Despite giant strides in the fight to ensure gender equality globally, there is still a lot to be done as many issues are yet to be resolved in various countries of the world. The gender pay gap persists and it is said that women are most likely to live in poverty while sexual violence continues to rise and girls are more likely than boys to drop out of school due to external pressures.
The issue of gender equality is as old as time and it has been said that it continues to grow because parents are passing their beliefs to their children. Indeed, many parents train their girl-child to be a good and submissive wife without teaching their sons to be responsible gentlemen.
This is why more people are advocating for inclusion of boys in training against gender violence.
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And as the issue shifts from gender disparities to gender parity and gender equality, there is, indeed, a need for boys to be included in the discussion because as increasing number of women and girls gain access to better academic and life-changing opportunities, they continue to face discrimination in every area. This is because while focus is put on giving chances to the female gender, little difference is felt because those that are at the deep structures of gender inequality, the boys, are not educated on basic issues.
Consequently, the need to help adolescent boys understand the core of gender equality and promote such is key to ensuring the world arrives at a successful destination in the fight for gender equality.
The outlook of boys in relation to established gender norms needs to be changed for gender justice to be achievable. Various cultural beliefs that were inculcated into them by society and parents should be eradicated with education on gender equity and parity.
For example, most boys need to understand that violence and dominance are not signs of masculinity. Boys need to be educated enough to recognise that enforcing patriarchal privilege is wrong because it usually erodes the right of others and leads to abuse.
Boys should be taught and empowered to challenge inequality and speak against it in order to create a society where people live as equals and the girl-child and women enjoy the same rights to be equal.
But for this to work, adults must also be gender-aware. There is a need for advocates, teachers and mentors to know the basics of gender parity and live in ways that will encourage adolescents and youths to emulate them. Also, extremists who have eroded the core of the gender equality fight should retrace their steps so that people will not see it as a joke.
Only when adults understand the negative power dynamics that young boys see in their lives can they start the process of changing the way they relate to others around them to ensure equality.
If we are committed to making a difference, it is possible to engage men and boys in changing gender norms and effect significant attitudinal and behavioural shifts in trend.
Parents need to stop training up their girls to be good women, leaving their sons to be mini monsters that abuse women and have no respect for female rights. If this continues, the terrible cycle of inequality and abuse will not be broken.