A survey about sexism in Australia has been released and it turns out gender prejudices are going under the radar a lot more in the country than you might think.
In a survey released by child rights organisation, Plan International Australia, who interviewed more than 1,000 young women and girls about sexism in the country, it was found that many are deterred by leadership roles and politics because of gender biases.
According to the poll, 75 per cent of the women interviewed had received a sexist comment at some point in their lives, 50 per cent said sexism had affected their career and 37 per cent said sexism played a part in choosing which subjects they decided to study at school or university.
More shocking still, less than 1 per cent of women and girls interviewed said they’d consider a political leadership role as a career path.
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While sexism experienced in other nations, where women are not allowed to drive and must be accompanied by a male chaperone in public, is a stark contrast to the rights of women in Australia, similar ideas about being a second-class citizen remain.
Comparatively, women in Australia do not face situations that women face in other parts of the world, but that doesn’t take away from the impact sexism has here, where women continue to feel subordinate.
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Plan International Australia CEO, Ian Wishart, said the results were a “wake-up call”.
“We commissioned this research to discover how girls and young women feel about sexism and their own place in Australia, and were genuinely shocked by the results,” he said.
“I was actually shocked and very disappointed to think that 49 per cent of women and girls are not choosing a career direction because they perceive sexist bias or sexist discrimination in that area,” Wishart went on. “That’s just unacceptable.”
Unacceptable as it is, it doesn’t stop there. Here are 15 scenarios where sexism continues to go under the radar in Australia.
1. When violence against women becomes a national emergency:
132,500 women experience partner violence in Australia each year. Casual sexism and waking up to a national emergency http://t.co/JQ9Ehllru4
— The Saturday Paper (@SatPaper) September 17, 2014
Every 3 hours a #woman is hospitalised in #Australia because of #DomesticViolence. #Feminismpic.twitter.com/k52PbP1rfP
— NAMBASSA™ (@Nambassa) August 8, 2014
2. When mothers pay more for student debt:
https://twitter.com/_AmyGray_/status/468608272186875904
3. When Australia’s first female prime minister came in to power:
"Even leaders like Julia Gillard of Australia have faced outrageous sexism which shouldn’t be tolerated in any country." Hillary Clinton.
— 💥Dr💥 Julia Baird (@bairdjulia) June 10, 2014
4. When the unequal pay debate goes on unsolved:
#Australia's gender #paygap at highest level since 1994. It's not looking great in other countries either. http://t.co/pkhslp1Vsc
— CatalystInc (@CatalystInc) August 23, 2013
5. When who you’re dating is more important than what you’ve achieved:
Female #Tennis Player Makes History, Has To Answer Sexist Question http://t.co/dpkBx51PdD#sexism#misogyny#feminism#Australia#fem2
— Claudine Jacques 🇺🇦 (@ClaudineJacques) January 22, 2014
6. When the social and financial repercussions of sexism go unnoticed:
@billshortenmp Please explore the rising cost of #racism, #sexism, #homophobia, #religious#intolerance and #bigotry in #Australia instead.
— Peter Murphy (@PeterWMurphy1) October 7, 2014
7. When women avoid leadership roles in politics:
Former mayor says #sexism is scaring #women from running for local #politicshttp://t.co/cKWBCsi8Zl#Australia
— #EndGenderInequality (@MadeEqual) June 17, 2014
8. When people say equality isn’t important:
https://twitter.com/ArezooNZ/status/518913287137030144
9. When “feminism” is still considered a dirty word:
‘#Feminism is not an extreme term,’ says Penny Wong #Australia#Politics#Abbotthttp://t.co/sJBHjC38Gp
— Shrusti (@Shrustify) April 13, 2014
10. When sexism isn’t considered a problem by the majority:
61% of women & only 42% of men believe #sexism is a problem in #Australiahttp://t.co/tY0VchDNZ8pic.twitter.com/KLy4dCufCZ
— ℅ Her Gourdliness ♙ (@MichelleSuiter) June 16, 2013
11. When catcalling is a part of everyday life:
https://twitter.com/AlyLogan/status/519524987649396738
12. When the treatment of former female political leaders becomes how people see women in power:
RT @jonathan_sas Gillard ousted by #sexism: Achievement does not equal respect if you're a woman http://t.co/oFsUhCVCDt#Australia
— deBeauxOs (@deBeauxOs1) June 28, 2013
13. When sexual discrimination happens in the workplace:
One in two women experience #discrimination in the workforce. Louise shares her story. http://t.co/gS7ui7Q4WK#sexism#australia
— Fire & Emergency Programs for Teens (@GirlsOnFireAus) August 20, 2014
14. When sexism become a marketing strategy:
#wickedcampers bows to public pressure to remove slogans after online campaign http://t.co/EIw0SrH7Nm#sbsnewswrappic.twitter.com/KjxRebpB92
— SBS News (@SBSNews) July 16, 2014
15. When sexism is just considered a women’s issue:
I am one of 2,558 men in Australia, that support human rights for the #HeForShe#HeForShecampaign @EmWatson ❤️ pic.twitter.com/m6zDTiFvtf
— Joshua (@itsjoshyyyyyy) September 22, 2014
What do you think? Were you surprised by the survey’s findings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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