Although women in the United States and other developed countries have become increasingly able to balance out gender roles, there are still disparities between the role women play in the developed nations, and the one that women fill in the developing nations.

During the Global Perspective on Women’s Issues from the Developed and Developing World presented by the Kozmetsky Center of Excellence in Global Finance on Sept. 14, Lynn Price Cook and Mallika Dutt brought their expertise on women’s issues to Jones Auditorium.

Cook, senior lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy and Director of the MA in Methods of Social Research at the University of Kent, spoke on the changing role of genders in the workplace and at home.

Cook said that family and gender roles are not static. The roles vary with change in context, time, mode of production, and country.

Gender roles began to separate during the Industrial Revolution, which established two types of work: paid and unpaid. Men went to factories and women stayed home to care for the family. A standard was formed in which the ideal family had one working member and one member who took care of the family.

However, global competition, decline of manufacturing, growing service sector, and increase of technology transformed gender roles. With this change, women’s participation in the paid workforce increased around the globe. Men also began to participate more in the unpaid work of social responsibilities.

Cook said that many people, including renowned economist Gary Becker, looked down upon this model, saying it is not good for the family. She also said that context matters. In some countries, depending on the culture and its development, this dual earner model may work very well, but in others, it does not fit.

“It had never even crossed my mind that in certain countries, a couple with a female breadwinner might be more likely to get a divorce, largely in part due to her work hours and salary,” senior Carla Soriano said.

Dutt spoke after Cook, focusing on violence against women and the efforts of Breakthrough, an international human rights organization that addresses critical global issues like violence against women, racial justice and immigrant rights.

Dutt founded Breakthrough after being frustrated with simply talking about human right issues with the same people and not engaging the public.

One of Breakthrough’s most recent campaigns, Bell Bajao! (Ring the Bell!), is the winner of the Silver Lion Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Through advertisements, and other multi-media, featuring true stories of men intervening in domestic violence in India, the campaign is an effort to include men as part of the solution to violence against women.

The idea is that if violence is suspected, a person trained would do something to disrupt it, such as ringing the doorbell.

“Men are coming back and saying it is so empowering to be a part of the solution,” Dutt said.

Since the campaign there has been a 15-20 percent increase in the reporting of domestic violence.

Dutt said that there have been critics of the campaign who say ringing a doorbell isn’t enough. She also said that even though it is not bringing a perpetrator to justice, it is making him aware that the community is watching.