Spatial Analysis of the Gender Pay Gap in China

Although it is 40 years since the adoption of the Convention on all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979), discrimination remains commonplace in law and practice.On one hand, 131 countries have added 274 gender-related reforms to laws and regulations over the past decade, however it is estimated that more than 2.5 billion women and girls live in countries with at least one discriminatory law on the books.These statues restrict women' s ability to make decisions about marriage, divorce, and child custody; and to make choices about getting a job or starting a business, among others.Meanwhile, violence against women remains a human rights abuse on a massive scale.One in five women globally has experienced sexual and/or physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner in the past year.While in the 1990s, laws against domestic violence were uncommon, today they are in place in around three quarters of countries.This is important progress, largely driven by feminist activism, although much more needs to be done to ensure implementation, and to provide services and access to justice for survivors. ENDING DISCRIMINATION IN LAW AND PRACTICEEquality between men and women was a core tenet enshrined in the UN Charter in 1945.Yet, 75 years later, women and girls live in a world of widespread gender inequality.Turning this around is a priority of the UN in 2020 which also marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; the 20th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security; and the 5th anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals.The 2030 Agenda is clear: Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is a goal in itself (Sustainable Development Goal 5) as well as a catalyst for the achievement of all the other goals.Ultimately, development will only be sustainable if its benefits accrue equally to both women and men.The world has a decade left to turn this promise into action.The past decades have seen important progress for women and girls.Overall, however, change has been uneven and incremental.At the current rate of change, the global gender gap will not close for another 100 years.As the Secretary-General warned, "change is coming at a pace that is too slow for the women and girls whose lives depend on it".Over the next 10 years, the global community must act with urgency and determination to accelerate progress and achieve gender equality for all women and girls everywhere

China · Demographic economics · Economics · Political science · Law · Psychology · Regional Socio-Economic Development Trends