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Jasmine Hawkins

Honors 100 AF
November 8, 2015
Assignment 3: Global Challenges, Interdisciplinary Answers
In a world where hope and history rhyme, gender inequality
would no longer exist as a global challenge. Throughout countries in
the Middle East, there are many barriers that currently restrict women
from access to education, health care, voting, and other basic human
rights. About 70% of people living in poverty are women, which is an
astounding statistic when considering that empowerment of women
has been one of the strongest drivers of social revolution over the past
century. Representation in legislative bodies is predominantly
comprised of men, which supports the stability of patriarchal
structures. In addition, up to 70% of women are targeted for physical
or sexual violence in their lifetime.
When considering all of these problems facing the status of
women, solving this global challenge involves thinking fractally on
several interconnected layers. This begins with a movement against
gender stereotypes at the most fundamental level. Changing these
stereotypes targets the source of the challenge before it is able to grow
into severer forms. This can be impacted through empowerment of
females with self-defense classes and enforcement against gender
stereotypes.
Beyond local empowerment in communities, eradicating genderdiscriminatory laws will provide a legal structure for solving this
challenge. When discrimination and violence against women is
prosecuted, this will advance the feminist movement. On a federal
level, achieving an equal ratio of men to women representation in
national legislatures will provide women with equal input in decisionmaking.
At an international level, resolutions through the United Nations
and agreements between nations will create a world where the status
of women is recognized equally in every nation. Targeting regions of
the world where representation of women is extremely low, particularly
in the Middle East and Africa, can work toward solving this challenge.
Partnerships are particularly crucial at this layer because these act as
vessels through which major movements are born. This also involves
compassion when considering the act of international sanctions. Many
nations act primarily in the interest of their economies at the cost of
lowering the importance of other issues. Legislative systems must act
with compassion and ethical reasoning when trying to solve this global
challenge.
Another perspective involves providing education for children in
low income and resource settings. In many areas of the Middle East,
girls are outlawed from attending school and culturally expected to

pursue a lifestyle in the home. History and hope begins to rhyme in a


world where all young females have equal access to schooling. This
solution impacts not only the feminist movement, but also all people
because educated girls grow into mothers that can foster the value of
gender equality within their children. This in turn creates a world in
which males and females have mutual respect for one another and
economies can thrive from both female and male perspectives.
Ultimately, eradicating gender stereotypes while growing a new
generation of people has the potential to solve this challenge.

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