Measuring Gender Discrimination

Abstract

Certain practices of gender discrimination in many societies do not exist on official records; there are no official records of domestic violence and spousal rape in the Arab world. At best, they are reduced to secondary problems rather than primary problems. The collectivist unit of reference or measurement (family, tribe, larger community) usually discounts or disregards the negative effects of collective decisions on women in such societies. The lack of women’s effective participation in the collective decision-making process is likely to discount women’s interests or preferences. In certain cases, women are excluded from the decision-making process altogether. Certain acts of violence are not treated as acts of violence in these societies, partly due to the absence or lack of victims’ voice and status.