ABSTRACT
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), written in the wake of the catastrophically destructive impact of the Second World War (1939–45) states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights (United Nations UDHR 1948). According to this Declaration, gender equality is a basic human right. Yet the majority of the world’s poor are women and their lack of access to financial resources has a profound effect on their overall wellbeing. Gender inequality is deeply entrenched in all societies (United Nations 2010). There is no shortage of data that relate to the persistently unequal and disadvantaged position of women, compared with men, in societies across the world. The Global Gender Gap Index, for example, introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006, quantifies the magnitude of gender-based disparities, tracking progress across four key areas: economic, political, education and health (World Economic Forum 2013). Similarly, statistical indicators provided by the United Nations in reports, databases and archives similarly testify to continuing gender discrimination, inequality and injustice (United Nations Women’s Watch 2014).
