Social justice is a specific notion suggesting that all people deserve equal economic, social, and political opportunities and rights, irrespective of their backgrounds or sex, race, social, or other affiliations. It also includes the fair distribution of the national wealth and resources among all citizens and the unbiased treatment of all individuals (“What is social justice,” 2016). Social justice concerns all spheres of human activity, including healthcare, education, business, taxation, public services, law. In this regard, diversity embraces the esteem, acceptance, and recognition of all people and their uniqueness and differences in ethnicity, socio-economic status, age, religion, physical abilities, and ideologies.
Unfortunately, numerous real-life cases of discrimination occur in different contexts, especially the workplace, business, and healthcare. For instance, in 2019, Pier 1 Imports denied a Black job applicant to an assistant manager position based on this race in San Bernardino County (“Significant EEOC,” n.d.). Another example is the sex and race harassment of female and African-American employees by Ford Motor Company in 2017 (“Significant EEOC,” n.d.). Other cases can also include Starbucks Dyslexia Case, ONS Sex Discrimination Case, or Richemont Race Discrimination Case. As for me, once I experienced sex discrimination at the workplace. However, the case did not come to the lawsuit and was settled on the spot.
The most problematic social issues that attract my attention comprise employment, religion, and sex discrimination, especially harassment. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) settles more than 100,000 work discrimination each year (Mrkonjic, 2021). It is worth noting that the USA ranks first regarding workplace discrimination among four developed countries, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom (McCarthy, 2019).
Thus, my primary role as a social worker is to help individuals, groups, or communities suffering from problems indicated above by providing counseling about laws, rights, resources, and possible solutions and applying anti-oppressive practice practices. In addition, when I am examining various social justice issues, I feel that their prevention and resolution possess significant importance for the well-being and steady prosperity of the nation. I believe that the United States gains tremendous benefits by eradicating or, at least, minimizing the instances of social injustice. These benefits are primarily associated with technological, cultural, and social developments.
The Theme and Brief Summary
The selected article is The World’s Women 2020: Trends and Statistics, prepared by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The theme of the report is the global state of gender equality in six key areas, such as health, education, population and families, asset ownership and economic empowerment, decision-making, and violence against women. In addition, it considers the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender inequality. I have selected this document because it provides a comprehensive overview of the issue, maintaining it with the most recent statistics and other relevant information gathered from many databases worldwide. Thus, this report makes readers meditate on the significance and scope of gender inequality and associated concerns and urges them to take specific actions.
In essence, The World’s Women 2020 explores the progress towards commitments, including equal rights and power for women, made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted 25 years ago. Based on collected data, the report infers that no country attained the set goals, indicating that COVID-19 menaces to reduce or even nullify the achieved results. In 2020, only nearly 50 percent of women able to work took part in the labor market, whereas this rate for men constituted 75 percent (“The World’s Women,” 2020). Approximately one-third of women globally endure sexual or physical violence from their intimate partners.
In the COVID-19 crisis’s contexts, women experience increased workload, especially in healthcare and education (“The World’s Women,” 2020). Furthermore, they face other significant challenges, including reduced access to reproductive health services, higher infection risk, or difficulties with proper child care. Overall, the conditions of women have become more severe in all fields and activities.
The Most Important Issues
The primary critical issue is undoubtedly Covid-19, effects and consequences of which tremendously thwart the advancement towards sex equality. Due to the elevated necessity for medical and educational personnel, women begin encountering considerable problems and additional stress discussed in the report in-depth. As a result, women feel distressed and anxious, which can lead to frustration and burnout. In these conditions, the central role of social workers is to support females experiencing difficult circumstances and help them overcome their challenges. The second disturbing issue that is the most complicated to eradicate is violence against women.
Rude and cruel behavior with women exists in all strata and environments of society, especially at home. In this regard, social workers should take resolute actions to help vulnerable or affected women defend themselves, primarily through counseling and appealing to the law.
Personal Feelings and Connections
First, it is worth noting that my reading was accompanied by various feelings and thoughts, both negative and pleasant ones. I was immensely impressed with the data and thought-provoking facts provided by the article. Particularly, I felt outraged with the prevalence of violence in the world and different brutal practices followed by some peoples of the Middle East and Africa. The spheres of human activity, including education, healthcare, or business, also need further improvement concerning gender equality since women are generally underrepresented. Nevertheless, one thought consoled me that humankind made noticeable progress in this path, and this should be acknowledged.
Altogether, the given theme has direct connections with materials related to Social Work. Most of the courses raised or, at least, concerned the issue of sex inequality and diverse types of discrimination against women.
References
McCarthy, E. (2019). How common is workplace discrimination?. Web.
Mrkonjic, E. (2021). 43 troubling employment discrimination statistics for 2021. Web.
Significant EEOC race/color cases (covering private and federal sectors). (n.d.) Web.
The Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2020). The World’s Women 2020: Trends and Statistics. Web.
What is social justice?. (2016). Web.