It's a man's world. Literally.
Research shows that we aren't collecting sex disaggregated data about women and, as a result, the world that surrounds us is designed for men. This shocking video by Plan International Norway looks at the tangible ways women and girls' lives are placed at risk by inequality.
The video begins with a woman being told she's pregnant by a doctor, who follows up by telling her abortion is illegal in the country in which she resides. It's a horrifying moment — but one that women in countries or states with total bans or restrictive abortion laws might identify with.
The next scene of the video explores the impact of Google's speech-recognition software, which a researcher at the University of Washington found to be 70 percent more likely to accurately recognise male speech.
Then we cut to the next scene, where a journalist is reporting from the scene of a car accident involving a young woman. In the segment, the journalist cites research by the University of Virginia’s Centre for Applied Biomechanics, which revealed that female drivers are 47 percent more likely to be seriously injured in a car crash than men.
Towards the end of the video, we see a male police officer crouched over a deceased female officer. "You know she died because she has boobs," he said. But the reality is: research has shown that women serving in the emergency services are being put at risk due to ill-fitting body armour. That same fact applies to women serving in the armed forces. One UK government report found that women in the British Army have been found up to seven times more likely than male counterparts to suffer from musculoskeletal injuries.
Feminist author and campaigner Caroline Criado Perez spent three years researching and writing a book called Invisible Women which investigates how gender data bias is putting women's lives at risk. This video shows just some of the ways that is happening.
Plan International's message is clear: "In a world designed for men, we put girls first."
Topics Activism Social Good
