BREAKING NEWS: We found a country that has achieved gender equality!

In Equiterra all people have equal rights and opportunities, regardless of their gender. Women and girls feel safe when walking at night. They get paid equally as men, for work of equal value.

Men and women share chores and care duties at home, and they can access high quality care at affordable rates. Isn’t that fabulous!

No one is talking about ‘at least 30 per cent’ quota for women in political leadership in Equiterra anymore — men and women are equally represented in political offices, corporate boardrooms and factory floors. Women have equal say in decisions that affect their lives, their bodies, their policies, and their environment. Girls are as valued as boys are, and people of all gender and sexuality feel safe and equal.

This is what gender equality looks like. Join us for a tour of its bustling capital!

Reality check

Equiterra exists only in our imagination, but it’s a place that we can all aspire to build.

To date, no country in the world has achieved gender equality.

Twenty-five years ago, 193 countries came together at the Fourth World Conference on Women and promised to take measures that guaranteed gender equality. They signed on to the most comprehensive global roadmap to destination “gender equality”, the Beijing Platform for Action. There has been a lot of progress since then, but many of the promises are yet to be fulfilled.

1. Unstereotype Avenue

People root for the girl who wants to be a professional football player, not question her capabilities. Teachers encourage all of their students to choose STEM fields instead of assuming that girls wouldn’t be interested in them.

In Equiterra, diversity is celebrated, not feared, and a culture of acceptance dominates the hearts and minds.

Reality check

By the age 6, girls already consider boys more likely to show brilliance and more suited to “really, really smart” activities than their own gender.

Only 30 per cent of the world’s researchers are women

2. Violence-Free Alley

Domestic violence is a rare occurrence, because there are strong laws against it and services to support victims. Since gender equality is the norm, the power dynamics between intimate partners are not oppressive or toxic.

Reality Check

Globally, 17.8 per cent of women have experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner in the last 12 months, and in most countries with available data, less than 40 per cent of the women who experience violence seek help.

In 2017, more than half (58 per cent) of all female victims of intentional homicide were killed by an intimate partner or family member — that’s 137 women each day.

3. Equal pay street

Also, in Equiterra minimum wages are set to provide decent income and there is quality and affordable care available for those who need it. As a result, men and women can equally contribute towards a thriving economy and children are happy and healthy.

Reality check

Globally, women continue to be paid 16 to 22 per cent less than men.

Women on average do three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men, with long-term consequences for their economic security.

4. Toxic Masculinity Recycling Plant

In the Toxic Masculinity Recycling Plant, through innovative dialogues and learning, toxic behaviours are transformed into attitudes that perpetuate gender equality.

For instance, expectations such as, men and boys shouldn’t show emotion, or that they are naturally aggressive, have been transformed into healthier attitudes that respect every person’s right to live as their true self, with their full range of emotions, dreams and capabilities. Binary definitions of gender turn into a spectrum of gender identity and expression.

Freed from oppressive gender roles, people of Equiterra are not held back by dominant forms of masculinity, and they are happier and mentally healthier than any other society.

Reality check

Demographic and Health Surveys for 42 countries between 2007 and 2017 showed that 8 per cent of women and 13.2 per cent of men believe a husband is justified in beating his wife if she argues with him.

Nearly 800,000 people die by suicide in the world each year, which is roughly one death every 40 seconds. Suicide among men is four times higher than among women.

5. Inclusion square

Reality check

Some 68 countries have laws that explicitly criminalize by law consensual sexual relations between partners of the same sex, and in 11 of these such relations are punishable by death.

Less than 5 per cent of children and young persons with disabilities have access to education and training; and girls and young women face with disability face additional barriers to participating in social life and development.

6. Climate Action Street

And, you see women leading the charge, in equal footing with men. Women leaders in business and government have been key actors in making the policies that are protecting the environment. With the inclusion of women’s experiences, talent and perspectives, Equiterra has found new ways of sustainably reducing the country’s carbon footprint and food waste.

Reality check

Environmental degradation disproportionately affects low-income countries and the most marginalized women who have contributed least to the crisis. The destruction of women’s livelihoods, which depend heavily on the natural environment, contributes to rising food insecurity and morbidity and increases the burden of unpaid care and domestic work.

Globally, 7 per cent of employed women are working in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but only 13.8 per cent of landholders are women.

7. Equal Representation Avenue

Reality check

Men still control more than three-quarters of seats in single or lower house of parliament around the world.

As of June 2019, only 33 of the fortune 500 companies were led by female CEOs.

8. Education Boulevard

Reality check

More girls are in school than ever before, yet an estimated 15 million girls and 10 million boys of primary-school age are still out of school.

One in every five girls are married before reaching age 18

9. Freedom Avenue

In Equiterra since everyone is empowered to access such information and services, couples and individuals can plan if and when and how many children they want to have, women can complete their education, pursue their careers and enjoy better health. They are leaders in shaping health policies and budgets that affect their lives.

Every woman or girl, whether young or old, can get HIV testing and treatment without stigma or discrimination. In Equiterra, public health systems are fully funded and staffed, user-fees are a thing of the past.

Reality check

190 million women of reproductive age worldwide did not have access to contraceptive methods in 2019.

While difficult to quantify, unsafe abortion-related deaths are estimated to account for between 8 and 11 per cent of all maternal deaths

Now that you have seen Equiterra join #GenerationEquality to make this a reality in your family, community and country.

Originally published on Medium.com/@UN_Women