Women have been subject to unfair treatment for a long time. Oxfam believes that through positive action the problem can be solved Inequality has deep roots, often centuries old. In different communities around the world, there are different combinations of causes of oppression against girls and women.
Examples are social customs such as the dowry system and marital traditions such as 'Lobola' in Zambia through which married women lose the right to own land.
Closer to home, a Chinese woman's role in society has been confined by Confucianism and patriarchy: the domain of the woman was the home.
Not all discrimination and exploitation is buried in ancient traditions: the child sex trade in Asia, for instance, is a more recent phenomenon. But there is one important commonality; all of these causes of inequality were made by people against people.
Poverty makes the discrimination even worse. When a family in a gender-biased society has scarce resources, it is often the girls and the women in the home who receive the least food and the worst health care.
Is equality possible? People have created the inequality, so people can also create solutions. Oxfam has worked with thousands of poor people: training women in marketable skills is a common method, and ensuring girls have an education is another.
