces'', edited by Joseph Pugliese pg.60–61</ref> There are questions on how exactly should gender equality be measured, and whether the West is indeed "best" at it: a study in 2010 found that among the top 20 countries on female graduates in the [[science]] fields at university level most countries were countries that were considered internationally to score very low on the position of women's rights, with the top 3 being Iran, Saudi Arabia and Oman, and only 5 European countries made it to that top: Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Georgia and Greece.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://contexts.org/articles/what-gender-is-science/|title=What Gender Is Science? – Contexts|first=Contexts|last=Magazine|website=contexts.org|access-date=14 November 2017|archive-date=21 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321145619/https://contexts.org/articles/what-gender-is-science/|url-status=live}}</ref> Controversy regarding Western cultural influence in the world is not new; in the late 1940s, when the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] was being drafted, the [[American Anthropological Association]] warned that the document would be defining universal rights from a Western perspective which could be detrimental to non-Western countries, and further argued that the West's history of colonialism and forceful interference with other societies made them a problematic moral representative for universal global standards.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://franke.uchicago.edu/aaa1947.pdf |title=Statement on Human Rights |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=49 |issue=4 |date=December 1947 |pages=539–543 |doi=10.1525/aa.1947.49.4.02a00020 |access-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801105700/http://franke.uchicago.edu/aaa1947.pdf |archive-date=August 1, 2014 |author=((The Executive Board, American Anthr Association))}}</ref> There has been criticism that [[international law]], [[international courts]], and universal [[gender neutrality|gender neutral]] concepts of human rights are at best silent on many of the issues important to women and at worst male centered; considering the male person to be the default.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Gender and democratic citizenship: the impact of CEDAW|first=F.|last=Raday|date=30 March 2012|journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law|volume=10|issue=2|pages=512–530|doi=10.1093/icon/mor068|doi-access=free}}</ref> Excessive [[gender neutrality]] can worsen the situation of women, because the law ''assumes'' women are in the same position as men, ignoring the biological fact that in the process of [[reproduction]] and [[pregnancy]] there is no 'equality', and that apart from physical differences there are socially constructed limitations which assign a socially and culturally inferior position to women – a situation which requires a specific approach to women's rights, not merely a gender neutral one.<ref>''EU Non-Discrimination Law in the Courts: Approaches to Sex and Sexualities, Discrimination in the EU law'', by Jule Mulder, pg 35–39</ref> In a 1975 interview, [[Simone de Beauvoir]] talked about the negative reactions towards women's rights from the left that was supposed to be progressive and support social change, and also expressed skepticism about mainstream international organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adMHPnaMTtI| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928052902/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adMHPnaMTtI| archive-date=2018-09-28|title=Why I Am A Feminist : An Interview with Simone de Beauvoir (1975)|last=Philosophy Matters|date=9 January 2017|access-date=14 November 2017|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> There have been questions about the acceptability of international intervention into societal domestic issues from international organizations,<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-law-in-context/article/abs/backlash-against-international-courts-explaining-the-forms-and-patterns-of-resistance-to-international-courts/BFFB3130BF448758B01FAACD60C50C6A | doi=10.1017/S1744552318000034 | title=Backlash against international courts: Explaining the forms and patterns of resistance to international courts | year=2018 | last1=Madsen | first1=Mikael Rask | last2=Cebulak | first2=Pola | last3=Wiebusch | first3=Micha | journal=International Journal of Law in Context | volume=14 | issue=2 | pages=197–220 | s2cid=44099059 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> especially since the multitude of such international bodies can create confusion, including through contradictory rulings on the same issue: for example the [[ECtHR]] upheld in 2014 France's ban on wearing a [[burqa]] in public,<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28106900 | title=European Court upholds French full veil ban | work=BBC News | date=July 2014 }}</ref> while the [[United Nations Human Rights Committee]] concluded in 2018 that France's ban on burqa in public violates human rights.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://ijrcenter.org/2018/11/14/un-human-rights-committee-condemns-burqa-ban-countering-european-court/ | title=UN Human Rights Committee Condemns "Burqa Ban," Countering European Court | date=14 November 2018 }}</ref> International bodies have been criticized for being based on an ideology of [[one size fits all]] approach to issues, which does not take into account that a specific approach may work in one culture but not in another,<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1163/15718123-01704002 | title=The Future of the International Criminal Court. On Critique, Legalism and Strengthening the icc's Legitimacy | year=2017 | last1=De Hoon | first1=Marieke | journal=International Criminal Law Review | volume=17 | issue=4 | pages=591–614 | s2cid=148713827 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5305/amerjintelaw.106.2.0225 | jstor=10.5305/amerjintelaw.106.2.0225 | doi=10.5305/amerjintelaw.106.2.0225 | title=Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts: A Goal-Based Approach | year=2012 | last1=Shany | first1=Yuval | journal=American Journal of International Law | volume=106 | issue=2 | pages=225–270 | s2cid=147638769 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> and that historically international intervention into another country has often done more harm than good; and that ultimately the problems from a culture must be solved from within that culture, not through forceful foreign intervention.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-57621-3_3 | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-57621-3_3 | chapter=Humanitarian Intervention as Neocolonialism | title=Domesticating Human Rights | series=Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations | year=2017 | last1=Ingiyimbere | first1=Fidèle | volume=4 | pages=57–121 |isbn=978-3-319-57620-6 }}</ref> A criticism of international organizations is that while they purport to support universal global human rights, they often support the interests of Western elites.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/western-centrism-contemporary-international-law-and-international-courts/F06A8B2D89BE63DA08925D64370C1E2E | doi=10.1017/S0922156521000017 | title=Western centrism, contemporary international law, and international courts | year=2021 | last1=Caserta | first1=Salvatore | journal=Leiden Journal of International Law | volume=34 | issue=2 | pages=321–342 | s2cid=233732933 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> The legitimacy of international organizations has come into question in the 21st century especially in the light of international scandals, such as [[child sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/sexual-abuse-by-un-and-non-un-peacekeepers/12247920 | title=Sexual abuse by UN and non-UN peacekeepers | website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=15 June 2020 }}</ref>
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