The traditional working patterns of many political parties and government structures continue to be barriers to women's participation in public life. Women may be discouraged from seeking political office by discriminatory attitudes and practices, family and child-care responsibilities, and the high cost of seeking and holding public office. The State, a male dominated institution, has failed to put in place the necessary infrastructure to strongly address the 'socially construed' inequalities and the biological differences to ensure equal represention of men and women in all decsion-making posts. Women in politics and decision-making positions in Governments and legislative bodies contribute to redefining political priorities and providing new perspectives on mainstream political issues

Lack of adequately addressing gender imbalance in our education system from an early age has not helped either. Gender inequality is further perpetuated by the way women are portrayed in the media, in particular in reporting news: women are almost always depicted as victims, hardly ever as achievers, except in sports. The media, also male dominated in decision-making posts, tends to reward women for the aesthetic qualities – fashion, beauty contests and the like, in short as objects to please rather than as beautiful yet intelligent, enterprising and good decsion-makers at all levels - political and economicMany women fail to understand that men’s hostilities are based on fear and personal insecurities, fear of failing to make the ‘masculine’ grade as expected by society, in particular by their peers. We need Gender inequality is further perpetuated by the way women are portrayed in the media, in particular in reporting news: women are almost always depicted as victims, hardly ever as achievers, except in sports. The media, also male dominated in decision-making posts, tends to reward women for the aesthetic qualities – fashion, beauty contests and the like, in short as objects to please rather than as beautiful yet intelligent, enterprising and good decsion-makers at all levels - political and economicMany women fail to understand that men’s hostilities are based on fear and personal insecurities, fear of failing to make the ‘masculine’ grade as expected by society, in particular by their peers. We need to tackle the myth that naming violence against women and girls as a gendered issue is equivalent to labelling all men as potential perpetrators, or that perpetrators are never motivated to change their behaviour.

We should also be addressing issues of women in vulnerable groups such as teenage mothers, immigrant women, women with disabilities, women going through domestic violence and women in undeclared domestic work. According to the ILO report drawn up for the conference held in June 2010 in industrialised countries, domestic work accounts for between 5% and 9% of all employment. The report states that "paid domestic work remains virtually invisible as a form of employment in many countries".

NCW will be launching a campaign roping in men and boys in general to stand up against violence against women, encouraging them to have a proactive, rather than defensive, response and not to tolerate or perpetrate violence against women and girls. At the same time, the campaign will address those men and boys who commit violence against women and girls with the aim to stop them perpetrating violence.

Women in particular need to engage men in authentic discussion, using well chosen messages and male role models and male voices. More emphasis on the importance of men as nurturers and carers, which society is depriving them of can go far in dismantling these inequalities and help build relationships where men and women complement each other in a society that is fast becoming individualistic