CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a particular culture associates with a person’s biological sex. Gender is also seen as how a person’s biology is culturally valued, explained and conceived into locally accepted ideas of what it is to be a woman or man. The gender gap isn’t just restricted to politics alone, but to the society as a whole.
Gender defines to rights and duties and what is moral for women and men. Gender can positively or negatively affect or influence access to and control over resources, and participation in decision-making. The idea of gender in our society most times strengthens, encourages and gives support to male power and the idea of women’s inferiority.
Nowadays, men use the defense of culture and tradition to justify their unjust practices that constrain women’s life chances and outcomes. The proposal to challenge power imbalances proposed by local women’s organizations or NGOs are declined by law. Many within the international development community also oppose the goals of gender equity because they see these as interposing with the most intimate area or sector in society. Some women also have defended ideas of ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’ to hold on to what little power they have, or as a form of resistance. For instance, before the usual violent attempt by people in Iran, women took up the veil to show refusal to the processes of westernization that the country was experiencing.
All over the world, gender discrimination has posed its self to be a critical issue which also affects development in the society. Women are treated unequally and less value is like a tag on them because of their gender. The issue of women’s differential access to power and control of resources is primary to this discrimination in the household, community, market, and state. Within the household, women and girls sometimes face discrimination in the sharing out of household resources including food, sometimes leading to higher malnutrition and mortality indicators for women. At its peak, gender discrimination can lead to child preference which is expressed in sex selective abortion. In the labour market, there is a problem of unequal pay, occupational segregation which leads to low skill or unskilled and poor salaries. Women’s voice are not recognized when it comes to decision making in the community and the state due discrimination. The law is assumed to be gender-neutral when it’s pushing and engineering gender discrimination, which is a by-product of a culture with very cruel idea towards gender. Even in situations where constitutional provisions support and have gender equality principles ruled out; religious or other laws that encourage men may over shadow the practice.
Furthermore, there is discrimination when it comes to division of labour among men and women and this affects growth and development in every society.
Gender division of labour is most times seen to be natural and unable to change, however, these ideas and practices are socially manipulated. Gender divisions of labour are not bent on men and women’s roles, as is sometimes assumed. Women are generally expected to fulfill the reproductive role of bearing and raising children, caring for other family members, and household management tasks, and also home based production while men play the productive roles, mainly paid work, and market production. In the labour market, although women’s highest participation rates are rising, they are always limited to a relatively narrow range of occupations or concentrated in lower grades than men, always earning less. This draws the society back instead of forward. Historically, women’s productive roles have been under-valued, especially in the informal sector and subsistence agriculture. This has led to bad development projects; for example the services of extension agents and agricultural inputs being targeted at men. Due to the fact that women’s labour is ignored, it is often assumed by mainstream development policies to be infinitely elastic. Gender and development policies and programmes can challenge and affect women’s socially defined roles, in pursuit of gender equity.
Gender equality and equity expresses a broad or open-minded feminist idea that fighting and removing discrimination in opportunities for women allows them to achieve equal status to men and also over-shadow and insult men. Judicial reform is another major tool in the fight for equality, but the inability to implement and enforce it limits its impact. It is assumed that once the constraints to participation are removed, there won’t be any level in the society again. Gender equity denotes the equivalence in life outcomes for women and men, acknowledging their diverse needs and interests, and requiring a redistribution of power and resources in other to encourage peace in the society and also the economic growth.
1.2. Statement of the general problem
The menace of gender discrimination and gender related crimes has been a reoccurring problem in Nigeria despite the conscious efforts of successive government in reducing gender related offences. Gender discrimination is a common phenomenon not only in Nigeria but also in Africa where women particularly are not allowed into certain administrative and religious positions based on their gender. This has unfortunately slowed down the socio economic development of Nigeria as knowledge and expertise is not gender discriminating. These gender issues have made women prone to social vices like rape and extortion simply because of their gender. This does not augur well for the international reputation.
1.3 Aims and objectives of the study
The major aim of this study is to evaluate gender issues and challenges of development in the 21st century. Other specific objectives of the study include;
1.4. Research Questions
1.5. Research Hypothesis
H0: Gender issues are not a major challenge to development in Nigeria
H1:Gender issues are a major challenge to development in Nigeria
1.6. Significance of the study
The study would be of immense benefit to government at all levels as it would reveal the benefits of creating policies that would eradicate gender issues and discrimination in Nigeria especially in this 21st century. The study would be beneficial to students, researchers and scholars who are interested in engaging in further research on the subject matter.
1.7. Scope and limitation of the study
The study is restricted to gender issues and challenges of development in the 21st century, a case study of Nigeria.
Limitation of the study
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work
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