Gender Inequality in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Gender equality is both a core concern and an essential part of human development. However, in no society do women yet enjoy the same opportunities as men. They work longer hours and they are paid less, both in total and pro rate. Their choices as to how they spend their time, in both work and leisure, are more constrained than they are for men. These disparities generate substantial gaps between how much women and men can contribute to society, and how much they respectively share in its benefits. As a conceptual tool, gender is used to highlight various structural relationships of inequality between men and women as manifested in the labour markets, income, economic resources, education and training. Discrimination is especially obvious in political leadership and decision-making positions and in economic top management. The objective of this study was to analyse how gender inequality indicate that different dimensions in Sri Lankan context. Study was based on secondary data gathered from literature survey which are directly related to the issues addressed in this study. The study was revealed that disadvantage and marginalization of women and discrimination against them is a global phenomenon. Everywhere in the world, there are still considerable differences in living conditions and upward social mobility opportunities between men and women due to unequal factors. In Sri Lankan context traditional women have much less social, economic, political and domestic power than men. However, they have played considerable role inside the family as homemakers. Especially rural women spend much time every day on agricultural and domestic tasks. However, after the independent, successive governments have invested heavily in education, health, and welfare programmes. As a result, both men and women enjoy relatively high standards in health and education. From this view, the status of Sri Lankan women has been changed last few decades. Though, poor women are facing several problems due to unequal factors of political participation, labour force participation and decision-making process. To overcome those disparities mobilization of women as equal partners in all developmental process therefore needs the priority attention of policy makers.