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Child sexual abuse is definitely not a new or modern phenomenon and even though it was not necessarily acknowledged before the 1800’s, it does not mean that it did not exist. Throughout history, documentation about child sexual abuse has existed, with references especially to Greek and Roman civilisations, as well as in colonial America and Europe (Bolen, 2002). Jean-Claude Chenais (1981), in a study using multiple data sources has been pivotal in the attitude changes in Western societies over the issue of child sexual abuse over the last hundred years. His studies have shown that due to a number of different contributing factors, in some European countries like Germany and France, child sexual abuse was so frequent as to be considered normal (Bagley & King, 2004). As cited in Bolen (2002), in his research on classical childhood analysis of different historical eras, DeMause (1988), states that:

In her research of historical child sexual abuse, Florence Rush has found that it is predominantly a phenomenon of the patriarchal systems in history, where children were considered as property of the father. In Talmudic [1] law it is the tradition that a female daughter can be betrothed by her father by means of sexual intercourse after the age of three. Even though not encouraged, sexual acts including intercourse with a child younger than three years is not a crime. Such sexual activity with young girls was not discouraged by the Catholic Church either in history, as in a Papal decree of the sixth century stated that for a marriage to be valid it was copulating that was the overriding factor and consent only desirable. The age of the girl was taken into consideration for the purpose of betrothal where if the girl was not at least seven years old than this was considered invalid. Also, through history we find however that sexual abuse was not limited only to girls. Especially in Greece, it was popular to use boys for sex. It was also common to castrate young boys and buy or sell them as sex slaves (Bagley & King, 2004).

In its broad sense, child sexual abuse is when an older person forcibly engages in sexual activity with a child. The definition of the terms sexual assault on children or child molestation is different in different legal jurisdictions (Rowan, 2006). As cited in Kinnear (2007), child sexual abuse is defined by Fraser (1981) as being “the exploitation of a child for the sexual gratification of an adult”, whilst Baker and Duncan (1985) claim that “[a] child (anyone under 16 years) is sexually abused when another person, who is sexually mature, involves the child in any activity which the other person expects to lead to their sexual arousal”. In their 2003 report on the maltreatment of children, the Children’s Bureau of the US Department of Health and Human Services defines it as the “involvement of the child in sexual activity to provide sexual gratification or financial benefit to the perpetrator, including contacts for sexual purpose, molestation, statutory rape, prostitution, pornography, exposure, incest, or other sexually exploitation activities” (U.S. Department for Health and Human Services, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, 2005). The age of consent is also different from one country to another. However, it is commonly understood, that a child is not able to understand or willingly consent to sexual experiences with an older person. It is also acknowledged that there exists sexual experimentation between young people and therefore molestation charges are only enforced when the older person is sixteen or eighteen and that child is three or five years younger (Rowan, 2006).

There are certain factors which categorise sexual encounters as abuse according to the World Health Organisation. As well as the age difference it also includes in the definition the misuse of a position of authority by the adult which then leads to sexual acts. The child must also be unwilling to participate in such acts even if he or she did not offer resistance. It also requires the attempt to touch the genitals or breasts of a child or make the child touch the ones of the adult. If the adult attempts to touch the child by exposing himself or if the child is undressed, made to, as well as the attempt to seduce or tempt to take to another place whilst psychology threatening the child (Fegert, 2003). Sociological definitions of child sexual abuse differ from the clinical or legal ones and whilst some are universally acknowledged some are less so even though equally important and influential (Lawrence, 2004). One of the definitions widely accepted by child protection services is that of Schechter and Roberge and it states that “Sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent” (Schechter & Roberge, 1976).

When researching child sexual abuse, it is common to associate this with the phenomology of pedophilia. When assessing and treating sex offenders however, professionals know that it is important to explore different variables that have an important role in such deviant sexual behaviour. The sexual preference and history, including any of crime or violence, are taken into consideration. Any other disorders such as endocrine or neuropsychological ones as well as any other biological factors are to be explored (Langevin, 2003). By definition, a pedophile is generally an individual who for no less than a period of six months fantasises about having sexual encounters with young children or is sexually aroused by the thoughts of such fantasies. Usually the sexual urges of such individuals are focused on children younger than thirteen years of age. Pedophiles can be frustrated from these urges and often suffer from interpersonal difficulties because of these sexual impulses. However, even if not necessarily always the case, some pedophiles will act upon such fantasies and are usually only apprehended or brought to attention because of this. Most pedophiles are usually not necessarily disturbed enough about such fantasies about children and as a consequence do not seek voluntary medical help (Hall & Hall, 2007). The key factor in the assessment of pedophilia is the age of the children for whom interest is shown. In its most strong forms, exclusivity is shown towards prepubescent children with no sexual urges or interest in other adults. Not all pedophiles however commit sexual offences with child victims and not all sex offenders with children are pedophiles (Seto, 2004). Dr Langevin (2003) noted however, that even though there seem to be a number of factors that are common between pedophile priests and other pedophiles in terms of sexual preferences, pedophile priests generally have less antisocial behaviour characteristics.

In light of the huge amount of media coverage of the clergy abuse crisis in the last few years, it seems that even though much interest by the community has been sparked on the topic, little research has been carried out by psychological and clinical bodies. This may be due to a long existing mutual indifference between the Church and the mental health field. Only a few studies have actually addressed the issue of the ‘pedophile priest’ or the priest who sexually abuses children. Despite the surmounting media coverage and attention of the issue providing an alarming public assumption that most priests are pedophiles, an American study estimated however that only 2% of priests are pedophiles whilst another 4% being ephebophiles [2] . However, it is also taken into account that a probably large number of sexual abuse cases by the clergy are not reported (Plante, 1999). Michael Rezendes (2002), part of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team was one of the first journalists who brought attention to the issue of child sexual abuse allegations against the American clergy. A year of investigations carried out by this team resulted in the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law on the 13th December, 2002. This was mainly due to the exposure of a series of shortcomings and mistakes, in his handling of a well known pedophoile in Boston; Rev John J. Geoghan, where after being reported of sexual misconduct with children, he was reassigned. However, it was clear that Geoghn was only a sign of a more serious problem. The Spotlight Team investigated further into the Archdiocese of Boston and by the time of Law’s resignation, had published over 800 stories.

An earlier singular case which also received worldwide publicity however dates back to 1984, where Fr Gilbert Gauthe of Lafayette, Louisiana was charged on multiple counts of child sexual abuse. This was the first criminal case of its kind to receive such level of media attention and publicity and also was the first time that a civil suit was initiated against a diocese on the grounds of failure to protect children from a known abuser in its clergy (Murphy, Buckley & Joyce, 2005). Dr Richard Sipe, a psychotherapist and psychiatrist as well as a former Roman Catholic Priest, wrote extensively on the subject of child sexual abuse and reports that even as early as 1976, before the big scandals broke out on the media, there opened a programme, the first, perhaps, in the world dedicated to the treatment of psychosexual disorders for clergy. This included the treatment of disorders which involved the sexual abuse of children. The need for such a programme and its preparation, years before its opening, shows that knowledge of Catholic Clergy who had problems of sexual misconduct was already widespread in the 1960’s and 70’s (Sipe, 1995). With such an increasing interest in the phenomenon of priests as sexual abusers of children, the Catholic Church seemed to be spiralling into a crisis as portrayed so by the media, with an increasing number of people coming forward with new allegations all over the world. Philip Jenkins (2001), as cited in Dokecki (2004) explores the terms of moral crisis as opposed to moral panic. In order to fully understand weather the Catholic Church was being victimised by a new panic born out of media frenzy or if the panic was due to a moral crisis deeply rooted in actual facts and reality of the problem, one must also explore the issue in its full context. It is worth noting and reflecting upon the possibility of child abuse scandal by clergy as being a classic example of social construction. This is not to belittle the seriousness of priests committing such lewd acts with children, but it is more a manner of asserting how the media portrayal of such events can impact the way it shapes the social response to it (Jenkins, 2001).

The way that this issue in the US has been widely covered and reported by the media, it has undoubtedly generated a growing popular feeling of mistrust in the church. This might have been a trigger in the claim that the Catholic Church has been inefficient in its response to such abuses and allegations, as the increasing number of cases began to crop up all over America as well as the rest of the world. By 2004, the time of the Globe’s investigation of the Boston cases, it was reported that between 1950 and 2002, four thousand three hundred priests were alleged to have abused or molested almost eleven thousand children or adolescents (Paine & Hansen, 2002). A study of child abuse committed by clergy which was conducted by the John Jay College for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 recorded these figures. However, this only reflects the numbers for those victims who actually reported their abuse and came forward to the Church authorities. Studies have shown that a great number of victims, especially males, never come forward to disclose their abuse to anyone and even more never report it to the authorities. It is also important to note that not all dioceses participated in this study and not all kept official and accurate records (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2002). In the matter of establishing whether the problem of child sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church is just moral crisis as opposed to just moral panic, numbers alone do not suffice. It is often normally recognised for organisations and public entities to take defensive measures when dealing with such serious accusation against its employees or members. Most importantly the defense would most certainly be targeted against a blanket condemnation of the whole organisation. Sometimes, such corporations genuinely fail to recognise and acknowledge the fact that the destructive effects of such allegations have deeper roots than simply moral panic (Dokecki, 2004).

Studies of other organisations entrusted with the care of children show that the prevalence of child sexual abuse is also of concern. In his study as reported in The Washington Times (1991), Patrick Boyle outlined that between 1971 and 1989 there were one thousand, one hundred and fifty seven reports of child sexual abuse out of a million volunteers (all adults) and four million member scouts; with the majority believed to be boys aged between eleven and seventeen. Case studies also seemed to indicate that in order to safeguard the image of the Boy Scout organisation, certain information was covered up in order to prevent the possibility of a crisis scandal. The police were not involved if the alleged abuser left the organisation. However, it was common practice for these offenders to move to other states and join new troops whilst those reported to the General Headquarters still managed to bypass the system and re-roll in new States (Boyle, 1994). Other studies of different organisations for youths and children also show sexual abuse incidents reported. These include institutions like the Big Brother Organisation, the YMCA as well as other athletic organisations and centres for child care-giving in day care institutions or families. In sporting organisations, the perpetrators were found to be involved in the majority of cases with a school; i.e., teachers or principals who appeared to have multiple victims, with one coach reported to have four hundred counts of sexual abuse. The majority of these cases occurred in the US, the UK and Ireland. In both the sports organisations and the Big Brother one, however, it seemed that legal action was taken against the perpetrators and screening processes put in place for all future volunteers (John Jay College, 2002).

As seen from the community, the sexual abuse crises in the Catholic Church presented a larger moral shock than any other abuse scandal, predominantly because of the social status priests hold within the same community. The priest is believed to be not merely a man serving the pastoral functions for his church, but also a delegate of Christ on Earth. The priest is often held in a position of trust within society; where people look upon him as a source of comfort and advice. In Catholic communities the clergy are viewed as central and present in everyday life through their work within the parish and as reference points for the safeguarding of the souls (Cozzens, . However, priests do not only function in a society as preachers of the word of God. In most cases, they will take on the role of therapists, care-givers and educators. They do not only earn their loyalty from the altar, but mainly from being there for the sick, the troubled, the dying and the dead. It is understood, because of such an intimate involvement in social and community life, that any case of sexual abuse by a member of the clergy will have relational and social implications as well as personal ones (Frawley-O’Dea, 2007). According to Lebacqz (1985), from an ethical perspective, priests are professionals and as such, a relationship of mutual trust needed. The clergy however go beyond our normal understanding of their sacramental office and thus in the relationship between priest and child, the typical power discrepancy is significantly amplified. This is so because the context of the relationship is the church and also the professional is a priest and the client a child (Dokecki, 2004).

From their early years children are socialised to view the Church as a ‘mother’ and a priest as a fatherly figure; hence also priests being called ‘father’.

Whenever we talk about beggar, this always link us the problem of poverty. It has been an important issue in Vietnam for years. Currently, there is still a large number of people lives “social bottom” life. This is particularly noticeable in the background of strong stratification when the income gap between rich and poor start getting bigger and bigger. The process has a dynamic character; the poor are getting poorer and the rich even richer. Moreover, it can create some illegal acts in humanity.

In this essay I have considered the following issues: cause of beggary, children as beggars, and its effect to the society. The theme of the essay, which I focused on, was the problem of beggary in Vietnam. The study of which I have highlighted the main groups of poor people especially children being abused for “begging act”.

Body

I. Cause of beggary

It’s very hard to give specific reason or establish any reason for the organization of beggary, as is the case with a crime. There can be a set of causes, including inability to physical, mental derangement, or society, poverty, the custom of giving, unemployment, the collapse of the family business , whether alone or in combination could create a situation that can cause beggary.

Although the underlying cause in each case is the family’s poverty or underemployment when the family is not in a position to support and disabled people, but at the same time, there are no security measures from the social forces them to beg.

a) Economic reasons: The three main causes of economic poverty, job loss or lack of employment and business income.

Poverty: One of the major factors that force people to make a miserable beggary. It does not mean that enough to support themselves or their families, many people resort to begging.

Unemployment: But poverty alone cannot be held responsible because all those living in poverty are not used to beggary.

The lucrative business: Because of easy profits and income from begging, some people can earn enough to make it as a career instead of doing honest labor. Not only that, many people make it as business and exploit others by investing some money in this business. There are group activities in large cities, which force many children to this job. And in the next part I will discuss more about it.

b) Social causes: Among the social causes of family disorganization, lack of parental control, disorganized communities, breaking joint family system and social custom.

Disorganized family: Family is part of the relationship of our society, which affect our patterns of behavior and activities. Any disruption in our home state, especially in the case of a poor one leads to a breakdown of the family, which do arise in beggary.

Lack of Parental Control: The parents do not have the industrial center of control necessary for their children, but mothers also often go to factories to work. As a result children can switch to energy in any direction. If they fall into bad company, they can develop love of travel, can lead to beggary.

c) Biological Cause: Among the biological causes may be addressed to illness, physical disability or mental disability and old age.

Disability or illness: The physical disabilities such as blindness, deafness or acquired in the beginning had this effect lot of people to beg as economic conditions of their families so as not to afford the maintenance of the disabled.

Lack of spirit: There are people who lack mental or insane and unable to earn any living and they are forced to beg.

Other reason: Among other reasons may be mentioned those forced to beg. When someone is executed beggary. There are orphans and waifs and touch those who deliberately maimed or deformed to have a guardian or other person can earn their living. Many parents also trade on the normal weaknesses of their children by using this additional source of income.

II. Children as beggars

1. What cause children to go on the street?

In this part I want to discuss the main features of social work with street children. In Vietnam, there are more than 1700 children under 18 are homeless and living on the street in 2010 (tien phong newspaper, 2010 http://www.tienphong.vn/Thoi-Su/523066/Tre-lang-thang-duong-pho-Rui-ro-nhieu-nguy-co-lam.html). This is mainly orphans; children left without parental care, children – runaways. The situation of homeless children is especially painful. Among them there are children-fugitives – children run away from home or from an educational institution due to break ties with parents emerged of heavy conflict with teachers, tutors, peers, the deformation value orientation and other reasons that led to a crisis of relations. Rarely, the cause of juvenile runaways – presence of mental illness can lead the child to become beggar. Delivered in nursing homes, other institutions of social rehabilitation of such children often commit recidivist runaways. Among many reasons, the loss of family ties or conflicting with family relationships, violent, aggressive, ill-treatment by parents. The reason for the shock of children by the divorce of their parent or a single parent remarries, primarily residing with a child.

Additional risk factor was the position and the school, which distanced itself from the teens with a difficult life. Coagulation outside the classroom work in educational institutions, the disappearance of children’s organizations impoverishes recreational activities of children, their upbringing and development.

In some cases, children escape from the house – a consequence of the pedagogical helplessness of parents, their distorted view of the limits of autonomy of children, lack of control over their pastime. Concerns adults only meet the challenge of natural and material requirements, violation of mutual understanding and trust between children and parents. Strengthening parents’ employment, forced to combine several jobs to ensure the existence of family members also leads to an increase in child neglect, increase the risk of their escape from the house. Dramatically on the rise of social maladjustment of children: The early alcoholism and drug addiction, vagrancy, immorality teenagers, prostitution, illegal actions. Child runaways become easy prey for criminal organizations, juvenile crime is known for his cruelty and cynicism. Almost all children – runaways have lag in mental, physical and intellectual development, weakened health. Sometimes, they are suffering from chronic diseases, feeling its uselessness, these teens often prone to suicidal acts. Creating an integrated system of prevention and rehabilitation of socially maladjusted children and adolescents, which include and children – a fugitive, is now a problem of national importance.

2. When children become victims of the “beggars group”.

Have you ever wonder why there are many kids beggars on the street? If yes, maybe my story here happens to many others too. When you go to Pham Ngu Lao Street in Dict.1, you will easily being followed by some kid beggar carry a child on the shoulder. To me that picture is very painful and of course for the first few times, I just did as most of people seeing that will do, I gave them money. But one day after giving money, I try to find what that little girl going to do with the money and I saw her run to one woman sit near that and give her money, the money that I just gave her. And for awhile, I read on newspaper, there are like “mafia beggars” in Vietnam. They hire kids, kidnap some of them and turn them to beggars. In order to go the street and beg for money, all of the kids have to go through the “training”. The first is a prepared speech when people concern, such as “Live in the middle of Vietnam”, “father just died, they have illness, or little brother or sister needs to be taken care of.” The following is to the movements. Kneeling bow is one way, emaciated stinking body rust on others to get in a “terrorist” .Another way is keep following one person until he has to give them some money. Among the children day after day are probably living in the corner of the street and beg for money now, not because they have miserable life but because they just fell in the trap of “beggar business” and become a professional beggar. They have been deprived to self love, self-esteem and love when people step into the street beggars. In return, they are taught to be tough bottles, cruel and torment each other hand to contribute.

III. Effect of beggars to the society

Beggars tend to present a negative image of a particular location. The presence of beggars were seen as manifestations of larger social ills or issues and may cause others to avoid the beggar-area population

The effects of street beggars cannot be overemphasized. Beggars into health risk because many of them can transmit infectious diseases in society. Some dealers and armed robbers abducted therefore constitute security risks in society. Looking at the effects of street beggars, I think the governments of the countries in the world have to hold big responsibility about it, no matter where it is, commonly reducing poverty in their country which is one of the factors causing it. The government should increase efforts to control traffic accidents which are making many people disabled. The medical establishment should be improved so that children will not be attacked by patients before and after birth. Above all, the Government should build a special village to beg than to let them roam the streets.

IV. Conclusion

As can be seen from all the above facts, people with no fixed income or even see beggary is a business- this is a problem whose solution is the mass of the nuances that require special attention. In Vietnam, beggary still legal, even though the government tries to tell everyone that they cannot make children to go on the street and beg for money. The abstract has been investigated not only the essence of social work, but the underlying reasons for the formation of the problem. For all these reasons, we can conclude: the most important in solving this problem – is to overcome the systemic crisis in the country, to carry out social policies that would be aimed at ensuring normal living conditions for the majority of the population, especially the so-called most unprotected.

Gender problem is considered as a global issue which exists not only in developing country but also in developed country. As a developing country in South-East Asia, Cambodia is known as a hierarchically ordered society. In all areas of development and administration, women always take the partnership with men. Unfortunately, they still cannot access to all equal rights, shares of benefits, opportunities, and values. Although Cambodia has reached the age of globalization, women still have been regarded as the lower group because of gender inequality. Cambodian women’s choices have been in one particular limit as the result of cultural and traditional norms which is seen in many aspects of Cambodian society such as family, education, workplace and politics.

Traditionally, Cambodian families value the men more than women as a Cambodian said that “the men are a piece of gold when it is dropped in mud, is still a piece of gold while the women are a piece of cloth, once it is stained, stained forever.” Normally, women are responsible for doing household chores and lacking of decision-making as well as giving birth while the men go outside for work to earn money and they are controversial and powerful in the family. Thus, when facing any problems, men always use their power to deal with such situation that sometime, they great physical abuse or any kinds of violence to rule over the women.

Moreover, there are many reasons regarding to the wide gap between men and women of accessing of education. Firstly, Cambodian people believe that men are more important than women because men can go out to work while women have to stay at home to do the housework. Furthermore, parents do not allow their daughters to go to school because of some factors regarding security and reputation. As another Cambodian said that “a family which has a daughter is not different from a family that has a toilet in front of the house. As a result, women in the past were not allowed to study because she could be stubborn, and write a love letter to men. Furthermore, after all daughters get married, they have to stay at home and to be fed by her husband. Therefore, she does not need to study. In addition, if a poor family can afford only one child to study, the family will choose son to study instead of daughter. According to an interview to a poor family which moved to Phnom Penh city from Prey Veng province ten years ago that has one son and two daughters that is conducted by our group shown that both of the two daughters are not allowed to go to school because they have to work in the garment factories in order to support their brother’s education. Finally, their brother now has become an upper-secondary school teacher at Santhormok High School in Phnom Penh city while they both are illiteracy.

According to ADB, DFID/UK, UNDP, UNIFEM, and WB (2004, p.46) states that men’s wages is 33 percent higher than women’s wages depend on an individual’s age and education. Moreover, Ministry of Planning (1999) says that the largest wage differences between males and females exist among young worker aged 15 to 29 with no schooling (75 percent), while the smallest differences exist among workers aged 30 to 39 years with lower secondary schooling (As cited in ADB et al., 2004, p.46), so it shows that there is substantial wage discrimination against women, and young women in particular labor markets. In addition, Cambodia Development Resource Institute (2003) says that “the average daily wage for men in fishing is about 5,000 riels ($1.25), while women earn only 83 percent of that amount; in fish processing men earn about 4,150 riels ($1.13) per day and women earn 63 percent of that wage” (As cited in ADB et al., 2004, p.46). Furthermore, The participatory poverty assessment (ADB, 2001) in Cambodia found that women’s wage is less than men’s wage where there is limited waged employment locally even they are doing the same work. For example, men can earn up to 5,000 riels (US$1.25) per day working as casual laborers while women will receive only up to 2,500 riels for the same work. In the poverty assessment shows that this differences wage is because of three reasons. First, there are some jobs that women cannot do well as men. Second, women take more time off during the day. The last reason is that it didn’t matter anyway because it all went back in to the household finances (As cited in ADB et al., 2004, p.46).

In addition, the rate of women’s voice in politics is still low in Cambodia. Even though all men and women are equal in voting, there are still less women who represent in the parliament than men. For instance, there were only 5 percent of women candidates in 1993, and there were only five among of them won the election and joined the national assembly (ADB et al., 2004, p.125). Furthermore, this rate has been increasing very slowly. For example, there were 11.5 percent in 1998 and 12.2 percent in 2003 of women who are elected (ADB et al., 2004, p.125). In addition, the numbers of women participation in each political party are also lower than men. In 2003, only 8 out of 73 seats in Cambodian People Party, 4 out of 26 seats in Funcinpec Party, and 3 out of 24 seats in Sam Rainsy Party were women candidates (ADB et al., 2004, p.126).In short, these data represents that women are given less value than men in Cambodia politics.

However, some people state that the gender inequality in Cambodia is shaped by biology. Women are physically born weaker than men so mostly they are responsible for mothering work such as deliver and to look after the babies, and stay at home to do housework while men go out for work and become breadwinner, so men have power to control the family. This point has some merit on the surface. However, pregnant is only a temporary time for women to produce the baby, and this time they can do some house work. Then, after they deliver the baby, they can go out for work as the men do such as a teacher, a doctor, an architecture, etc.

In conclusion, according to the four aspects such as family, education, workplace, and politics that have mentioned above, we can analyze that culture is an essential factor that causes the gender inequality between men and women. Women have to do housework and to give birth, so they do not have chance to be educated which becomes the obstacle for them to find a well paid job. Moreover, because of the education of women still in limit, their participant in politic is also in a small number. Actually, it is really hard for women to change their culture without any supporting from men. As a result, in order to motivate people to understand more about gender inequality effectively, both government and non-government organizations need to be strongly facilitated in making policy to encouraging women knowing their right of sharing and making decision. Moreover, he has to develop the laws for violence against women, and provide more motivate girl to be educated, women to join literacy program that can help them to build up their social values, so that it will develop the country because we have enough human resources. Men and women are the two elements which are inseparable from one another. They both are like the left and right hands of a country. Without one of them, a country’s development will be stuck. Moreover, women also should accept the opportunity that provided by the men.

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Eve teasing is a very common social problem and everyday women come across some form of eve teasing. In this case, do you think that women should be empowered to fight back to end this evil act – Explain and Illustrate

“Aai shundori, ekta gaan shuney jao na”, said one of the boys. “Ekdin toh amar shathey jetei hobey”, said another. Terrified, fourteen year old Lima kept her head lowered and quickened her pace as she walked to school. That group of notorious boys heckling her again as they have been for the past few weeks. Three months ago one of the girls in her school committed suicide. When she heard the news, Lima couldn’t figure out why another young girl like her would take her own life. That was until all this daily harassment started. She thought to herself, “So this is what Shathi must have felt like, this humiliation, this embarrassment, this is why she killed herself . . . so this is the terrible ‘Eve Teasing’.”

Eve teasing is a euphemism used for public sexual harassment, street harassment or molestation of women by men. It is a growing social problem considered to be related to delinquency in youth. This is a form of sexual aggression that ranges in severity from sexually suggestive remarks, brushing in public places, catcalls, to outright groping. Sometimes it is referred to with a coy suggestion of innocent fun, making it appear harmless with no resulting liability on the part of the performer. Eve teasing, as heinous as it is, is thus also a difficult crime to prove. In my opinion, eve teasing is a very serious moral and social crime carried out by ruffians in the most degrading manner and it is not so much an act of masculinity but rather of low-life cowardice.

The general socioeconomic status in Bangladesh is much lower compared to neighboring countries such as India and Sri Lanka. For the average girl in Bangladesh, one of her most prized possessions is her dignity. Following the culture and traditions also have the girls dress up in a conservative manner so as not to incite uncalled attention from the males. Historically, the upbringing of girls in Bangladesh differs in many ways from the boys. That is one of the reasons why the psychological impact and consequences of eve teasing are so devastating to the victim and her family. Eve teasing is now a social pandemic in Bangladesh. Based on empirical study (2008), the Hunger Project has identified some impacts of eve teasing in the society of rural Bangladesh. These are:

a) Curtailed education: Sexual harassment increases girls’ drop-out rate from school. Parents concerned about their daughter’s honor or safety sometimes keep their daughters home and/or marry them off at an early age.

b) Early marriage: Girls who are teased or harassed are also pushed into marriage, before they are physically or mentally prepared. This also leads to increase of maternal and infant deaths.

c) Hindered development: Eve teasing contributes to maintaining the low status of women. It also hinders women in participating in the formal employment sector. As nearly half of the population of the country are women, for the economic development of the country their participation in employment is a must.

d) Eve teasing leads to young woman’s suicide in Bangladesh. Some young women, unable to bear the repeated insults, have even gone so far as to commit suicide.

According to the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), almost 90% of girls aged between 10 and 18 years are victims of public sexual harassment.

According to the Ain-O-Shalish Kendra (ASK) human rights organization, atleast fourteen girls and women have taken their own lives between March and June 2010 across Bangladesh as a direct result of eve teasing.

It has not only been suicides, but, even parents of the victims and protestors against eve teasers have been assaulted and killed by the perpetrators.

From January to November 2010, twenty six females and one father of a bullied girl committed suicide, and ten men and two women were murdered after protesting against eve teasing / sexual harassment, according to a Bangladeshi rights group.

The High Court on November 02nd 2010 expressed grave concern in stalking, tragic suicides of victims, and associated revenge killings. Since then, mobile courts in Bangladesh have been empowered to prosecute people accused of sexually harassing women or eve teasing. Anyone convicted of sexual harassment or stalking of women will face a year in jail or a fine of about BDT 5000 or both.

The Ministry of Children and Women Affairs have linked up with mobile phone service providers in Bangladesh and taken the initiative to send mass text messages urging people to be more vocal against eve teasing.

Undercover police have been stationed in playgrounds to prevent young males from molesting female pupils.

UNICEF has also joined in the fight against the growing social peril of eve teasing in Bangladesh. UNICEF and its partners also are working to create awareness by establishing and supporting local adolescent groups called ‘Kishori Clubs’. The clubs allow girls and boys to learn to socialize in positive ways and they participate in activities that empower them to become agents of change.

There are also laws that essentially make Eve teasing a punishable crime. For example:

Section 10 of Women and Children Repression and Prevention Act provides for punishment of rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine if a person with a view to illegally satisfy his sexual lust by any of his organ touches genital organ or any part of the body of a woman or violates her modesty.

Section 9A of the same Act states that “if a woman commits suicide because of violation of her modesty by willing acts of any person without her consent or against her will, such person for the offence of instigating her to commit suicide will be punishable with rigorous punishment for a term not exceeding 10 years”

Section 354 of Bangladesh Penal Code provides for a punishment of up to two years and a fine for any person who assaults or uses criminal force to any woman intending to outrage her modesty or knowing it is likely that said act would.

Alike Bangladesh, eve teasing has also been a nuisance in India. The Government of India took some admirable steps to deal with the problem. They took effective remedial measures both judicial and law enforcement wise. The police were asked to be on the alert to round up Eve teasers. The deployment of plain clothed female police officers for the purpose was particularly effective. In addition to this were Women’s help-lines, Women police stations and also, special anti-eve teasing cells by the police were set up in various cities. In some cities where the problem was particularly serious like Tamil Nadu, eve teasing was made a non-bail able offence. I believe that if the Government of Bangladesh also applies such measures, eve teasing will be further controlled to some extent.

While the above are some encouraging examples of initiatives undertaken to combat eve teasing, I think that another crucial element that would help this cause is women being empowered as means to fight back.

The roles that men and women play in society are not biologically determined – they are socially determined, changing and changeable. Although they may be justified as being required by culture or religion, these roles vary widely by locality and change over time. UNFPA has found that applying culturally sensitive approaches can be the key to advancing women’s rights while respecting different forms of social organization. Women’s empowerment is vital to sustainable development and the realization of human rights for all.

Empowerment means giving legal and moral power to an individual in all spheres of life – social, economic, political, psychological, religious and spiritual, which are essential for the survival and over all development of the mankind. Empowerment expresses the bold idea that all people have claims to social arrangement that protect them from the worst abuses and deprivations and secure the freedom for a life of dignity. The process of empowerment helps shift the priority to the most deprived and excluded, especially to deprivations because of discrimination. Women’s empowerment could be considered as a process in which women gain greater share of control over resources, material, human and intellectual like knowledge, information, ideas and financial resources like money. Women should also be given control over decision making in the home, community and the society. They should be able to break free of the mould set by patriarchal norms.

According to Labour Force Survey 2000 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the total estimated civilian labour forces of the country is 60.3 million and among them 37.81% are female. These days women are increasingly entering into job market mainly in ready-made garments and allied sector, tea gardens, NGOs, health care services, food processing industry, export processing zones, services sectors and commercial enterprises and informal sector such as construction, agriculture etc. One of the major areas where women have found employment has been the garment sector. This industry employs around 10 million people directly or indirectly, of which ninety percent are women workers. In Bangladesh, women are also involved with politics. The prime minister, foreign minister, home minister, agriculture minister, deputy leader of the House and the leader of the opposition are female. Yet, according to a survey, every five minutes a woman is sexually harassed. Every two minutes one woman is molested. Eve teasing is something that a woman has to contend with everyday. But, we can make it better for our women by resolving the following problems of the different Empowerment types:

Social Empowerment: Social empowerment includes equality of treatment, equality of respect, equality of opportunity, equality of recognition and above all equality of status. The indicators of social empowerment of women include the base of gender inequality, sex ratios, life expectancy rates and fertility rates which shows the general status of women in terms of literacy, economic growth, availability of health care and birth control facilities, educational status of women, age at marriage, literacy rates and participation of women outside the home.

Economic Empowerment: In nearly every country, women work longer hours than men, but are usually paid less and are more likely to live in poverty. Poor women do more unpaid work, work longer hours and may accept degrading working conditions during times of crisis, just to ensure that their families survive. In subsistence economies, women spend much of the day performing tasks to maintain the household, such as carrying water and collecting fuel wood. In many countries women are also responsible for agricultural production and selling. Often they take on paid work or entrepreneurial enterprises as well. Unpaid domestic work – from food preparation to care giving – directly affects the health and overall well being and quality of life of children and other household members. Yet women’s voices and lived experiences – whether as workers (paid and unpaid), citizens, or consumers – are still largely missing from debates on finance and development.

Educational Empowerment: Education is important for everyone, but it is especially significant for girls and women. This is true not only because education is an entry point to other opportunities, but also because the educational achievements of women can have ripple effects within the family and across generations. Investing in girls’ education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty. Girls who have been educated are likely to marry later and to have smaller and healthier families. Educated women can recognize the importance of health care and know how to seek it for themselves and their children. Education helps girls and women to know their rights and to gain confidence to claim them.

Political Empowerment: Throughout much of the world, women’s equality is undermined by historical imbalances in decision-making power and access to resources, rights, and entitlements for women. Either by law or by custom, women in many countries still lack rights to:

Own land and to inherit property

Obtain access to credit

Attend and stay in school

Earn income and move up in their work, free from job discrimination

Moreover, women are still widely under-represented in decision-making at all levels, in the household and in the public sphere. Addressing these inequities through laws and public policy is a way of formalizing the goal of gender equality. Legal changes, which most countries have now implemented, are often a necessary step to institute gender equality. But addressing the gaps between what the law proscribes and what actually occurs often requires broad, integrated campaigns, which I believe each of us should take the initiative of.

Jawaharlal Nehru had said, “To awaken the people, it is the women who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves”. I do agree with that statement. We can help curb eve teasing by empowering our women. Instead of feeling abused by hooligans, misunderstood and shamed by their families, shunned by the society, our women will be better equipped to deal with the situation. Be it with pepper spray cans or other passive approaches, an educated and aware woman can, by herself, fight back the evil act of eve teasing.

This paper studies about the intergenerational value conflicts between different generations like parent-child relation. More emphasis is laid on the values of individual ,generational differences, thoughts ,etc. The main focus is to see whether the young adults have more value conflicts than the elderly individuals. Value conflict being the dependent variable was developed in early life. They are derived from those of particular groups such as culture, religion and political party. One’s family, nation, and environment determine one’s personal values .Conflict is perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. Conflict explains many aspects of social life, conflict of interests between individuals , groups. Generational differences occur because of more rapid cultural change during the modern era in matters related to musical tastes , fashion, culture and politics .Intergenerational conflict is either a conflict situation between adults or a more abstract conflict between two generations. It includes social, economic, cultural discrepancies caused by value shift or conflict of interest between generations. Intergenerational conflicts arise due to their phase of development. Researchers in developmental studies have been slow to include comparative or cross-cultural aspects in their studies of family relations [Feldman & Rosenthal, 1994; Guerra & Jagers, 1998] like how adolescents develop their self-concept and how their awareness of self affects their relationships with others, particularly family members. A family in the literature has traditionally been studied as a unit of social organization, and parent-child relations have been investigated as an aspect of social interaction.

THEORETICAL BASIS

The basic theoretical issues in understanding intergenerational relations would seem to be the identification of those dimensions which influence the nature of the relationship and the possible consequences of the exchange for social change and stability. The degree of potential stemming there from may be expected to vary with the rate and magnitude of sociohistorical change which separates two generations whereas the perception of conflict would seem to be influenced not only by substantive content of human life goals, but also, and in greater measure, by it’s successes and failures and the emotional costs and rewards related. The concept of development tasks tended to use the interrelation of male generations and it may present less issue among women and may manifest itself in different forms and have different implications for social change. The study just takes few aspects of human life like values confluence, behavioral changes, relationships, etc. Many importante sources like economic status ,occupation, religion, political stability ,career etc have not been studied. Many theories have been done after its publication like intergenerational support activities and well being among the elderly individuals which applicates that shared orientation to the intergenerational family role suggests that social background and related roles ,subjective meanings and self-feelings ,as well as, exchange processes influence the interaction of adults and their elderly parents .Other theories explaining intergenerational conflict when adult children and elderly parents live together, two sets of factors were proposed(a)variables based on exchange theory that emphasize the health and dependency of the elderly parent,(b)social structural characteristics of both ,the parent and the child ,including the age, whether the child and parent share the similar marital status, and the gender of both the parent and child. Both the low levels of conflict and the relative importance of gender and health ,and dependency resulted from the choice that parents and children exercise when deciding whether co reside, and from the perceptions of equity that they experience in living arrangements.

HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis of the research stated that young adults have more value conflicts than the elderly individuals. Many other researchers were also conducted in regard to intergenerational relation with significant other variables like interpersonal perceptions which proved that there is very little value conflict .Other hypothesis stated that there is surprisingly low leveresidels of conflict of parents with their resident adult children, as well as, exchange and symbolic interaction influence the interaction of adult children and their parents.

METHODOLOGY

PARTICIPANTS

The sample consisted of 52 high school students and 52 parent sample group which were randomly selected. Each generation was equally divided between males and females. The average age of students was 17 and parents were 50.an open-ended focused interview approach (Merton et al., 1956) was adopted in the exploration of goals and values.

MATERIALS

The survey was administered for eight-and-one-half hours. The inquiry moved from global generalizations of value (main purpose of life) to specific objectives (long and short term goals).The data were supplemented by a structured approach in which subjects were asked to rank order. The questionnaire was categorized into seven parts: instrumental-material; interpersonal-expressive; philosophical-religious; socialservice; ease contentment; hedonistic and personal growth.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Questions were asked to know the intergenerational perceptions where the adults were asked the goals of the next generation and how they got along with their parents. Parallel questions were asked to both the sample groups. Ratings were done on the basis of positive ,neutral ,predominantly negative. Then the ratings were further made of degree of conflict contained in parent-child relation(absent ,mild ,moderate ,severe).The reliability averaged 75 percent .Every research has its own way of measuring the variables so as to get significant results. Every research has it’s own scale and the questions totally vary according to particular variables .Some of the few things that should be kept in mind for the survey is the sample size ,gender ,area where the research will be conducted. Make sure that the sample groups be equivalent in number mainly when it is co relational experiment. The gender of people should also be same so as to get appropriate results. Area plays a very important role. People are basically influenced by the environment around them. Environment changes one’s thoughts, actions , habits, personality. Sample is a very crucial part in the experiment .Larger the sample ,better the results are, comparison becomes more clearer ,results come to be more fine. It is important to have equal number of samples in both the groups.

RESULTS

The data analyzed for this experiment was designed to yield basic ‘philosophies of life”.The instrumental-achievement values (ranging from success to earning a living)was high among school boys(44 percent)and second most frequent in men(41 percent).it had lesser significance in school girls(30 percent) and very little in women(15 percent).The younger sample did not differ significantly from the parent sample where the generations differed was in youth’s high expectations from life(32 percent and 41 percent of boys and girls as compared to 11 percent and 22 percent of men and women).The importance of discovering and utilizing one’s latent potential ,self-realization being mentioned by an average of 30 percent among the young and 10 percent among the parent generation .Lastly superego-required values-values relative to moral conduct or society- generational differences was found in the sample.

DISCUSSION

The intergenerational family role provides the opportunity to extend the convergence to understand the interaction between elderly parents and their adult children. The application of both perspectives enable us to focus on three questions:1.the impact of social structure on family interaction;2.the influence of subjective factors on interaction;3.the influence of family exchanges on self-feelings among the elderly. The perspectives also share the recognition that social background factors influence the resources available to participants in social situations and the scope of potential interactions. The findings confirm earlier expectations that elderly parents with more resources receive less help, while older parents and parents in poor health give less aid to their children.Further, both perspectives emphasize to relational character of roles. Subjective and self-processes also influence behavior. Once we recognize that roles are not predetermined packages of performances are more loosely think of continuum ranging from formal institutional settings with relatively detailed established roles to informal ,new roles are more loosely constructed and less clearly defined.

CONCLUSION

Intergenerational conflict is normative during youth’s transition to adulthood,with the younger generation searching and struggling the older generation appraising the outcome of their parental guidance for self-identity,the older generation apprehensively appraising the outcome of their parental guidance and responsibilities,where they begin to review and assess their own llife attainments and failures.It is far less change in social values is occurring than is popularly believed and that it is not of a magnitude to introduce any radical and lasting modification of the social and political structure within the coming decade or so.

ETHICS

The subject should me debriefed about the research that is being conducted. To see whether young adults have more value conflicts than the elderly individuals. The subject should not be stressed out. The subject should be comfortable and ready to answer to all the questions in the questionnaire. Before submitting the questionnaire to the subject, the informed consent should be taken from the subject that this research can get published also. After it’s approval only, the subject should be given the questionnaire. The subject should be made at ease that all the information that the subject will write ,will be kept confidential .,their name or any other personal detail wont be leaked out. After all these approvals only ,the researcher is supposed to conduct the research.

How does the work of Giddens help us to understand the interactions between structure and agency?

Anthony Giddens has become one of the first few British social theorists in recent times to have an international reputation for his influential work on social theory (Craib, 1992). According to Craib, the work of Giddens is very influential, not only because of it’s quantity but also for the range of different ideas it brings together (Craib, 1992).

In this essay, I will discuss and critically analyse how the work of Giddens help us to understand the interactions between structure and agency. I will first outline and define what the terms structure and agency mean, according to both classical theorists and Anthony Giddens.

Structure can be defined as ‘pattern’ of social relationships and a system that identifies how these patterns operate in the society. In functionalism, Structure is a broad term defined by its ‘function’ (Giddens, 1979). On the other hand, In Structuralism, ‘structure’ is defined as more explanatory in nature due to the element of transformations. The difference between structure and function is similar to the one between code and message; both are dependants on each other (Giddens, 1979).

Hence, both functionalism and structuralism share overall characteristics between each other. The difference between ‘structure’ and ‘system’ is that structures are patterns of social relationships whereas system refers to the actual functioning of such relationships (Giddens, 1979).

According to Giddens, structure is when the rules and resources are organised as properties of social systems. Whereas systems are reproduced relations between actors organised as social practices. Structuralisms are the conditions governing the duality of both structure and system for the reproduction of social systems (Giddens, 1984).

Giddens states that, ‘structure’ means a structural property providing the binding of time and space in social systems. These properties are the rules and resources for the reproduction of social systems.

Thus, structure means the study of the following, firstly the knowledge, how things are to be done by social actors. Secondly, social practices which are used to gain that knowledge. And lastly, capabilities of these practices for example what they can change (Giddens, 1979).

In social sciences, structural analysis involves the study of Structutaion of social systems. Hence, rules and practices exist in conjunction with one another.

In a nutshell, we can say that, Structures are rules and resources, which are organised as properties of social systems. Whereas systems are reproduced relationships between actors organised as social practices. Structutaion are the conditions deciding the continuity or transformation of structures and systems (Giddens, 1979).

Both functionalism and structuralism are very similar despite their differences, they both express a naturalistic standpoint and hence they both prefer objectivism. Gidden argues that agents reproduce the conditions that make human social activities possible (Giddens, 1984).

Duality of structure can be viewed in many ways, it’s a conformist way looking at structure, something which constrains action or even determines it. It is difficult to assume that structure and agency are the same thing, however they do have many similarities. According to Giddens, it is social practices which constitute us as actors (Gidden, 1984).

Giddens argues that agency is the centre of sociological concern; however the crucial feature of action is that it is not determined. Giddens claims that action is a continuous flow, a process whereby it can’t be broken down into reasons and motives. He argues that rather it is a process in which we monitor and rationalize our daily actions (Turker, 1998).

According to Giddens, agency involves a notion of practical consciousness, such as all the things that we know as social actors, and hence must know to make social life happen. Giddens see the relationship between structure and agency as the duality of structure, whereby individuals reflexively produce and reproduce their social life (Turker, 1998).

According to Giddens, agency is when an individual is able to observe his/her own experience and then be able to give reasons for their action. Agency should be identified with reasoning and knowledge (Turker, 1998).

Giddens argues that we as actors know what we are doing, hence we are conscious of these things, we routinely rationalize what we do. Giddens argues that as individuals we can often give a rational account of what we are doing. Giddens states that a sense of routine is needed in order to have self security. For example, if your daily routine is broken you are more likely to feel insecure (Craib, 1992).

Agency and Power, an agent (individual) is able to act or influence the outside world or resist from such intervention. In other words, to be an agent means to be able to use range of casual (daily life) powers such as influential powers that may already be used or deployed by others (Giddens, 1984).

Whereas, action depends upon the capability of those individuals to make a difference to a pre-existing state of affairs in the society. An agent doesn’t exist anymore when he or she loses the capability to make a difference or in other words, when they lose power (Giddens, 1984).

In terms of sociology, power can be defined as the will or capacity to achieve desired and intended outcomes. Giddens, agrees with Bachrach and Baratz when they classify two faces of power, which are, firstly the capability of individuals to influence decisions and secondly the mobilization of bias (Giddens, 1984).

Giddens argues that the resources are the structured properties of social systems, taken and improved by knowledgeable agents or individuals in the society during their course of interaction. Giddens further goes on to state that, power is not just connected to the achievement of the individual’s interests. Power itself is not a resource; resources are media through which power is exercised (Giddens, 1984).

In social science, structure refers to the structuring properties allowing the ‘binding’ of time-space in social systems (Giddens, 1984). It will not be right to call structures as rules and resources due to its different implications in philosophical literature. The difference between structure and rules is that rules are often connected with games but they are different in terms of social systems (Giddens, 1984). Rules are frequently treated in the singular; hence rules cannot be separated from resources. However, on the other hand structural properties represent domination and power (Giddens, 1984).

The Structutaion theory states that rules and resources used in the production and reproduction of social action are at the same time the means of system reproduction.

Therefore, we can say that a ‘rule’ is more or less similarly to having a habit or routine (Giddens, 1984). Habit is a part of routine and have significant role in social life. Whereas, rules of social life are techniques or generalised procedures applied in reproduction of social practices (Giddens, 1984).

Furthermore, formulated rules can be expressed such as bureaucratic rules, rules of games and so on. Knowledge of procedure of doing ‘social activity’ is methodological (Giddens, 1984). As social actors, all human beings are highly knowledgeable in the production and reproduction of day to day activities. This knowledge is more practical rather than theoretical in nature.

On the other hand, what does ‘intentional’ mean? According to Giddens it is an act carried out by an individual when he knows there will be particular outcome or quality of that act (Giddens, 1984). Hence, this knowledge of specific outcome is known to the individual when he starts pursuing that particular act. According to Giddens, there is a difference between what is intended and what is done (Giddens, 1984).

The consequences of what agents do, intentionally or unintentionally, are the events which could have not happened if the individuals had behaved differently (Giddens, 1984). The consequences play an important role in deciding what agent has done.

Merton has claimed that the study of unintended consequences is very important in the sociological system. Every activity can have two functions, Non-Significant Consequences or either Significant Consequences (Giddens, 1984).

Merton differentiates intentional activity from its unintended consequences. For example, if an individual is intending to turn the light switch on, he or she might face a consequence to trigger the alarm but not with an intention to call the police or to get caught by them and spend rest of his /her life in the jail. Here, the intentional activity was just to turn the light on; however, due to unintended consequences (alarm being triggered) the outcome was different (Giddens, 1984).

On the other hand, both Freud and Gidden claim that there are mini agents within the human agent. Freud states that these mini agents within the human agents decide their actions. These mini agents have been classified as “id”, “ego” and “super ego”. However, Gidden doesn’t agree with Freud when he says it is ego (mini agent) within the human agents that decides their actions (Mestrovic, 1998).

Here “id” or “unconscious behaviour” means the desires that these agents create within the mind of an individual (human agent) that is beyond rational thinking and consciousness (Mestrovic, 1998).

Freud’s usage of “unconsciousness” was later replaced by Giddens terminology of unconscious motives. Freud referred things like sexual and violent urges to state of unconsciousness while Giddens simply defined “unconsciousness” as state of mind when human beings are not conscious of something or in other words they cannot express their feelings into words. This explanation was given by Giddens without using any analysis from any other social theorists (Mestrovic, 1998).

Gidden has stated that there should a democratic relationship between a parent and a young child. For example, It is the right of the child, to be treated as equal to an adult. It needs to be justified when we say “no you are too young” to negotiate with children. However, it is difficult for an adult parent to make their child understand about sexual stereotypes without causing any emotional damage to the child (Mestrovic, 1998).

The modernists believe culture should be blamed for this but the reality is that these children freely select what they like according to their own preferences. Because the rational abilities of the children are not fully developed so they may react to culture in an emotional way. Hence, even critics have accepted Giddens viewpoint that sociology is the study of modern societies and also recognise his significant contribution in the field of social theory (Mestrovic, 1998).

On the other hand, Wittgensteinian Philosophy has only emphasized on action theory (nature of reasons or intentions) rather than structural explanation. They haven’t taken into consideration several other elements such as social change, power relations or conflicts in the society (Giddens, 1979). Furthermore, Durkheim argues that society and individuals have different characteristics and every person is born into an already constituted society. However, he failed to support this external or objective nature of the society in his writings (Giddens, 1979).

According to Giddens, risk and trust need to be analyzed together in late modernity. Giddens emphasis the fact that active trust is needed in today’s society in order to form social solidarity and personal ties. For example, many people who are in relationships, spend much of their time away from each other living in different countries, hence active trust is needed for the relationship to continue. Trust has to be won and actively sustained for relationships to be successful. Giddens argues that in today’s society we see that more women are now divorcing their marriage partners; this then leads them to leading the household by themselves, which then leads to poverty (Giddens, in Beck et al, 1994).

Giddens argues that society is produced and also reproduced through human action; hence he rejects any view which states that society might have an existence over individuals (Craib, 1992). Duality of structure is linked to Structutaion, Gidden argues that society normally sees structure as a determining feature of social life, however this is not always the case (Craib, 1992).

Gidden also takes the notion reflexivity very seriously, the way in which we represent our social world. In his work, Giddens talks about different types of knowledge, one of the knowledge Giddens mentions is the taken for granted knowledge, which plays an important part in Giddens theory. In other words, this relates to ontological security whereby an individual has a sense of the world and the people around him are more or less the same from day to day (Craib, 1992).

Furthermore, Gidden states that reflexivity should not be understood only in terms of self consciousness, but also as the ongoing flow of social life (Giddens, 1984). According to Giddens actors are continuously monitoring their activities; they monitor aspects both physically and socially. Gidden also states that human action can only be defined in terms of intension (Giddens, 1984).

Gidden argues that we are incorrect to assume that societies are somehow continuous with geographical borders; rather he believes that systems are more or less open and therefore cut across geographical boundaries (Craib, 1992).

Gidden believes that faith is entirely based on trust and vice-versa. In fact, they are closely related to each other. However, he has been criticised by his fellow sociologist for putting too much emphasis on this. For example, human beings have to show faith in things such as religion, science, technology and even teacher’s notes (Mestrovic, 1998). If there was no faith in these social agents then this modern world would not be able to function properly. On the other hand, we also trust these politicians, scientists, teachers and various other social agents to build up the faith process (Mestrovic, 1998).

Over one hundred articles have been published in scholarly journals on Anthony Giddens and his work and very few of them seriously challenged him. The most significant criticism of Giddens concept of structutaion ignores the idea of culture. In the modern society, culture plays a vital role so it needs to be studied in detail. Gidden sometime speaks like a typical Politian rather then being a social theorist. For instance, at one point he talks about a democratic system in the society. Whereas on the other hand, he justifies that sometimes individual interest are different from the common minority groups.

During his work on Structuration theory, Giddens does not emphasis that much on the social environment’s influence on sociology. Gidden argues that social structures are both the condition and the outcome of people’s daily activities; hence one cannot exist without the other. Giddens theory is very similar to Bourdieu; like Bourdieu, Giddens states that social practices are hugely important to the ongoing reproduction of socities (Tucker, 1998).

On the other hand, Nicos Mouzelis argues that Giddens in his book ‘The Constitution of society’ didn’t give enough emphasise to the constraining effects of social structure. (Bryant and Jary, 2001). Though, Giddens replied back to his critic by Mouzelis and stated that Mouzelis critic was not justified in terms of the content of what he wrote (Bryant and Jary, 2001).

Furthermore, throughout his work Giddens makes a great deal of the notion of time and space. Criab argues that Giddens deals with time and space on two different levels and unless they are clearly distinguished, his work is difficult to understand and confusing (Craib, 1992).

In social theory, action and structure are inter-dependent (or are linked to each other)

‘Action’ or ‘agency’ is a continuous flow of conduct (regular series of acts). To study the structure of the society is like studying the anatomy of the organisms, where you have to study a number of small functions (Giddens, 1979).

Furthermore, Giddens mentions that an understanding of action and structure is needed regardless of what problem one is seeking to analyse (Bryant and Jary, 2001). On the whole, Giddens provides us with evidence through examples and theories to show and help us understand the interaction between structure and agency.

ANTHONY GIDDENS-THE LAST MODERNIST, By S G Mestrovic, Routedge (1998) “The role of desire in agency and structure”
Anthony Giddens, 1984, “The Constitution of Society”, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Agency and Structure, Anthony Giddens (1979) “Central Problems in Social Theory”
Risk, Trust, Reflexivity – Giddens (In Beck et al, 1994)
Reading 5 – Craib , I (1992) Modern Social Theory – Structutaion theory: There is such a thing as society, there is no such thing as society
Reading 6 – The contemporary Giddens and Social theory in a Globalizing age (Bryant and Jary, 2001)
Reading 7 – Structutaion theory – Craib, I (1992) Anthony Giddens
Anthony Giddens, and Modern Social theory/ Tucker, Kenneth, London, Sage (1998) Structuration theory:

In Malaysia, human rights of homosexual issue are getting serious. Media is shaping the image of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) groups through their news. The problem statement of this research is that LGBT community is greatly discriminated in society. The research attempts to investigate the power of new media through youth`s view and gauge the level of public awareness and also to instil awareness of respecting homosexuality in today’s youth. The target audience is Malaysian university students of different races and ages between 17 to 27 years old. The survey method to obtain the result is through a questionnaire and to distribute 200 sets to the respondents on the Internet. Eventually, the researchers found out that the majority of student’s view that negligence on the LGBT community is not a serious problem in Malaysia and do not think that the Internet influenced much of their views on LGBT community. At the same time, they view “Seksualiti Merdeka” as a negligible issue since the respondents do not know much about it but majority think that LGBT deserves equal human rights. In conclusion, youth are not aware of homosexual issues in Malaysia. Government or some organizations should lend a hand in educating youth about homosexuality.

Homosexual identity is abstracted as a life-spanning development process. This process eventually leads a person to personal acceptance of a positive gay self-image and a clear personal identity (Minton & McDonald, 2012). According to Haberma’s theory of ego development, it is utilized to provide a synthesis and understanding of the literature on the construction and maintenance of the homosexual identity. It is concluded that the homosexual identity generally emerges in a three-stage process, in which the person progresses from (1) an egocentric interpretation of homoerotic feelings to (2) an internalization of the normative, conventional assumptions about homosexuality to (3) a post-conventional phase in which societal norms are critically evaluated and the positive gay identity is achieved and managed. In short, homosexual develops in three stages. The first stage is the homoerotic feelings in a self-centered way. The second stage is the internalization of the normative, assuming homosexuality in a convention way. The final stage is a post-conventional phase where the critical evaluation of societal norms happens and the positive gay identity is achieved and managed.

However, no one knows how exactly homosexuality entered into human history. According to Samhsa, the terms lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) describe distinct groups within the gay culture. The early initiatives for people who were gay focused mostly on men. So, in an attempt to draw attention to issues specific to gay women, “lesbian” is often listed first. People who are bisexual or transgender have been traditionally left out of, or underrepresented in, research studies and health initiatives. Other than that, a study from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy revealed that the term ‘homosexuality’ was coined in the late 19th century by German psychologist, Karoly Maria Benkert. Although the term is new, discussions about sexuality and same-sex attraction have occasioned philosophical discussion ranging from Plato’s Symposium to contemporary queer theory (Pickett, Brent, 2011). However, the gay group is different from “sissies” and “tomboy”.

According to Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United State, the dictionary itself documents the distinction between tomboy and sissy with gay, while tomboy refers to romping, boisterous, boyish young girl, “sissy” an effeminate boy or man, a timid or cowardly person (Siecus Report, 2003). Thus for a boy been called “sissy” can be devastating, as it pierces his self-image at its most vulnerable point. By contrast, “tomboy” is said with approving tones, and does not detract from a girl’s sense of worth (Green, 1979). By this definition, it could be understood that a gay individual is more likely to have same sex attraction, but a sissy person may only behave like a girl while having a normal sexuality as other heterosexual males.

According to National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), LGBT refers to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. The term gay refers to both men and women who are attracted to persons of the same sex. Lesbian is the term used specifically for women who are romantically and sexually attracted to other women. Bisexual is used to indicate that a person is attracted to both men and women. Some describe bisexuality as an attraction to the qualities a person possesses rather than the gender of the person who possesses the qualities. Bisexual persons often experience a lack of acceptance in both heterosexual and GL communities because of misconceptions and stereotypes associated with bisexuality. Finally, transgender is an umbrella term used to describe someone who experiences his/her gender in a way that varies along a continuum from masculine to feminine (Brown & Rounsley, 1996; Perez, DeBord & Bieschke, 2000; Cunningham, 2003; Smith 2006).

Hall (1996) coined the term of under erasure to refer to the LGBT individuals who happen to occupy “outside the field”. “Within the gay and lesbian community, the subjective voices of transgender people are often marginalized or ignored” (Minter, 2000) It indicates that the social status of the LGBT persons often insignificant and lower in rank.

Social networking sites are spots where youth are easily influence by sexual text, photos and videos and also creates such materials by own (Rebecca, 2001). New media helps in addressing issues such as sexual health and their important role of youth at risk depends on media which is in use (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). To see the ever present queerness in the most prosaic straightness is important to be sure, as it has been for every oppressed minority. Visibility is much important to gays and lesbian because change of social acceptance.

1.1 Problem Statement

This study addresses the issue of the portrayal of the marginalized group, known to be LGBT, by the new media and to what extent it influences the perceptions of the young individuals towards this group. A study performed by Free Malaysia Today stated that the Centre for Independent Journalism reprimanded the Malaysian print media for their lop-sided reporting on the Azwan Ismail video that was first made by a group called Seksualiti Merdeka. Azwan, an engineer, shot to fame after he stated his sexual preference in a video entitled, “I am Gay, I am Okay”. The video was first aired in an event organized by Seksualiti Merdeka. His open statement, however, did not go down well with other media. The Malay dailies newspaper and the community made their displeasure known via various cyber platforms. Some even went to the extent of issuing death threats against Azwan. One prominent Muslim blogger took the government to task for its failure in curbing the spread of gay and lesbian activities (Free Malaysia Today, 2011).

Other than that, Youth Pride Inc also stated that 36.5 % of GLB youth grades 9-12 have attempted suicide and 20.5% of those attempts resulting in medical care (Robin, 2002). In 2005, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) survey of LGBT youth, 90% reported experiencing verbal or physical harassment or verbal assault in the past year (Harris Interactive & GLSEN, 2005). All these findings share one conclusion namely LGBT people are greatly discriminated in the society. This study thus chooses to highlight on homosexuality and Seksualiti Merdeka with aims to create awareness among today’s generation about the need to respect every person’s right, including the rights to be homosexuals.

1.2 Research Objectives

To discover the new media’s portrayal of the LGBT community in Malaysia.

To examine the Malaysian youths perceptions towards the LGBT community in general and specifically towards Seksualiti Merdeka.

To create awareness about the issue of homosexuality among Malaysian youths.

1.3 Research Questions

How are new media’s portrayals of the LGBT community in Malaysia?

What are the Malaysian youth’s perceptions towards the LGBT community and Seksualiti Merdeka?

How far Malaysian youths are aware about the issue of homosexuality?

1.4 Research Hypothesis

This research has one hypothesis, which is if the new media portrays the LGBT community negatively; the perceptions of youth towards LGBT community will be negative. This means, if the new media portrays the LGBT community positively, the perceptions of youth towards LGBT community will be positive.

1.5 Research Significance

This study examines the influence of new media on the youth’s perception towards LGBT community. The researchers highlight youth perceptions on this issue because in the modern era today, youths are expected to be more open minded apart of being daring to voice out their opinions about any arising issues. A research by Pew Internet & America Life Project (2007) revealed that 94 percent of internet users are young people with age range between 18 to 29 years old. This finding indicated that youths today are the active users of new media such as social networks, forums, blogs etc.

With new media, the youths can easily get information about LGBT issues that occured in the country or abroad. Therefore, the youths may have more awareness towards LGBT groups. New media is becoming a platform for the youth to express their opinions and to discuss about any issues. Therefore, the researchers think that, there is a need to study more about the influence of new media on youth’s perceptions towards LGBT community.

This study will help to instil awareness and provide a better perspective about the issues of LGBT and Seksualiti Merdeka to upcoming generation. It can also be useful and functional as reference for future researchers who are interested to expand the discussion on similar topics and areas.

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Media Portrayal of LGBT

Society has always had a general fear or disdain for homosexuality. That is why the media tended to support the already common perceptions, instead of challenging them (Montgomery, 1981).

According to Kanter (2012), since the start of television programming, the forms of LGBT characters in entertainment or popular culture have both been limited. If they did exist, they were either exaggeratingly stereotypical, or associated with criminality or deviance. All the way through the 1980s, gay characters were seen on television as cameo roles with particular “problems” that hold almost non-existent lives, absent of desire or relationships. With the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, starting in the 1980s and into the 1990s, homosexuals were portrayed in more substantial, reoccurring roles (Netzley, 2010).

Jackson & Gilbertson (2009) explained that versions of the media lesbian that preceded her contemporary incarnation as ‘hot’ typically cast her in stereotypical and undesirable ways, for example as masculine and unattractive (Wilton, 1995; Ciasullo, 2001). Dow (2001) notes how the lesbian on television historically occupied a fleeting space as an object of humor or as a villain. In her contemporary guise, the media lesbian can most often be seen as constituted within post-feminist discourses that produce women as sexually desiring, sexually plural, and self-pleasing (McRobbie, 1996).

Gamson (1995) encouraged the homosexuals to tell their views in the talk shows. Talk show is the place where they get the attention they want and rise out their views which they cannot get in other ways. He is also the only spot in mainstream media culture where it is possible for non-heterosexuals to speak for themselves.

A study shows the changes in attitudes towards homosexuality in the United State through fashion in public opinion polls. The results were considered by issues connected to homosexuality which integrated legal status, morality, acceptability, causes, familiarity with self-identified homosexuals, as well as views on both military and nonmilitary occupations, civil rights, marriage and adoption rights, and AIDS. This also concluded that community behavior have shifted in a free-thinking path (Yang, 1997).

2.2 LGBT Youngster’s Engagement with New Media

Past research had supported the idea that the Internet is frequently a lifeline in the development of sexual health among LGBT young people (Hillier & Harrison, 2007). Many of them first “come out” online, and report learning about sexual behaviours, pursuing friendships with other LGBT young people, and exploring same-sex attraction online (Harper, Bruce, Serrano, & Jamil, 2009; Hillier & Harrison, 2007).

Social networking tools had been widely used among youngsters in getting sexual health information. Importantly, social networking tools do not only allow researchers and practitioners to receive and provide information, but also allow the LGBT young people to exchange information and experiences with LGBT peers, engendering broader development of their sexual health (Bargh & McKenna, 2004). This opportunity allows for a greater chance for LGBT young people to “test out” identities and gather information in a more controlled, private environment than is typical among general Internet resources or large social networking sites (Joshua, Louisa, Samantha & Brian, 2011).

According to Wilkerson (1994), there several types of homophobic attitudes like the treatment of people with human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) about ways in which HIV is transmitted, media representation of AIDS and the way the medicines purpose reinforces a positive view inimical to lesbians and bisexuals. African-American news websites are growing in influence in terms of the number and loyalty of the unique visitors they attract. Homophobia and discrimination are the top storylines on the African-American news websites we analyzed, followed by culture, religion, and same-sex marriage in equal measure (Siegel, 2012).

2.3 Health Issues among LGBT Community

By the 1990s, lesbian, the LGBT youth have appeared only as a separate cultural group. There are quite few youth identified themself or turn as LGBT since social sanctions and stigma contributed to severe repercussions and isolation, limiting access to supportive communities and awareness of sexual and gender identities in the earlier periods. However, only a handful addressed the needs of youths although a range of lesbian and gay service organizations developed in large cities during the 1970s and 1980s.

According to Makadon (2008), elimination of health disparities among LGBT individuals, also collectively called sexual minorities, is a critical need for focus on their health. LGBT populations are disproportionately at risk for violent hate crimes, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/ AIDS, a variety of mental health conditions, substance abuse and certain cancers. However, LGBT patients frequently encounter problems with access to quality health services, experiences disparities in screening for chronic conditions, and report a lack of counseling pertinent to actual lifestyle behaviors.

Historically, homosexuality has been judged quite harshly due to cultural and religious taboos. The Pew Research Centre’s 2003 Global Attitudes Survey found that the majority of people in Western European and major Latin American countries (Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil) believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society, while most Russians, Poles and Ukrainians disagreed, and people in Africa and the Middle East objected strongly. Meanwhile, majority of Americans believe that homosexuality should be accepted (Makadon, 2008).

Stigma, prejudice and discrimination create a stressful social environment that can lead to a variety of health problems among LGBT group. In LGBT group, minority stress is caused by (a) an external, objective traumatic event, such as being assaulted or being fired from a job; (b) the expectation of rejection and development of vigilance in interactions with others; (c) the internalization of negative societal attitudes (also known as internalized homophobia, transphobia, or biphobia); and (d) the concealment of gender identity or sexual orientation out of shame and guilt or to protect oneself from real harm. In addition, research shows a relationship between internalized homophobia/biphobia and various forms of self-harm, including eating disorders, high-risk sexual activity, substance abuse and suicide (Makadon, 2008). According to Rosan (1978), “homophobia” is a shortened form of “homophilephobia,” which means the fear of person neither of one’s own sex, clearly not the connotation given to these terms in common parlance nor in professional literature. Garner (2008; as cited in Mulick & Wright Jr., 2003) describes biphobia as psychological construct of negative attitudes towards bisexual individuals and bisexuality in general.

In Malaysia, the rising trend of sexual transmission from 5.3% in 1990 to 22.15% in 2005 (Ministry of Health AIDS/STD Section) indicates that the situation could expand into a general epidemic. Furthermore, the proportion of women infected has risen from 1.4% in 1990 to 14.5% in 2005 (Ministry of Health AIDS/STD Section). Indeed, the female to male ratio of new infections has narrowed substantially. In sharp contrast to men, 64% of HIV infections in women were sexually transmitted. The result of HIV situation has an emergency need to go for gender-sensitive national respond by Malaysia government (Zulkifli, Lee, Yun, & Lin, 2007).

To do better in lend a hand to LGBT group for their healthcare, people should spend more time and attention to learn about LGBT health and obtain support in making educational improvements. Explanation focus on the clinician-patient relationship and address all threes domains of learning which comprised of attitudes, knowledge and skills would help clinicians to provide better care to LGBT patients. Attitudes have a major effect on health outcomes. Attention to attitudes requires growth in the affective arena. For clinicians, this involves developing awareness of and respect for a patient’s differences and willingness to listen empathically to that person’s experience (Makadon, 2008).

2.4 LGBT involvement in international human rights

Under international human rights law, all persons who including LGBT community are entitled to equal rights, including the rights to life, security of person and privacy, freedom from torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and the right to be free from discrimination (The Road To Safety, 2012).

There are more than 80 countries still maintaining the laws that make same-sex consensual relations between adults a criminal offence. In year 2008, such laws were used in Morocco to convict six men, after allegations that a private party they had attended was a “gay marriage”. On 19 July 2007, six men were arrested after a young man who had been arrested on theft charges was coerced by police into naming associates who were presumed to be homosexual (O’Flaherty & Fisher, 2008).

According to journal The Road to Safety (2012), LGBT refugees in Uganda and Kenya are among the most vulnerable of refugee populations. Due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, they can be targeted for violence by other refugees and some members of the host populations, harassed and extorted by police officers, and marginalized from accessing services from government institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to Julie (2006), LGBT advocates have engaged in two very different kinds of activities on the international human rights stage. First, they have engaged in traditional human rights activism, using the traditional human rights techniques of monitoring and reporting to apply existing human rights norms to LGBT lives. These rights included the right to privacy in the criminal law context; the right to equality; the right to family; the right to non-discrimination; the right to freedom from torture (applicable in cases of “forcible cures” for homosexuality and psychiatric mistreatment generally); and the right of transsexuals to recognition of their new gender. Second, they have tapped into both traditional monitoring techniques and human rights culture-building efforts to promote new international human rights that are important to LGBT lives, including “the right to sexuality.”

Until the mid- to late-1990s, most of LGBT advocates that involved in the international work on gay rights were also working with LGBT-specific organizations, such as the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA). This organization was found in 1978 in Brussels as a “world federation” organization, and today it is joined by more than 500 gay and lesbian organizations from ninety countries on all inhabited continents. From its inception, ILGA has “focused on presenting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation as a global issue.” Another prominent group during this era was the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), founded originally in 1990 by Russian and US activists and now a US-based organization with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Buenos Aires (Julie, 2006).

2.5 Seksualiti Merdeka in Malaysia

The rejection of homosexuality by Malaysian law and culture leads to the rise of human rights to the LGBT people. An increasing integration of Islamic political thinking and practice that builds on literal interpretations of Islamic textual sources is the main reason for why LGBT rights are neglected. Muslims who are under group of LGBT facing politically charged from conservative of normative Islamic discourses on sexuality and gender.

To fight for their rights, LGBT community in Malaysia had formed Seksualiti Merdeka or Sexuality Independence in the year 2008, founded by Pang Khee Teik and Jerome Kugan. Seksualiti Merdeka is an annual sexuality rights festival held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and represents a coalition of Malaysian Non-Government Organizations which included Malaysian Bar Council, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Empower, Pink Triangle Foundation (PT Foundation), United Nations, Amnesty International and general public. The term used to highlight the fact that even after Malaysia independence, not all Malaysians are free to be who they are. The organization believes that everyone in Malaysia deserves to be free from discrimination, harassment and violence for their sexual orientations and their gender identities. They believe it is our right to be responsible for our own body and believe everyone is entitled to the freedom to love and the freedom to be, whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersexes, straight, asexual, pansexual, or simply fabulous (Sexualiti Merdeka, n.d.).

Being a Muslim-majority country, Malaysia would have to reiterate its strong objections to a policy that clearly contradicts the principles enshrined in the religion of Islam. On November 3, 2011, police banned Seksualiti Merdeka as the festival was deemed a threat to national security and a threat to public order. Co-founder of Seksualiti Merdeka Pang Khee Teik said that they are not trying to promote homosexuality. This festival is actually the chance for Malaysians to listen to their story, why after all these years of trying to be somebody else, some of them have found peace with themselves and to accept who they are (Chun, 2011).

According to Mosbergen (2012), on September 2012, Malaysia’s Education Ministry has “endorsed guidelines” to help parents identify gay and lesbian “symptoms” in their children. The guidelines are as below:-

Symptoms of gays:

Likes having a fit body and likes to show off by wearing V-neck and sleeveless clothes;

A preference for tight and bright-colored clothes;

Attraction to men; and

A preference for carrying big handbags, similar to those used by women.

Symptoms of lesbians:

Attraction to women;

Besides their female companions, they tend to distance themselves from other women;

A preference for going out, having meals etc. with women and a preference for sleeping in the company of women;

Not attracted to men

Pang Khee Teik, however disagreed with the guidelines and he advised the ministry to rely on sound research instead of endorsing pseudo-experts as this could be damaging to children. Pang said education is an important tool to address inequality but the ministry had instead sought to use it for teaching hate, promoting inequality and playing politics. Besides that, the ministry should teach all children to be confident and to respect one another, no matter who they are. Seksualiti Merdeka thus was prepared to brief the Education Ministry if its officers were willing to listen to reliable research on the LGBT community (Asia One, 2012).

2.6 Online discussion of sexuality

According to Mckee (2004), in one of the ¬?rst published articles addressing online discussions of sexuality, the homophobic comments made by composition students using the synchronous chat program interchange to brainstorm possible topics for a research essay (as cited in Regan, 1993).

When a student raised homosexuality as a possible topic, a number of students posted homophobic comments: “We’re taught that homosexuality is a sin”; “A homosexual once made a move on me. I really didn’t like it. I mean I really didn’t like it!” and “To whoever was thinking about the topics of death and homosexuality, here’s a thought, why not join together and do a project on the death of homosexuals? Not by AIDS.” At the time of the exchange, the researcher Regan was unsure what to do when confronted with these comments, but she did try to redirect the conversation by interjecting, “Has anyone thought about writing about homophobia?” but it does not seem that her efforts were successful at redirecting what she called “socially sanctioned classroom terrorism” (McKee, 2004).

Regan was distressed that the online environment enabled students to articulate “their fear and hatred of homosexuals in a way that would not have happened in the traditional classroom,” and she concluded that online spaces are not egalitarian, as was frequently claimed at the time.

2.7 Discrimination towards LGBT group in Malaysian Context

Malaysia is one of the countries that illegalized homosexuality. Among the reasons for the country`s disapproval of homosexuality is its status as an Islamic nation, where everything that goes against the Islamic law and teaching is strictly prohibited and thus, condemned.

According to Goh (2012), the rejection of same-sex behavior is not one that has emerged from a socio-political vacuum. Sexuality is considered “taboo” (Goh, 2012; as cited in Jerome, 2008) and appears to have a prominent place in the psyche of many Malaysians, notably institutional quadrants of Islam. Islamic civil and religious authorities closely observed on Muslims in Malaysia, ravaging the sexual lives of Muslims that are as private as “khalwat” (illicit close proximity) and “zina” (illicit sex or adultery)” (Lee, 2010:31). In the Malaysian legal context, male homosexuality or ‘gayness’ as a globally-recognized cultural trope has no direct equivalence to sexual identitiesaˆ‚ Section 377A, 377B and 377C of the Malaysian Penal Code make provisions against acts of sodomy or “liwat” without being gender-specific, although it is in section 2 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territory) Act 1997 that one discovers a clearly-defined morphology of “liwat” as “sexual relations between male persons” (Goh, 2012).

Uproars over male homosexuality in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries came into prominence with two major events. First is the sodomy charges of the former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and second is the festival celebrating the human rights of sexually-diverse persons, Seksualiti Merdeka. Raging debates on homosexuality in relation to Anwar (Kanaraju, 2007) and the banning of Seksualiti Merdeka in 2011 (Shazwan, 2011) caused innumerable forums on men`s masculinities population to mushroom among the Malaysian.

Back in the year 1992, the Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad made the statement that democracy would lead to homosexuality (Offord, 1999). Dr Mahathir used the conflation of homosexuality with democracy to consolidate Malaysia’s cultural borders (and its postcolonial status), so that Malaysian people can maintain the pureness and uniqueness. Dr Mahathir is drawn on cultural specificity in this context to explain the indigenous from the foreign, and homosexuality is conceived of as alien and “other”.

It is in this sense that Anwar Ibrahim is “bothered” by the use of the accusation that he is homosexual. Anwar has been notable for his liberal views about democracy and transparent government (The Asian Renaissance, 1996). To simply do away with opposition and perceived threats to his authoritarian rule, Dr. Mahathir can inscribe upon his enemy the descriptor of “homosexual” (Offord, 1999).

Prior to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) leader’s summit in Kuala Lumpur in late 1998, amid the controversial jailing of Anwar and civil unrest and demonstrations, the role of homosexuality as a political and cultural tool of difference was propounded strongly by the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Dr Abdullah Badawi. It was his contention that sodomy was a serious offence in Malaysia; it was against the country’s religious and social values (The Weekend Australian, 1998). Dr Badawi maintained that in certain places in Europe, and perhaps Australia and America, they do not treat it as something big but to Malaysia, it is bad consider as a scandal.

Following Dr Mahathir’s accusations against Anwar, a People’s Anti-Homosexual Voluntary Movement was formed to combat the “dangers of homosexuality”. In one blow Dr Mahathir succeeded in undermining Anwar’s credibility and deployed homosexuality as the number one impossibility. Anwar, also a Muslim, entrenched the perceived, corrupting value of homosexuality by asserting in the Time interview that his character was assassinated by this descriptor (Offord, 1999).

Therefore in Southeast Asia today, this is one sense of where homosexuality is located, something that is “demonized”, and deeply disturbed. It is conflated at once with democracy, corruption, and foreignness. It does seem clear that when the nation state perceives a threat to its existence, that danger is frequently translated into sexualized terms. Same sex sexuality is deployed as the alien other, linked to conspiracy, recruitment, opposition to the nation, and ultimately a threat to civilization (Offord, 1999).

2.8 Theory applies between relationship of Media and LGBT Community

Media plays a very important role in human life, where people get more of information they need from it. Therefore, to be more understand the influence of media on youth’s perceptions and opinions about homosexuality, the study chooses to employ framing theory. The concept of framing has been variously attributed to sociologist Erving Goffman and anthropologist Gregory Bateson. Frames allow journalists or media in general cover and package issue. The choice of journalists who shelter a story can influence the way issues are framed. The theory describe that the message framer has the choice of what is to be emphasized in the message, as the view through a window is emphasized by where the carpenter frames, or places, the window. If the window had been placed, or framed, on a different wall, the view would be different (Botan & Hazleton, 2006).

Acco

Identity recognition has been a hot topic in recent years. It is a complicated issue that no single definition of the term has been set up in science. The first time “identity of perception” goes to the public as a scientific term is in The Interpretation of Dreams (published in 1900) by a great psychologist, Sigmund Freud. He proposed that dreaming was an unconscious process of information in the day time, which shared the role of controlling individual’s mental and psychical activities. Thus he claimed that dreaming maintained the personality’s continuity and identity. Identity conception plays an important role in human beings’ psyche, he suggested. The society is developing quickly, which makes human beings lost in recognition of identity in social life and also in psycho. Problems of identity are studied for years in different areas, and the conceptions of identity differ. Most of the recent studies are conducted in sociology, which focus on study the social groups, social phenomena and social behavior. Here in this paper, I focus on the individual’s behavior, individual’s interpretations of the information on the internet, and how the internet influences individuals.

Identity is the state of an individual’s consciousness of the relationship with oneself, people around and with the surroundings. It is more about how an individual sees himself, based on the aggregation of his personal characteristics, personal feelings, personal values, personal judgments and his interpretations about the information inwards and outwards. To determine one’s identity, we need to “aggregate one’s characteristics of personality that are of a biological, psychological, social, and cultural nature.”(Vladimir Rimskii, 2)Identity is a stable consciousness that will last for a long time once set up. It enables one to “be oneself in different situations.” (Vladimir Rimskii, 2)However, identity changes with the environment changes. Individuals take in different and changing information for the new situations, and this process of aggregation with information will slightly change the individual’s perception on his own identity. So exists the possibility to “coexistence of different identities” (Vladimir Rimskii, 2)at one and the same moment in time. In some cases, this leads to crisis because the adaptation of identity lags behind the changes in reality.

Childhood plays a significant and essential role in forming an individual’s identity, which continues until death. Identity forming is about mental development, influenced not only by biological factors, but mainly by social factors. The relations and interactions among children, parents, culture and social life of the community play a very important role in shaping one’s identity. As a person enter his adolescence years, identity keeps forming and yet changing, for his high time of mental development and values forming. An adolescent goes through a time of getting rid of the influence of parents and setting up self-values in the changing environment. In many cases, these adolescents have the problems of identity because of their lack of experiences in life. As they grow up, they will begin to shape their own identities as the acceptance of particular roles and the rejection of other roles. This process will slow down as they enter adulthood, and they will have stereotype identities, which are relatively stable. However, the identity crisis among adolescents has been a hot topic recently. The new generation is said to be too cool and willful. They are exposed to a world full of information. They have a lot of chances to get in touch with different people, learn about different thoughts, and know what’s happening around the world. Therefore, their identities are easily influenced and changed. Also, because of the overindulgence of their parents, they young generation lose some chances to think about life and future by themselves. They fail to pay enough attention to the identity forming. Therefore, identity crisis is a very import yet complicated issue. In this paper, I will try to briefly study the internet’s influences on youth’s identity conception.

Identities in the reality

Many identities are perceived as social roles interacting with other individuals. Human beings live within social groups. They have more than one role when connecting with others. Each role might have its own identity or tend to have slightly different identity. These different identities coexist in one at the same moment of time, thus exists the possibility that a person might not able to show all his personalities and roles in one identification card. The other possibility is that people around cannot clearly know who the person is. The author (Vladimir Rimskii, 3) suggests that collective identities of a social group enable its members to “determine who belongs and who does not.” Individuals almost always interact with representatives of particular social groups, which make them constantly adapt or affirm their own identities. According to him, we can know a person by checking the social group he belongs to.

It is true that social life and social experiences help a person to achieve a definite identity. In order to achieve a sense of belongingness, self-preservation, recognition, self-realization and other needs, a person will join in some certain social groups by attaining membership.( Vladimir Rimskii, 4)

However, humans have subjective initiatives. One may not want to reveal his complete real information in social life with the purposes such as self-protection. Also, one may fake his information in order to get into a group. People are bound to the conventions of the society. They live in a world full of limitations. They cannot fully express and show their values, judgments, behaviors, and personalities. For example, the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual (GLB) may not want people around them to know their secrets. They may cover up in case other people blame them for acting against the cultural and social traditions. Therefore, one will not present the “true” person of oneself in reality and we cannot know a “true” person by processing the intended presentation of his identity.

In the process of identification, an individual may project his own identity onto someone else. He may borrow someone else’s identity, or mix his own identity with the identities of others, so as to create a new him.

Identities on the internet

Today, hundreds of thousands of people have accessed to the internet, and have identities in the virtual world. The number is growing at a very fast speed. Individualism and the freedom of expression may be the first reason that people form a new identity on the internet.(Julie Rak, 7)There is no restrictions of forming an identity on the internet, so a person can register an ideal identity, do whatever and say whatever he wants on the internet. Another reason for people’s formation of identity on the internet is that people desire to create ideal identities that cannot be realized in the real world. Individuals can decide their attitudes, perceptions, stereotypes, judgments, opinions, assessments, priorities, tastes, ways of life, characteristics of activity, etc. Internet makes it possible for individuals to achieve self-realization and to be ideal ones for a while. Quite different from the reality, there is also possibility for a person to use a number of different identities simultaneously without using verifiable information.

People have been arguing about the advantages and disadvantages of internet on identities. The supportive side suggests that we can know a person better through internet because his identities online are mostly the ones that he wishes to be. Those identities reveal the real inside of a person. People will fee safe and comfortable to chat on the internet. They use nicknames with limited information revealed. The information doesn’t have to be true, which protects people from being traced. Moreover, the communication is mostly non-face-to-face. Therefore, people may be more willing to share their real feelings and thoughts on the internet than in real world.

However, the opposed side argues that people who get addicted to the internet may lose their identities in the reality and fail to bear his responsibilities. They suggest that people turn to the internet to avoid things in the real world. On the internet, all things, including identity information, thoughts and feelings may be false, which will easily confuse people. The exposure to different kinds of information and identities will not help people clear up their minds. It is more likely to pull people away from the real world along with their responsibilities.

Combination of Identities in the reality and on the internet

Based on the discussions between the supportive and opposed sides, I suggest that the combination of identities in the reality and on the internet may be a useful way to help solve the identity crisis. People base on the reality to face the life, bear the responsibilities and solve problems. Therefore, the identity in the reality should be the basic and should be stable. It defines a person’s position in a society. However, it’s understandable that people want to keep personal secrets and hide characteristics and feelings. The internet will be a good way for them to relieve the pressure from reality and try to be another part of themselves. Therefore, the combination of the identities in the reality and on the internet may complete a person’s identities and is good for human experiences. However, one important premise for this is that the internet should be under more control to provide a safer internet environment.

To fully solve the problem of identity crisis, more in-depth studies of identities on the Internet, and investigation of the positive and negative effects of their influences on individual identity perceptions, should be conducted. We believe that these findings may shed some light on tackling the problem of identity crisis in the near future.

Notes

Rak, Julie. “THE DIGITAL QUEER: WEBLOGS AND INTERNET IDENTITY.” Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly 28.1 (2005): 166-182. Academic Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 Nov. 2010.

Rimskii, Vladimir. “The Influence of the Internet on Active Social Involvement and the Formation and Development of Identities” .Russian Education HYPERLINK “javascript:__doLinkPostBack(”,’mdb~~s8h||jdb~~s8hjnh||ss~~JN “Russian Education & Society”||sl~~jh’,”);”&HYPERLINK “javascript:__doLinkPostBack(”,’mdb~~s8h||jdb~~s8hjnh||ss~~JN “Russian Education & Society”||sl~~jh’,”);” Society; Aug2010, Vol. 52 Issue 8, p11-33, 23p, 2 Charts

Formerly the Abyssinia empire, Ethiopia is filled with a rich ancient history. Ethiopia holds strength as the eldest and noteworthy African country that has never been colonized by European nations (Ethiopia Review, 2011, p.8). The large population is comprised of 77 ethnic groups such the Oromo, Amhara, and Tigreans which makes up three-forth’s of the country’s population. However, despite the country’s resiliency, According to the CIA World Factbook, Ethiopia is one of Africa’s poorest states (2011). As the nation continues to face extreme poverty, Ethiopian women have even more barriers to overcome as the country as they face economic, educational and social inequalities.

Towards the end of my secondary education, I became interested in world development issues and took action to contribute in my small environment while hoping that it would have a world of impact. I took part in many health projects that assisted in aid to several African nations. One project in particular that I was involved in was called The SWEET project (Students for Women Exporters from Ethiopia to Toronto), which left a lasting impression on me. This project demonstrated Ethiopian women liberating themselves by taking economic independence by utilizing their skills in woven textiles that allowed them to provide for themselves and their children.

Ethiopian society keeps women in a subordinate position, using traditional values as an excuse. The discrimination that Ethiopian women continue to face has hindered the nation’s development as it disables almost half of the population from participation and the country remains underdeveloped. This paper will discuss the barriers of traditional values in Ethiopia for women such as equal economic participation, the opportunity to obtain an education and the social determinants that perpetuates the present role of women in Ethiopian society.

WOMEN DEVELOPMENT THEORIES:

Women in development (WID) addressed the oppression of women from “traditional” economic and social relationships in society ( Martinez, 2009, p. 184). The principal means used were education and skills training for women and improving their access to credit and advantage agricultural techniques. The purpose of WID was to integrate women into the workforce and increase their productivity in order to improve their lives. Women and development (WAD) sought to explain the relationship between women and the process of capitalist development in terms of conditions that contribute to their exploitation. Material conditions refer to the economic structures that underline the social organization of capitalism, such as mode of production, the primacy of private property, unequal interactions between classes, and the international division of labour. WAD offers critical analysis of the relationship between capitalism and patriarchy. This analysis argues that women have always contributed economically to the development of their society, whether they are productive in the paid or unpaid labour force such as housework, food preparation and child care, they are an integral part of the economy ( Martinez, 2009, p.184).

Feminist Loudres Beneris (2003) argues that analyzing women in international development and globalization contributes to a better understanding of an underdeveloped country’s situation. She points out that development can not simply be reduced to economic and financial aspects but must be considered as a whole. The process of equality in development as she quotes French prime minister Lionel Jospin, cannot be reduced to a “universal model”. Development strategies must be tailored to the history and social reality of each country (p. 23). This notion pertains to the gender inequality in Ethiopia. Women make up nearly half of the population in Ethiopia yet they do not share an integral equal part in the country’s economy . Looking specifically at Ethiopia’s past and the perception placed upon women will determine the proper implications that aid to bind the gender equality gap. Looking closely at patriarchal forms, gender inequality and women oppression can be embedded in many different ways in societal institutions. Referring to Ethiopia’s economy, men and women have been given distinctive labels and respective roles as to what they can and cannot do. In fact, women are an integral part of the agricultural sector. These women experience physical hardship throughout their lives, carrying loads over long distances and other agricultural practices to ensure a prosperous livelihood, hoping to avoid a drought and inevitably famine. Over 85 % of Ethiopian women reside in rural areas. ( CIA World Factbook, 2011). Rural women are integrated into the rural economy, while fulfilling traditional roles as a mother and a wife. With their limitations, they remain economically dependent upon men. Social programs are needed to properly introduce women into the paid labour force in order to gain economic independence.

Indian feminist Chandra Mohanty (2003) advocates, “the theorization of the common interests, historical location, and social identity of women workers under global capitalism”(p. 12). Mohanty looks closely at the relationship between a woman- cultural and ideological composition, constructed through diverse representational discourses in science, literature, politics, linguistics and cinema. And women being real, material subjects of their collective histories ( p. 19). Nonetheless, the perception of women in Ethiopia, presents a connection between women in historical contexts and the representation of woman produced by discourses. These images, referring to Orientalism, mythifies woman in the Global South as exotic, vulnerable and weak, differing them from woman in the Global North. Mohanty presents political presupposition underlying the model of power and struggle; a notion of the oppression of women as a group that is assumed “Third World women” (p. 22). Women she describes, who strongly resemble the traditional taboos Ethiopian women face, lead distinctive lives based on their feminine gender and being of the Third World, they are regarded as “ignorant, poor, uneducated, tradition-bound and victimized. (p. 22). These women in developing countries are compared to women from developed western countries who are examples of educated, modern, have control of their bodies and sexuality and the freedom to make their own decisions. ( p. 22). The distinction between the western and the Third world women presents the characterization of the Third World as being engaged in the lesser production of ” raw materials” oppose to the “real” productive activity of the First World. This notion brings about a question of “women as a category of analysis; or we are all sisters in struggle?”. ( p. 23). Regardless of location in this world, when women are granted the opportunity, primarily within institutions, women demonstrate self- determination and are equally able to gain economic independence. As a ” category of analysis” women, across classes and cultures, are assumed to be socially constituted as a homogeneous group identified prior to the process of analysis. This notion is problematic, as the effects of preconceived negative perspectives of a women’s economic capabilities has hindered Ethiopia’s development.

Modernization theory correlates to Ethiopia’s gender inequalities. The theory exemplifies, that traditional values are barriers towards development. (Canada and the ” Third World” p. 26). This theory presents images of the Global South as ” backwards and economically poor” ( p. 26). Modernization demonstrates the need for evolution within a state, however they are usually based on Eurocentric ideas of progress. ( p. 26). It calls for a country such as Ethiopia which development has been static in a primitive stage and traditional values are practiced within an economy. ( citation). It is important not to associate traditional values directly to religious practice. Many countries in the Middle East, most notably the United Arab Emirates, have used their oil wealth to fund infrastructure projects and to develop industrial and service industries to generate economic wealth. ( p. 27). Despite this economic prosperity, the UAE has held strong to their Islamic faith within the state. The utilization of modernity has not shifted their political belief towards social liberalism or political democratization, rather ” a form of modernity which maintains moral codes”. ( Adelkhah, 2000).

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS:

Ethiopia has an agricultural based economy and it accounts for the livelihood for most of the population that resides in small rural towns. Almost 45% of the country’s GDP lays in the agricultural sector and accounts for 85% of the total employment (Cherinet, H and Mulugeta, E. 2002). Women play a large role in agriculture yet they are represented the least. Traditionally, men have all the control in decisions related to land distribution and agricultural production. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy with exports of $ 350 million in 2006. ( CIA World Factbook, 2011). Under Ethiopia’s constitution, the state owns all of the land and provides long-term leases to the tenants. The system continues to stagnate growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. While the GDP growth remains high, per capita income was amongst the lowest in the world at $1,000 in 2010. (CIA World Factbook, 2011). Only 17% of the estimated roughly 88 million people live in urban areas, notably the capital of Addis Ababa.

The economic determinants within Ethiopia has presented an unequal platform for women to become economically independent. As traditional taboos have been placed upon women, their labour is under-appreciated and the magnitude has gone unnoticed. ( Tadele, 2001). There is a high prevalence in informal jobs such as childcare and household work within Ethiopian communities while these women continue to be underrepresented in the formal sector. ( Tadele, 2001). Stevenson,(2003) demonstrates Ethiopian women are highly concentrated in the routine type and low paying jobs. Domestic jobs within the household relates back to the notion of traditional values placed upon Ethiopian women as they have the abilities to gain economic independence if these traditional barriers did not lay in their way. Ethiopian women in the capital city of Addis Ababa are slowly aiding in changing the national picture of widespread gender inequality in regards to women. In the capital city, there are almost an equal number of male and female government employees (50.13%) , while the rural regions in Ethiopia among all government employees, women constituted for only 30.75% (Grey,1999). This demonstrates the Ethiopian women as capable of being in leadership roles when traditional ideology is replaced with more accepting ideas of the role of women. One important economic activity currently involving thousands of women in the capital, Addis Ababa is the provisioning of fuel wood. The only work that focuses on these indispensable suppliers of energy to the nation’s capital is Fikerte Haile’s 1984 sociological study. It is estimated that around 73,000 women were involved in gathering and transporting wood, branches, and leaves (principally on their backs) and selling them. She pointed out that slightly over 60 percent of these women were migrants from rural or semi-rural areas who in most cases came to the city “leaving their families behind to look for better lives.” ( Bizuneh, 2006, p. 9).

Education is very important in Ethiopia’s development. The World Factbook estimated in 2003 that 42.7% of Ethiopia’s population is literate. 35.1% of women were women compared to the 50.3% of men. The Gross Enrolment Ratio for primary schools, grades 1 to 8 exemplifies that a significant number of Ethiopian children do not have access to education. In 2008, educational expectancy for was 8 years (CIAWorld Factbook, 2011). Sexual education is a major issue in Ethiopia with women being more susceptible to diseases due to the lack of proper healthcare and sanitation. Diseases that present high risks for the Ethiopian population are malaria and bacterial Diarrhea. Sexually transmitted infections in general (HIV/AIDS in particular) compromises the health of women with serious consequences. According to the 2004 report on the global AIDS epidemic, Africa is the epicentre, with 25 million HIV-positive adults worldwide (Martinez, 2009, p. 178). In Sub-Saharan Africa, 57 % of HIV- positive individuals are women, and 75% of the youth affected by HIV are girls (Martinez, 2009, p. 178). As of 2007, Ethiopia was estimated to have 980,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and an estimated 67,00 known deaths from this disease (CIA World Factbook, 2011).

Education is an important means behind economic, social and cultural development at a national level . Developing countries put strong emphasis on education in order to accelerate the development process . It is apparent that women’s education is closely related to development issues, such as their participation in productive activities, population growth, reproductive health and the education of children in general especially in regards to daughters. (Mekonnen, E., 2009). Women are not favourable in terms of education, a number of economic, social and cultural problems constrain women from attending and succeeding in education. The statistics show the increasing division of gender inequality in education in Ethiopia. Indrawaite, B. (2008) and Dugassa, B. (2005) relates the lack of basic education to sanitation concerns, widespread poverty and a perpetuating cycle of serious problems as young girls continue to be deprive of this need elaborate, this is too vague and confusing. However, it is known that there are several female students who succeed overcoming the problems using their own personal and social resources. (Synder,1995). Therefore, measures should be taken that focuses on creating favourable social environments and inculcating a different ideology that help women become strong to overcome the present problems. One gets a sense of what a dedicated female could do from the activities of Sylvia Pankhurst, the founder of the Ethiopian Observer, a journal that replaced the famous New Times and Ethiopian Times. Pankhurst was a feminist who was concerned about women’s issues; this concern was clearly reflected in the articles that were published in the journal she edited. The first issue, which appeared in December 1956, had an article that reported on the activities of the Ethiopian Women’s Welfare Association, an organization that engaged in welfare work and education. ( Bizuneh, 2006, p. 12).

Ethiopia is a patriarchal society (Henze, 2003). The attitude by the majority towards women holding a high position, the way society and the workplace are structured and the gender division of labor all pose a serious challenge. These values and beliefs are formulated and promoted by cultures, religions, families, school, media and advertising among society’s outlets. Within the patriarchal society that has a system which values men’s activities and achievements over those of women, which reflects in all aspects of life. (Kedir and Adamasachew, 2010). In most cases, the cultural values and practices favour men which leaves women without a voice in Ethiopian society to address these discriminatory issues. Many of the socialization agents including family, school, church and the community perpetuate the unfair gender relationship prevalent in Ethiopian society (Kebede and Butterfield, 2009) and (Bizuneh, 2001). The media is full of stereotypical portrayals of men and women, and the art reflect what is in the culture. The gender imbalances are relevant to the practices and cultural beliefs in Ethiopia.

CONCLUSION:

Ethiopia’s development has been hindered due to the inequalities that women face. Because of this oppression, many women have not been able to reach their full potential and gain self-determination. Traditional barriers have oppressed women economically, educationally and socially. This inequality has hindered Ethiopia’s development as nearly half of the population has not participated to their best of their ability.

Income gender gap can be reviewed at both the individual and institutional level. It refers to the prejudicial beliefs and discriminatory of individuals, and the policies that restrict the opportunities of minorities respectively.

SECTION II – THE ISSUES AND WHO ARE INVOVLED

Income gender gap is also known as the disparity of income between sexes. It has been a debatable issue ever since globalization takes place. In the context of economic inequality, gender gap generally refers to the differences in the wages of men and women. This can be calculated as a ratio of female to male wages (often expressed as a percentage). The female population has been showcasing their talents and it is depending on how the world accounts and utilizes such talent pool to determine the competitiveness of the economies.

Gender disparity in income is an issue that has been surfacing worldwide and economies would have been affected as a result. Thus, it was chosen as I openly felt that corrective measures might not have been designed to address the issue on a global scale. Besides, reports have also shown that the gender pay gap has not been fully resolved as many countries’ workplaces are still faced with the problem of gender discrimination. In this income gender gap report, I aim to highlight the importance of promoting gender equality. This is in hope that creation of greater awareness among a global audience is present, with implementation of good practices and effective measures drawn that can help further reduce gender inequality.

An example of common stereotypes stating males being more dominant and females seen as the weaker sex are present. This happens when both sexes working in the same field are being remunerated differently – the male with a higher wage as compared to the female. Singapore is not spared in this aspect. Statistics have shown that there is a closing of gender income gap. However, this is only relevant in the occupations of professionals, services/sales and cleaners/labourers.

Statistics have shown that employers tend to empower males with prospective occupation tracks that lead them to having high flying careers; however this isn’t so for the females. There is more likelihood that employers entrust women with occupation positions that are deemed to be dead-end, or have very little mobility for advancement. This is due to the perception that women will leave their jobs or labour force at times of marriage or pregnancy.

SECTION III – WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR US TO TALK ABOUT IT?

The principle of equality of opportunity is one of the basic tenets of human development. However, the differences in wage between genders speak about how discrimination brings about inequality and places one at an advantage or vice versa. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), progress in reducing the gender pay gap is very slow in Europe and Central Asia. The gender income gap may have narrowed in some countries, but on an international level, it is still not evident as proven by ILO. Improvising of stricter policies and measures should be done in the light of significance in every country and the most effective means of doing so is through governments’ intervention.

The ‘talents’ of women which involved the capacity for and skills are not equally rewarded. Also, division of work has always been gendered, which left women often experiencing a disparity in the labour market – limited positions and rights in companies. Constrain on the economic growth is one of the impacts contributed by gender inequalities in society.

In the long run, society will experience greater negative consequences economically, resulting from this discrimination – gender inequalities at work. This is because income inequality diminishes growth potential. With gender inequalities reduced, it benefits men and women, children and the elderly, for the poor and as well as the rich. This in turn would lead to the better advancement in economic growth.

However, research begged to differ that such reduction in income disparity between genders would be positive. It is argued that higher inequality would be an advantage in encouraging growth in well developed regions although it will hinder growth in poor countries (Robert Barro, 1999). Although the economy at large is still affected, inequality and growth were believed to have no correlation-concluding that inequality neither drives nor impairs growth (“World Development Report”, 2000). This is also supported by a recent study on income inequality; a society in which income was distributed perfectly equally with respect to gender would not be a desirable place either (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2008).

On a fair note during entry level for both sexes, earnings of women’s pay have been analyzed in some countries and the increase in earnings is substantial, in addition, even higher than those of men because of their qualifications. This explains that income is based solely on merit of individuals. Still, I believe that this is not practiced internationally, with Singapore – a globalized developed country, ranking 84 out of 134 countries, with a score of 0.666 (0.00=inequality/1.00=equality). And for wage equality for similar work, she’s ranked 9th (World Economic Forum, 2009). Yet Singapore is still facing these problems at present. For this reason, the gender gap plays a significant magnitude in determining wage.

In the perspective of Singapore, females still earn less than males in all occupations. Disparity is even wider when comparing of mean incomes, which implies that males still receive higher wages than their female counterparts as a whole. This is backed by structural constraints in Singapore’s economy preventing women from attaining similar income. Comparison of the monthly gross salary in the managerial roles shows signs of glass ceiling. The mean gross wage is $7272 for a female, compared to $9065 for a male, and the median gross wage is $5673 for a female, compared to $6450 for a male (Singapore Yearbook of ManPower Statistic, 2009).

Predetermined conception that women have shorter employment life-spans and experiences on the job due to pregnancy and traditional domestic duties, such as child rearing and housekeeping is the contributing factor bringing about stereotype against women at the workplace. Studies have shown that these factors accounts for a considerable component of the gender wage gap. Due to women’s family-related commitments and priorities, the average woman on the labour market has fewer years of experience than the average man, which contributes to the difference in pay between men and women.

Furthermore, an equal position whereby both genders are employed takes into the consideration of National Service. Men trained in the National Service were being favoured, which played a part in the salary differentials. A strong argument cited that because National Service provides men with essential skills such as in leadership, organisation, and decision-making, which is said as to be a pre-requisite in the job market. Awarding them a higher starting salary in the public and private sectors is justifiable. Since National Service is unavoidable, it is deemed as a result that women may be left with little power in the public and private sectors in terms of representation.

SECTION IV – WHERE CAN WE START TO FIX THE PROBLEM?

With males given a higher edge above their female counterparts in the context of wage, it is a prejudice as men is seen as the domineering sex. Thus, with no qualms that such an issue creates inequality in society. Men would be given perks at the expense of the degree and opportunity of women’s representation; which are considerably affected by social norms and perceptions regarding women’s roles in society. I take the stand that both genders should be given equal benefits based on their qualifications, and hence the pay differentials should not surface.

At the individual level, adopting different educational-informational means to alter the aforementioned public perception of women’s role in various spheres of society is essential. Using these strategies may boost public awareness of gender stereotyping, ensuring there is minimal social prejudice against women, as well as strengthening a positive insight.

With the aim of overcoming uncertain societal nature of women’s representation in the labour force, it is necessary to adopt legal constitutional provision on the principle of women’s ‘right to be represented’.

In Singapore, the Government and social partners commitments’ are affirmed by the addition of an appropriate clause in collective agreements to certify that employers conform to the principle of paying their employees the remuneration based on merit.

To conclude, with the implementation of various means would improve the status of female representation and gender equality.