HPAS/Allied Mains 2022 Answer Writing Challenge Day 214: Model Answer

Explain the Gender Empowerment measure. (4 marks/ 60 words)

Answer:

The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) is a measure of inequalities between men’s and women’s opportunities in three major areas. It was created by UNDP in 1995.
1. Economic participation and decision making. This is measured by two indicators: the share of women and men in senior professional and technical positions and senior officials and managers.
2. Power over economic resources, measured by the share of women and men in the earned income in a country.
3. Political participation and decision making. This is calculated by the number of parliamentary seats held by men and women.

Some of the major criticisms:

1.It has been accused of measuring inequality only among the most educated and economically advantaged women and to focus mainly on the higher echelons of society.

2. Women in grassroots organizations or at the local political level are not reflected, as well as work in lower levels of employment or in the informal sector, where many women in poor and developing countries are forced to seek employment.
3. Data is not very readily available for many of the indicators in the GEM.
4. Not many less-developed countries collect reliable data on women’s involvement in economic participation or labour involvement.
5. It is also often argued that the number of women in parliament isn’t an adequate indication of gender empowerment progress in a given country because many times feminists are considered political liabilities, and as such, female politicians do not always promote female interests.