Mainstreaming Equality

Ananke July 2019| M illen n ial Edition

Mainstream ing EQUA LI TY

Gender Equality in Aisa Pacific

Russian Feminism

Malawi & Gender Equality

A Glimpse at American Feminism

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SABI N M UZAFFAR FOUN DER, EX ECUTI VE EDI TOR

Design, layout s & product ion: Sabin Muzaffar

M EL AN I E BUBL YK EDI TOR AT L ARGE

P U B L I S H I N G T E A M

E D I T O R I A L T E A M

The Millennial Edition is a compilation of works and assignments submitted

by Ananke?s I nterns, showcasing equality through the eyes of the youth ? their dreams, perceptions and the future they are looking forward to behold!

Chiamaka Adinnu from Nigeria is a food scientist, who is also passionate about writing. She has over five years?experience in high level research and academic writing, with several awards to her name. A contemporary youth activist and gender advocate, she initially worked as an I ntern and is currently a Foreign Correspondent at Ananke - a digital platform that seeks to empower young girls. Chiamaka also volunteers with several non-profit organizations, including L ive Mother and Child I nitiative (L MCI ), PadAGirl Africa. She has also been a participant in leadership programs and hopes to attend more in the future.

I ilsia I delbaeva is from Russia and holds a bachelor?s degree in Oriental Studies (Arabic language and L iterature) and is currently studying for her Master?s degree of Education of Arabic language in I ndonesia. I n 2018, I ilsia completed the four ? module online course ?Girl Centered Design? by Philanthropy University along with Mercy Corps.

Anastasiya Pantsialei was born and raised in Belarus and is now living in Bulgaria. A journalism and psychology student in the American University in Bulgaria, Ana loves to travel. A T ED speaker, specializing in Chernobyl nuclear accident and eating disorders, she is also the Founder of CEMS (Cheap Education for Motivated Students) social project, which gives educational opportunities in the US to talented Belarusian students. Founder of GoGreenBelarus, a website promoting ecotourism in Belarus. I nterested in Urbanism, Ecology, Art, and Politics.

Pr ecious Mtuwa is a Journalist and activist for girls and children?s rights.

Precious has worked for radio stations, print and digital media, with vast experience in conducting interviews based. She likes writing human interest stories, about girls?rights and inclusion.

She has also worked as an assistant communication officer for Fountain of Hope (FOHOP) which involves running campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of early marriages, encouraging girls to stay at school. Precious holds a Diploma in Journalism from Polytechnic Continuing Education Centre. She lives in Blantyre, Malawi.

Dar ia L eontova is from Russia and is studying L aw at the Moscow State University. As a legal professional, Daria has the opportunity to protect people's rights and avoid the policy of double standards in law. Daria?s experience includes participating in various internships in Russian law firms and working pro bono for a legal clinic as a consultant. Daria strongly believes that everyone is equal, and everyone has the right to be protected.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

A dv anci ng Eq ual i ty Transf orms Soci ety!

By Sabin M u zaf f ar

Why does Gender Equality matter? A buzzword trending across parallel realities, digital and the real world, explanations there are many! While some say it makes sense ? women being half of the population of the world, bringing EVERYONE to the table and making their voices heard are ideals seen by many (still not enough!) as the way towards achieving sustainability and a world that is fair and tolerant.

With movements like MeToo, and amazing wins in sports like the women's football world cup where many actually wanted the US team to fail because it raised voice about the gender pay gap ; it appears we have marched forward; making strides in the right direction. Indeed, hope springs eternal but many hurdles remain. From working under the torrid rays of the sun out in the fields to trying to break one glass ceiling after the other at glistening offices in the corporate world, women still face a plethora of discrimination. While many women farmers for example in Maharashtra?s Marathwada region, India, undergo hysterectomies because periods hinder work with even girls as young as 25 being reportedlywombless to women-led start-up?s getting less funding (averaging USD nine million per firm versus USD 13 million for male-led start-ups), because well? it?s led by a woman!

In a world drowning in patriarchy and the ever-burgeoning institutionalized misogyny with retrogressive actions taking place such as decriminalizingdomestic abuse in Russia in 2017 or passing a resolution in Pakistan against Women?s March, this year, in a provincial assembly and labelling the groundbreaking event as shameful are just a few instances of a deeply embedded disease which is slowly invading the entire fabric of society attempting to poison, taint and uproot the work for which many have given time, energy and even their lives.

More than 200 million girls undergo FGM each year, 1 in 3 women suffer from intimate partner violence, women with disabilities or old age as well as women of color are more vulnerable to bias, abuse and homelessness, 15 million girls are married under the age of 18 every year, access to safe and respectful healthcare is still a distant notion in many under-developed and developing

E E d ditito oririaall

future. countries. And, to top it all off, according to the SDG Gender Indexlaunched by Equal Measures 2030 in Women Deliver 2019 conference, more than 2.8 billion women and girls are living in countries that get a ?very poor ?or ?poor ?failing grades on gender equality.

Gender equality is a fundamental human right irrespective of where one lives, one?s sex, cast, color or creed. Gender Equality matters because it promotes justice, it helps provide access to education, opportunities, gives one bodily as well as financial autonomy and rids us of violence.

According to the World Economic Forum, a typical economy only gives women three-quarters of the rights of men in areas like influencing economic decisions, freedom of movement and receiving pension etc, while a recent Mckinsey report suggests that the global GDP can increase by 26 percent or $28 trillion just by being financially inclusive.

Achieving equality also means accelerating commitments to decrease inequalities in care work, a burden disproportionately affecting women worldwide. This could be anything from creating enabling environment such as proper paternal leave to men taking up even a mere 50 minutes of more care work each day that would actually tip the scales towards equality. And this would not just meanbetter mental and physical health of families in general but that of careworn, burdened women as well.

So might this be a veritable, indefatigable truth that advancing equality transforms society? A point we ponder in this Millennial Issue on Equality as we look forward to the year 2020 ? just six months down the line ? and take stock at what we as global citizens have done so far to have a bright or a bleak

The Millennial Edition is a compilation of works and assignments submitted by Ananke?s Interns, showcasing equality through the eyes of the youth ? their dreams, perceptions and the future they are willing to behold!

Sabin Muzaffar Founder, Executive Editor - Ananke

hoto by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Phot o by

Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash

Colum n

Femi ni sm i n A ustral i a One St ep For war

Two St eps Back?

By M elan ie Bu blyk Image by Anne-Onyme from Pixabay

?thinkeverywomaninour cultureisafeminist. Theymayrefusetoarticulateit, but if youweretotakeanywomanback40yearsandsay,?Isthisaworldyouwant tolivein??,theywouldsay?No.?- HelenMirrenActress

"

"

Wecannot expect intheimmediatefuturethat all womenwhoseekit will achievefull equalityof opportunity.

But if womenaretostart movingtowardsthat goal,wemust believeinourselvesor nooneelsewill believein us; wemust matchour aspirationswiththecompetence,courageanddeterminationtosucceed.

RosalynYalow,medical physicist &1977Nobel Prizewinner

Weall fight over what thelabel 'feminism'means,but for meit'sabout empowerment. It'snot about beingmore powerful thanmen- it'sabout havingequal rightswithprotection,support,justice. It'sabout verybasicthings.

It'snot abadgelikeafashionitem.AnnieLennoxSinger andActivist

"

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Feminist movements are pivotal in driving social transformation with the objective of achieving equality and raising awareness of the struggle for women?s rights. There can be different issues of concern within countries, addressing child marriage or honour killings can be priority of one country and equal pay or women in leadership can be priority of another but all feminist movements are focused on the realisation of women?s fundamental human rights.

Changing the way women are perceived and their role in their communities and society is done through feminist activism and is an important step in driving change. It is also a movement that dedicates itself to emancipating women from the shackles of patriarchy. Acknowledgement that men and women are different and that women are worthy and valid because of difference rather than justifying women?s subordination because of difference.

150 years ago, Australia was still under British colonial rule, women were denied suffrage and Australian Women for the most part of the 19th century had no political, civil and economic rights. Womenwere denied the right to own property, denied the right to custody of their own children and sovereignty over their own bodies. The late 19th century was the era of first wave feminism, Australia?s first female trade unionwas established on 15 December 1882 in Melbourne. The first women's suffrage society in Australiawas founded in 1884. The state of South Australia granted all womenthe right to vote and stand for parliament in 1894 and were the first Australian colony to do so, it was also the first place in the world where all women were able to do so.

Australian suffragists continued to lobby and in 1902 shortly after federation, the Commonwealth Franchise Actwas established and legislated. Some women who gained suffrage at the federal level in 1902 and could now vote in national elections and stand for the Australian Parliament, did not possess the right to do so at the state level of governance.

Prior to Federation in 1901, Australia existed as separate colonies and whist some states were making progress, some continued to deny citizens full participation. The 1902 Commonwealth Franchise Act denied Aboriginal women suffrage at the federal level and it wasn?t until 1962 that the Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that Indigenous

Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, including Northern Territory elections, but enrolment was not compulsory. This was made more difficult for Aboriginal women from the states of Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory who were denied suffrage in both federal and state elections.

Queensland was the last state to grantsuffragein 1965 and finally all Aboriginal women had full and equal voting rights. Therefore, the complex and various laws and legislation that existed at both the federal and state levels, ensued that Australian women did not have full and equal rights for much of the first half of the twentieth century and some remained oppressed and marginalised, simply because of where they lived within Australia.

Australian suffragists lobbied extensively during the late 19th century and opposed the terms of political citizenship that favoured male colonists who had been granted control of domestic affairs by the British Empire. The British and US suffragists drew inspiration from the Australian suffragists. First wave feminism in Australia remains important today, the suffragists had been committed to the promotion of peace, advocating for women?s rights and fostering international understanding that offers a model for Australia?s role in the world.

Second wave feminism in Australia began in the 1960?s and significant issues being Photo by Drop the Label Movement on Unsplash

lobbied included women?s access to the contraceptive pill, aboriginal women?s suffrage and recognition as citizens, women?s refuges, equal pay, assistance for single mothers. The fundamental rights that Australian women enjoy today are because of the feminist activism that has taken place over the decades since first wave feminism of the late 19th century.

Despite this significant progress, Australian women today continue to face barriers to equality. Some of the key human rights issuesfaced by Australian women include: homelessness, violence against women, equal participation, disparities in income and superannuation.

These are significant issues that have a profound impact on the social and economic rights of Australian women. Australia has a long-standing association at the global level with the protection and creation of women?s rights.

Australia currently chairs the Human Rights Council, being elected on a bid built on five pillars, including gender equality and Indigenous people?s rights.

Australia is a party to many United Nations (UN) and other international instruments that are designed to assist all countries to raise their standards of conduct in a very wide range of fields. Australia came under review by the UN CEDAWcommittee in 2018 and there were a number of concerns raised including, the lack of affordable housing in Australia, particularly its access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash

Islander women, older women, single mothers and women attempting to escape violence.

The high rates of poverty experienced by single parent households, the clear majority of which are women. Financial abuse, leading many women into poverty, is a well-recognised form of violence against women.

Women need to be economically empowered and to have equal access to resources for their security. The absence of a bill of rights at the federal level or other mechanism to integrate the protections provided by CEDAW and other instruments. There were 90 recommendations for improvement, highlighting that discrimination against women far outweighs progress on women?s rights. It serves as a timely reminder that despite progress made, feminist activism is still as relevant today as it was 150 years ago and that different kinds of prejudice can intensify a woman?s lived experience of discrimination based on factors such as race, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status and class which profoundly impacts on her equal status within her community and society at large. Women are worthy of a life free from violence and poverty.

- Melanie Bublyk Editor at Large, Ananke

G ender EqualityinAsiaandthePacific: Ch al l enges and Progress

INTERVIEW

ByIilsiaIdelbaeva Ananke?sIlsiiaIdelbaevahasaconversationwithRegional Director of UNWomenfor Asia andthePacificregionAnna-KarinJatforsoncurrent gender equalitysituationandthe progresstowardsitsachievement intheSustainableDevelopment Goals(SDGs) inAsiaand thePacificregion.

How w ou ld you descr ibe cu r r en t gen der equ alit y sit u at ion in Asia an d t h e Pacif ic?

The Asia and the Pacific region has made remarkable progress in promoting gender equality. We have better outcomes on health in much of the region, better outcomes in education such as more and more girls are going to school and finishing school. We have sustained economic growth in our region. But, unfortunately, these benefits are not translating into equal opportunities for women and men later in their lives due to different issues which remains unsolved in Asia and the Pacific region.

Wh at ar e som e UN Wom en?s in it iat ives in t h e r egion ?

Wh at h as been accom plish ed so f ar t o ach ieve gen der equ alit y?

The UN Women works across the region to achieve gender equality and to empower women and girls. We do that by addressing the different forms of gender inequality which exist around the region.

One area of work, for example, ending violence against women, which includes changing social norms to prevent violence from happening in the first place, to promote values of respect an equality and non-violence and to respond to violence after it happens by ensuring that all women who experienced it have access to services, support and justice, so that the excellent laws that exist in the region are effectively enforced and that there is accountability for perpetrators. The UN Women also contributes to change discriminatory laws, to revise and to repeal those laws and to support governments in omenfor Asiaand implementation of those laws that protect women?s Regional Director of UNW th e P a cific re g io n A n n a -KarinJatfors rights.

Another area of UN Women?s initiatives focuses on advancing women?s economic empowerment, giving women an access to decent work. We work with women across the economy, both with female leaders in private

G ENDER sector and most vulnerable women who are engaged in informal sector. We ensure that female entrepreneurs have access to finance, skills and market, so they can grow their businesses.

Due to high migration rate in our region, we provide support for female migrant workers, so their rights are respected, and they are free of any form of abuse and violence and that they have access to economic opportunities as well.

The Asia and the Pacific region is disaster prone and a lot of those disasters are the result of climate change. Therefore, a growing area of work for UN Women in this region is to support women in the context of a disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction and climate change. This is an area where women?s voices in leadership is quite critical, and yet women are not fully able to shape decisions and establish programmes and policies in this field. Our work is to UN Women/Nguyen Minh Duc

Equality empower women to step up and take on leadership role whether as parliamentarians, or local leaders, leaders in companies and communities, so that women can participate equally in the decision making.

In addition, UN Women engages in grant-making where both global and regional funds are created.

There are two global grant-making mechanisms are functioning - The Fund for Gender Equality is UN Women?s grant-making mechanism dedicated exclusively to the economic and political empowerment of women. The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Womenwhich supports innovative and pioneering programmes aimed at preventing and responding to all forms of violence against women and girls.

It is worth highlighting that we need to ensure that no matter what area it is, whether it is a program for infrastructure development, environmental protection or data, all the programmes contribute gender equality and benefit women and men equally.

It is worth highlighting that we need to ensure that no matter what area it is, whether it is a program for infrastructure development, environmental protection or data, all the programmes contribute gender equality and benefit women and men equally. This is not just the work of UN Women, this is UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking

the work of everyone.

Wh at w ill be t h e biggest ch an ge f or t h e gen der equ alit y agen da in 2019?

2019 is an important year for Asia and the Pacific region, because it is the year when the region comes together to commemorate the 25th anniversary since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which will be celebrated in 2020. This is a turning point because we have 25 years since the Beijing Declaration was signed and we also will be entering the first five years since the 2030 agenda?s Sustainable Development Goalswere adopted. So now it is the time to take stock and see where we have progressed and where do we have to accelerate this progress to deliver our commitments for women and girls. It is significant that these two processes come together ? the Beijing +25 and SDGs +5 because we know that we don?t just have a stand-alone gender equality goal ? Goal 5 of SDGs, but we also aware of that gender equality is a key-enabler for progress in any other type of development challenge, including education, health, economics and climate change.

Wh at ar e t h e ch allen ges w om en f ace in t h is r egion ?

Despite all the progress made so far, achieving gender equality in Asia and the Pacific region remains a challenge. One of the main challenges women face in our region is labor force participation. In fact, our region is the only one where women?s labor force participation has not improved over the past 20 years. It is stagnated and even

Regional Meeting on Violence against Women and Girls: Prevention and Social Norms Change. Bangkok,2018

decreased in some countries. The problem is that women are less likely to be in paid employment or they are often in vulnerable informal or part-time employments, which is caused by not being able to have access to decent jobs that are really empowering for them.

Secondly, we see across the board are very high pay gaps, so women and men are not paid equally for the work they do, we see inequalities because of gender stereotypes, gender norms when women still do unpaid care work. To prevent that we need to have much stronger and more equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men in the household.

Our region does have very high level of violence against women, the majority of whom experienced violence inflicted by their own husbands or partners. We also see problems of sexual harassment in public places, such as public transport. These women who are victims/survivors of abuse are still unable to access justice, so there?s a lot of impunities for perpetrators, and this is a big issue that we have to address.

Finally, when it comes to women?s leadership, around the region women are being underrepresented in the leadership in the private sector, women?s voices still being absent in many discussions on peace and securitya reas. Most of these challenges are fueled by growing inequalities within countries. We have challenges of migration, trafficking, climate change and it is necessary to note that all these challenges have a lot in common based on gender norms and stereotypes around the role of women and men in the society which affirms the need of change social norms that are found on inequalities and build norms based on respect and equality.

Tell u s abou t t h e r ole of m en in pr om ot in g gen der equ alit y. Wh at ar e t h e m ost con cr et e act ion s t h at m en can t ak e t o su ppor t w om en?s r igh t s?

Gender equality is all about allowing women and men to live fulfilling lives.

This is not something that can be done by women alone, men clearly have a key role. I think, the most important thing that men can do is to be positive role models and to speak up for gender equality. Fathers need to HeForShe Booth at the Rendezvous Festival at India Institute for Technology be engaged equally in the lives of their children, share household work equally with their partners. Men, who are in positions of power, whether they are celebrities, athletes, teachers or anyone, have a particular responsibility to represent healthy and respectful ways of being a man. To promote men?s involvement in building gender equal world, UN Women has launched HeForShe campaign which invites men to commit to take action for gender equality.

Th e Speci al Route of Femi ni sm i n Russi a FromtheRight toVotetotheMarketingCom pany of Reebok

O pinion At the turn of the twentieth century, feminists in Europe were marching for the right to own property, Russian women already had it for 100 years. Anastasiya Pantsialei explores the feminist movement inRussia.

Women in the US, Germany, Great Britain, and France took to the streets to demand equal salary between them and men at the dawn of the twentieth century. It started with a demand for equality in payments, which is still not achieved in most places, and it continued with the claim of

the right to vote, get a divorce, and own property. Just a few thousand kilometers away, women from the East stayed still.

Russia had already seen its share of women?s empowerment years ago when the Soviet government granted them the right to vote, have an abortion, and get a divorce in 1917 right after the February Revolution, which actually began with women?s protests.

The Communist rule needed women to build a new country. The stereotype of females in the kitchen vanished quickly and the country saw an exemplary eara of feminist reform from 1850s till 1917. Women worked as teachers, doctors, saleswomen.

They took an active part in social

and political movements.

History is replete with examples of women with compelling stories of empowerment from activists to anarchists, scientists to artists.

Russian women have been a force to be reckoned with.

Historically speaking, the seeds of empowerment were actually sown by Peter the Great himself in 18thcentury Russia, who was greatly inspired not only by Western Enlightenment but the substantial impact of women?s participation in the French Revolution as an embodiment of democracy and liberty. It

empower women, ?it is necessary to be socialized and for women to participate in common productive labor. Then woman will be the equal of man.?

was during this time when personal freedom and a loosening of restrictions on education for women enforced by Peter triggered change.

With the publication of perhaps one of the greatest novels of all time, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, questions were raised about how patriarchal belief systems used institution of marriage to enslave women.

While the League for Women?s Equal Rights was an influential organization from 1901-1917 and advocated for women?s education, social welfare, suffrage, passport restrictions and more, women?s role transformed during the Soviet Union; under Leninist ideals that proclaimed that in order to

marches demanding women?s rights, the Soviet government wanted the female stereotypical role back.

Why? Because of the aftermath of World War II and the need to give birth to more children. As the state started taking the freedom back, it was never returned.

Many historians and rights advocates believe that although universities churned women scientists, doctors, journalists, engineers etc during the Soviet era, which in itself was groundbreaking, women were Contemporary Russia is still discouraged to take up not among the most leadership roles and were also Histoeryis repletewithexamplesof paid less; with womenwithcompellingstoriesof many even empowerment fromactiviststo claiming that anarchists, scientiststoartists. Russian women?s womenhavebeenaforcetobereckoned emancipation with. and her equality was merely feminist. 25% of Russian declared, but never fully women think that realized. equality is not that It was not until 1960s during important.

However, second wave feminism that there are some things in there was a turning point for the feminist agenda. They women?s rights. When the world are represented in a new was going through massive marketing campaign of

Reebok featuring one of the most popular feminists in Russia Zalina Marshenkulova and her quotes.

The campaign got a strong resonance in Russian society. It was called rude and offensive. Reebok themselves finally denied it.

However, it had a positive side. It brought back the talk about feminism through the media, a very important topic but quite often forgotten in Russian talk.

Feminism in Russia will follow a unique path.

This movement is among many other things cannot be borrowed from Europe, the US, or Asia. It will have to decide on feminism in its own way.

Ph ot os: Lindsey LaMont on Unsplash Soviet Artefacts on Unsplash Martine Jacobsen on Unsplash

A GLI M PSE A T THE HI STORY OF A M ERI CA N FEM I NI SM ChiamakaAdinnuexplorestheAmerican history of feminism, its four waves and the impact of feminism on the educational sector.

VIEW S The word, "Feminist" can be thought of in so many ways.

Some people may be positively disposed to it and think of it as a woman seeking and pushing for the establishment of laws that will protect the female gender, while other people can negatively shrug it off as a woman who is too high strung, opinionated, bitter and a man-hater.

But the term, "Feminism" refers to a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and legal protection for women. It integrates political

and sociological theories and philosophies related with issues of gender difference in campaigning for women's rights and interests.

HISTORY The history of feminism is not precisely certain but its modern, American roots can be traced back to July 1848 with the first feminist conference known as the Seneca Falls Convention and organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, both active abolitionists then.

Proceeding the first movement, feminism continued to develop and evolve. The US feminist movement has had four waves and recorded many achievements and successes. The first wave which included the Seneca Convention focused on women?s suffrage, advocating for equal opportunities to education and employment, and for the right to own properties. The feminist movement had made gains with the introduction of the 19thAmendment in 1920 which granted women the right to vote, after which this movement began to slowly ebb away until the second wave commenced in 1963.

The second wave started in 1963 ended in 1984 with some major victories won, such as the women's reproductive freedom, the right to own properties and credit cards as well as the enactment of the equal pay act of 1963 which aimed at outlawing the gender pay gap. Some of the notable feminists whose works contributed much to the success of the second wave feminist movement are Betty Friedan (Author of the bestselling book on feminism and gender equality; The Feminine Mystique and first President of National Organization for Women) and Gloria Steinem (Freelance journalist) whose undercover work as a waitress in the Playboy club and the subsequent challenges and male chivalry she faced, bore the inspiration for the contents of her dairy; The Playboy Bunny diary. This dairy successfully became a Television show and is argued to have been the catalyst behind the successful legalization of abortion and federally-funded daycares (Farber [2004], p. 377).

The end of the second wave in 1984 led to the commencement of the third wave in 1991. The ethos of this wave was grounded in the civil rights advances of the second wave movement which drew attention to, among other things, custody and divorce laws, domestic violence, with the notion of marital rape brought into the limelight. The third wave strove to tackle workplace sexual harassment as well as increase the number of women in leadership position. Because of their significant achievements, the year 1992 was termed "The Year of the Woman" as it saw the influx of women in various leadership positions and the achievement of female sexual liberation.

The fourth wave, though factually uncertain of its true motives and its exact year of commencement, is said to have been conceived in 2008 and propagated online using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etcetera, just before the statement from feminist Jessica Valenti in 2009: "Maybe the fourth wave is online", she stated. Technological advancements has ushered an era of greater representation of marginalized and/or vulnerable groups and paved way for feminism that is intersectional. Now more than ever, technology has become an empowering tool leveraged to challenge the patriarchal status quo in terms of justice against violence, demand for bodily and financial autonomy. Take for instance, the Women?s March on January 21, 2017, a day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. This was a worldwide protest caused by tensions that arose as a result of statements made by Donald Trump, considered derogatory to the female gender. The largest protest in history so far, it is considered to have been effective in sending bold messages to the new administration on the need to see women's rights as human rights.

Through all these waves, the central goal of feminism remains unchanged, and that is to advocate for equal rights and legal protection of all women.

HOW AM ERICAN FEM INISM CHANGED THE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR Before the commencement of the feminist movement in 1848, women's education was practically non-existent and considered to be unworthy of any attention. By the early 19th Century when the first wave of the feminist movement had been fully consolidated through several meetings, little improvement was noted but was still minimal.

The 1944 Education Act which made education compulsory for girls and boys less than 15 years of age raised the margin by a wide gap as the global community experienced high influx of registration of girls in schools, yet most of these girls were stopped from schooling once out of high school.

By the 1960s though and due to the immense growth and revolutionary reach of the feminism movement, fewer than one in ten women furthered their educations to University level; a significant achievement as compared to the previous years.

Now in 2019 and over 170 years after the first feminism movement, the Educational sector has experienced tremendous growth and progress in the Education of women. According to The Independent, recent data from the UK?s higher education admissions service UCAS show that females are 36% more likely to apply to university than their male peers and more than 64 percent of university enrollments are female ? a number which continues to increase consistently represented in the educational sector but much more work needs to be done The feminism movement has not only served to improve the status of women, from

healthcare to education, it also helped to disband unpopular controversies and societal bias against women especially in the education sector, popularly termed "male-only", liberating women to venture into their choice course without fear of societal bias.

Today, women are represented in the educational sector. Yes, there is no doubt that women's liberation is yet to fully see the light of day, but if these much has been achieved within this few years through feminism, it is safe to say that embracing feminism would lead on to more achievements.

O PINIO N

Gender Eq ual i ty i n M al aw i Progress or Retrogressi on?

By PreciousMutwa

It was in 2009 that a groundbreaking initiative, the 50-50 Campaign Network in Malawi was born. Aimed at ensuring that women are fully represented in leadership and decision-making positions, the initiative strove to promote gender equality by encouraging Malawian citizens to elect equal numbers of women and men in the Parliament. While the campaign missed its mark during the 2014 elections that saw a ?significant drop in the number of women elected?, the ministry of gender, disabilities and social welfare, officially relaunched the campaign in 2018 ahead of the country?s 2019 elections.

The campaign comes at a time when, despite commitment from various players to achieve a reasonable representation of women in decision-making positions, women Phot o by Element 5 Digit al on Unsplash

have been generally During the last elections in 2014, only 16 percent of parliamentarians were women a substantial drop from 21 percent in 2009 elections.

According to the NGO Coordination Network NGO-CN, most political parties did not take steps to allow for fair primary elections to give many women a chance to pass through the primaries.

Emma Kaliya from NGO-CN notes however that despite 44 out of the 193 constituencies in the country not having a female parliamentary candidate, the number of female candidates in 2019 has increased to 304 from 261 in 2014.

According to a gender-based analysis of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) 2019 Presidential and Parliamentary statistics conducted by the NGO-GCN, at least 123 of the 304 women contesting for parliamentary office are independents.

Meanwhile all the main three contenders in this year 's elections have less than 50 percent representation of female candidates.

Many organisations have joined hands in the gender campaign to increase representation of women in decision-making positions in many key institutions like the parliament for instance.

Gender experts say this will push the women inclusion agenda far and offer them a chance to speak out on issues that affect them directly.

"If more women make it to parliament it will be easy for them to facilitate changes and create more spaces forwomen in the decision-making process," says Kaliya.

She said that since women are innovative problem-solvers, it is of great importance that they are voted into positions for them to have the chance to address their basic

problems and community.

needs

in

the

Women in Malawi represents 52 percent of the population, however there is less representation when it comes to leadership positions.

Gender experts say it is difficult to achieve equality, participatory, and accountable democracy in the society if the gender balance tilts in favour of men.

History has been made in Malawi as they now have for the first time a female speaker of the General Assembly, Parliament elected Catherine Gotani Hara as the new head of the legislator for its operations from 2019-2024.

The 50-50 Campaign Management Network congratulated her for being elected as the first female Speaker in Malawi and fourth one in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region.

ED: Malawi's elections were held on May21st, 2019 and according to Voice of America: Nationwide demonstrations and protests have been launched since June 20 calling for the resignation of Jane Ansah as well as the rest of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC). Ansah is accused of mismanaging the recent election in which President Peter Mutharika won a second term.

Gender Eq ual i ty i n Entrepreneursh i p

By Dar ia Leon t eva

Article What is Gender Equality? Of course, Equality can be understood very broadly and have different definitions.

On April 17, we celebrated the Equality Day to mark the coming into force of the equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 15 of this Charter states that every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

So, what does Equality mean according to this provision? Gender equality is achieved when women and men have the same rights and opportunities for their personal development in various spheres of their lives like social life, including economic participation and decision-making. Gender Equality is also achieved when the different behaviors, aspirations, and needs of women and men are equally valued and favored.

In this article, particular focus would be laid on gender equality in economic participation. How many female entrepreneurs from your country do you know? How many women in top management do you know? Surely, they exist within your country.

But despite the fact that the number of women-owned businesses is on the rise, we still face an uphill battle. Even in modern world, gender-based challenges present significant obstacles to women who want to launch and run businesses.

Obst acles en -r ou t e t o em pow er m en t The first one is existence of gender biases. While gender equality is enshrined in the Human Rights charters as well as is recognized at a legal level, societies the world over have yet to unshackle themselves from deeply entrenched patriarchal belief systems that form the basis of almost every socio-economic activity.

Many women entrepreneurs also face the impediment of attaining venture capital, just like any other entrepreneur. The only difference is the conscious and unconscious bias attached to the idea of a woman leading a startup. According to a study by Axios, women account for just about nine percent of investors across US venture capital firms. Deloitte stated that there is only 13 percent of venture capital that is invested in female businesses. Even though the level of women's business initiatives is growing,

startups launched by men, still attract more attention from venture capital firms, mainly because many venture capital firms are led by men. This is quite a serious problem, but female entrepreneurs are still succeeding despite this. The well-known fact is that there are plenty of women out there making it their job to get great female-founded businesses the funding they deserve. So, the problem of limited funding is being solved with the aspirations to create venture funds that invest in female startups. Here are some of these funds: Female Founders Fund, Halogen Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, SoGal Ventures, etc.

Research shows that the female obstacles in entrepreneurship are also connected with the lack of community support. Women often face huge challenges in getting support, they have no relevant connections to get funds or have emotional support.

They also need mentors and sponsors to guide them in this world of business.

Often society places high demands on women, requiring them to cope well with their role model in the business and not giving a chance for any mistake.

Gender equality not only means the right to vote in a political context, but also the right to vote in an economical way, which is the right to be the economic empowerment's influencer. So I think women have something to say when it comes to leadership, entrepreneurship, and technologies.

But we need society to understand the importance of solving the problems that women face on their way to Economic Equality.

GENDER EQUA LI TY A bri ef l ook i nto th e UN ef f orts

ChiamakaAdinnuwritesabout theprogressof UNinpromoting gender equality,recent events,accomplishmentsandissues.

Article

The UN gender equality movement began with the Organization's founding Charter. As declared in its Article1, one of the purposes is "to achieve international co-operation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

Over the years, this support has extended and broadened to include yearly events, conferences, establishment of commissions, creating entities, divisions, bodies and/or agencies - all geared towards fostering gender equality globally and eliminating all forms of violence as well as alleviating the plight of women.

Through these events there have been extraordinary achievements and successes as well as challenges and issues.

Where the challenges and issues might have been despairing, achievements are laudable due to their visionary representation.

Indeed, these achievements represent a better future for our society.

Notable amongst the accomplishments is the initial creation of UN Women - a United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

Other accomplishments include the creation and establishment of landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and other treaty bodies such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which is a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Other successes that are worth mentioning are the efforts to and, in some countries, the outright ban and elimination of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practices, child marriage as well as cultural laws and practices that violates the rights of the Girl, especially as related to her education and career opportunities.

Historical UN events that has brought a whirlwind of change, thus succeeding in triggering changes in the status of women worldwide:

· The Beijing conference. · The United Nations General Assembly Special sessions. · The 59th session of the commission on the status of women in 2015. · A session on "Gender Equality and Youth: 20 years since the Beijing Platform for Action and onwards to a Post-2015 Development Framework" in 2015. · ?SDGs and Her ? Awards Ceremony: Women Micro-Entrepreneurs Helping to Achieve the SDGs which held on 24th September 2018 · She Is Equal: Leveling the Law for Women and Girls by 2030 which held on 25th September 2018. · HeForShe IMPACT Summit which held in 26th September 2018. · Global Business and Philanthropy Leaders? SDG-5 Forum for Gender Equality and Women?s Empowerment held on 27th September 2018. · Promoting Gender-Responsive Migration Governance through the Global Compact for Migration held on 28 September 2018 and several other events.

While there have been pioneering successes and achievements, many impediments enroute to gender equality still remain. Despite all best efforts made towards elimination of gender discrimination, millions of women across the globe are still victims of gendered roles, stereotypes, misogyny, harmful practices; suffering gender-based violence, economic discrimination and lack access to even basic reproductive health services.

One of such harmful practices meted out to women is the Female Genital Mutilation. According to the UNFPA recent statistics, over 200 million girls and women alive today are believed to have undergone FGM, and if such practice continues at this level, 68 million girls would be mutilated between 2015 and 2030.

Representation of half of the population of the world, which is women, is key towards a fair, equitable society. For gender equality to be fully achieved globally, all hands must be on deck and all countries must strive to address this issue at the national level.

W hat

O pinion

MeanstoMe?

by An ast asiya Pan t sialei

We have been talking about equality for centuries now. It was worth it: the significant results are not only in the law but in the minds of the people. However, complete equality could never be possible. Then what are we fighting for?

When I was growing up, my family never let me think even for a moment that I was worse than boys. I was encouraged to get a higher education and build a career. I did not consider marriage or children as the only option that defined success in life. During my high school, however, I realized that it is not the same for all the women.

The majority of teachers in Belarus are women getting salaries merely around $300 per month. Other ?female? jobs like housekeepers, sales assistants, nannies, nurses, and doctors are also low-paying. While it is not untrue to claim that the general pay scale is miniscule regardless of gender, female-centric jobs are usually placed at the lowest grade of pay scale.

While Belarus is ranked 26th out of 144 countries in the global gender gap index, which is even higher than the Netherlands and Australia, women still face many hurdles entering the labor market even though they outnumber men in universities. According to World Bank: ?Even though women are better educated, they are still at a disadvantage in the labor market, women are more likely to be white collar workers but they are 2.5 times less likely to be given a managerial position than men. Thus managers account for 41 percent of total white collar employees among men and only for 17 percent among women. Moreover, World Bank notes that the gender wage gap has increased from 19 percent in 2001 to 25 percent in 2017, even if women hold the same position as Belarusian men. A surveyreveals that men have a tendency to

underestimate a woman?s role and her impact in the labor market, assuming themselves as better political leaders and/or business executives or that they should be given priority over women when jobs are scarce in the market.

With depressing economic scenario coupled with patriarchal belief-systems and gender stereotype, ?forsaking? care responsibilities to work outside the home and then not being able to ?appropriately?contribute gives the man of the house excuse for violence.

Why respect a woman if she cannot earn enough money to go away from her husband?

According to the same survey, nearly half of the population thinks that care work and looking after the children is what women mostly want to do.

Violence is a significant issue in Belarus. There is no effective social system for preventing cases of violence and helping victims and survivors, except for some

volunteer organizations. However, the problem of equality is not only about violence and feminism in general. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Belarus, one in three women in the country has experienced domestic violence, which led the government in establishing crisis centers as well as a free hotline for women.

Sad to say, intimate partner violence against women largely remains a huge concerns due to both proper implementation of existing laws and promulgation of legislature to counter acts of violence.

Personally speaking, equality is also about opportunities. Violence is still a significant issue in Belarus. There is no effective social system for preventing the cases of violence

and helping those women, only volunteer organizations.

However, women?s rights and equality of the sexes is not only about violence and the feminist movement.

Equality is about opportunity. In order for Belarusian women to fully enjoy financial autonomy and be able to access opportunities it is critical to legislate gender-sensitive policies based on inclusion and diversity.

While women continue to face discrimination based on their sex and are viewed as vulnerable, emotional, less smart; feminism will have its place and so will there be the need to march on.

By Dar ia Leon t eva

A ch i ev i ng

Equality

O PINIO N

Today we talk a lot about gender equality. So, what does Equality really mean? In layperson?s term, gender equality is achieved when women and men have the same rights and opportunities for their personal development in various spheres of their lives like social life, including economic participation and decision-making. Gender Equality is also achieved when the different behaviors, aspirations, and needs of women and men are equally valued and favored.

Societ y n eeds t o h ear an d list en t o w om en?s voices Many political and social decisions at the global level are still taken without regard to women's opinions. That should not become a standard.

Wom en n eed t o get access t o bet t er edu cat ion It is not just about girls and women going to school or to university, but also about their access to education that is free from gender stereotypes and prejudices. This is critically important for girls to come out of schools as citizens who can shape a more equal society. Therefore, we need to take measures in order to make education gender sensitive.

Give w om en access t o oppor t u n it y an d equ al pay Do you think that there is still a division of professions for women and men? I think no,

Empowerment Principles that can lead to Gender Equality. These principles are the result of collaboration between the UN Global Compact and UN Women.

They are informed by real-life business practices and input gathered from across the globe.

Here are these principles: Principle 1: Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality Principle 2: Treat all women and men fairly at work ? respect and support human rights and non-discrimination Principle 3: Ensure the health, safety, and well-being of all women and men workers Principle 4: Promote education, training and professional development for women Principle 5: Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women Principle 6: Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy profession should not have gender-based divisions. And it is the ?specialist?who receives the salary, whether it is a woman or man.

Principle 7: Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality

En d violen ce

To sum up, We see that there are many initiatives even at the international level, many well-known publishers have written about methods of achieving gender equality.

However, the following question remains: Are the society and political leaders ready to take these measures to ensure equal rights and take responsibility for the free development of women? I think that is the question that we need to find an answer to.

The global fight against violence and sexual harassment that many women experience during their lifetime should be one of the top priorities in global politics.

For m at ion of t h e gen der -f r ien dly en vir on m en t Starting from raising children in accordance with the principles of equality and ending with a change in the whole mentality - these are global measures that can lead us to gender equality. Even such a step as access of mothers to education will allow raising their daughters - the next generation - in such a way that they will not be afraid to express their opinions and will know their rights.

So I also want to take the accent on some of the Women's