Table 3 Proposed solutions to gender gaps, related gaps, and human rights.

1. Ensure that there are no differences in opportunities across gender groups

Nurture

Men and women have the same opportunities to access remunerated occupations

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores for 15-year-olds show that boys have an advantage of 0.19 standard deviations in math, while girls have an advantage of 0.27 standard deviations in language (OECD 2012)

Article 23. (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work

Nature

Men and women share the opportunity cost of raising a family

Women with children age 7 or younger are less likely to have a paid job (Piras and Ripani 2005). Mothers face a wage penalty of about 1.8% compared to women without children (Gamboa and Zuluaga 2013)

Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality, or religion, have the right to marry and to fund a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage, and at its dissolution

Article 25. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection

2. Use technology

Men and women have the right to decide on reproduction.

The average use of modern contraceptive methods among women ages 15 to 49 was 53% for 12 countries in LAC in 2006

Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality, or religion, have the right to marry and to fund a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution

Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control

3. Strengthen institutions

Collective action

Men and women contribute to public expenditures and are able to access public goods and services

Contribution rates for pensions in Chile are 96% among men but 75% among women (Bosch et al. 2013)

Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social, and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality

Article 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which the free and full development of his personality is possible.

Human rights

Men and women should have the right to be free from violence

The homicide rate in LAC in 2012 per 100,000 population was 29.3 among men and 3.7 among women (UNODC 2013)

The share of homicide victims killed by an intimate partner is 50% for women and 6% for men (UNODC 2013)

Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination

Representation

Men and women should voice their preferences for government decisions

In 2015, women occupied 27% of the national parliamentary seats in LAC (ECLAC 2015)

Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country