ACHIEVING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT BY 2030
Women’s equality is a key source of a country’s economic growth but social perceptions and discriminatory laws continue to impede their full participation
Enala which inspires me to advocate on their behalf at the highest levels to ensure their stories are not forgotten.
Women’s equality is a key source of a country’s economic growth but social perceptions and discriminatory laws continue to impede their full participation. This ugly reality inspired me to pursue a legal career and left me determined to help empower women and girls in every way possible.
In 1997 I entered the House of Lords as Baroness Scotland of Asthal and throughout my ministerial career in the Foreign Office, Lord Chancellor’s Department, Home Office and as the first woman attorney-general of England, Wales and Northern Ireland I continued my efforts towards gender equality and women empowerment. At the Foreign Office between 1999 and 2001 we created the Forced Marriage Unit, the International Child Abduction Unit and the Human Rights Panel to help support young people around the world.
In 2003 I then chaired the InterMinisterial Group on Domestic Violence. Through its work we developed a multi-agency approach to deal with the pernicious nature of this crime. We introduced the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act and worked together with other government departments, local authorities and charities, and ultimately reduced domestic violence by 64 per cent while the cost of domestic violence dropped by £7.1 billion (RM37.81 billion) a year. Up until this point the issue was wrongly assumed by many to belong in the private sphere rather than to be tackled by governments.
Three years ago, in 2016, when I became the first woman to whom 53 heads of government entrusted the responsibilities of Commonwealth secretary-general, I reaffirmed my commitment to women’s equality — an urgent priority for our member countries, as endorsed in the Commonwealth Charter.
A 2016 World Bank Report found that 41 of the 46 Commonwealth countries studied had at least one law impeding women’s economic opportunities. Systematised legal inequalities such as these, based on gender, are barriers to full participation in society by women, and multiple detrimental effects ensue.