Gender equality will open up whole world

“The revolution and women’s liberation go together. We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge of human compassion. It is a basic necessity for the revolution to triumph. Women hold up the other half of the sky.” This declaration, uttered by Thomas Sankara, the assassinated president of Burkina Faso, on International Women’s Day in 1987, has been top of mind as South Africa enters its national Women’s Month, commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Women’s March on Pretoria.

On August 9, 1956, more than 20 000 South African women of every colour, class, and creed, gathered in the nation’s capital to protest the apartheid state’s demand that black women carry pass books.

During their protest, in which marchers delivered thousands of petitions to the Union Building — the seat of government — the women of South Africa asserted, “Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uza kufa! Now you have touched the women you have struck a rock, you have dislodged a boulder. You will be crushed!”

Indeed, the mass action led by Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Lilian Ngoyi, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn not only bore witness to the illegitimacy of the apartheid regime, but became a symbol of the agency, resilience, and dignity of all women.

Undoubtedly, since the Women’s March of 1956, the position of women throughout South Africa, Africa, and the international community has improved; but the global community has yet to fully achieve the gender equality enshrined in the United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights, espoused by various liberation movements, and codified in many national constitutions.

Rather, women continue to be victims and survivors of gender based violence with the World Health Organisation estimating that 35 percent (1 in 3) of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence.

In the virtual world, women are also disproportionately subjected to harassment, with The Guardian last year reporting the findings of an Australian study, indicating that while nearly half of all internet users experienced some sort of online harassment, women under the age of 30 were over-represented, with 76 percent being bullied, receiving unwanted contact, being sexually harassed, and receiving rape and death threats.

In fact, women received twice as many death threats as men online, while nearly 10 percent of women under the age of 30 had been victims of “revenge porn”.

In addition to physical and emotional threats, women also bear the burden of economic inequality.

The recent furore at the BBC over salary disparities is but one example of a phenomenon at play in all sectors of every society.

Globally, women earn less than their male counterparts for the same work.

Incidentally, July 31 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day in the United States. Why July 31?

Because in order for a black woman to earn the equivalent of a white man in the same year, she would have to work an additional seven months, or 19 months to his 12 months, despite doing the same work.

Conversely, despite earning less, women are subjected to greater expenditures.

In many countries, contraceptives do not qualify as a medical necessity, forcing women to pay out of pocket, or in many instances, to forego contraception all together.

Similarly, feminine hygiene products are out of reach for many poor women internationally, with estimates indicating that one in ten African girls misses school during her period because she lacks access to menstrual products and or running water.

In short, while progress has been made, the safety, economic freedom, and life choices that many of the women in the class of ’56 — and numerous other generations — dreamt, worked, and protested for, have yet to be realised.

For this reason, Sankara’s words continue to ring true.

All too often, when gender equality is spoken of, the motivation is that women are daughters, wives, sisters, or mothers; and while these are roles that many rightfully ascribe to and cherish, the often understated truth is that women, in their own right, are fully human and in and of themselves are active agents of change.

To channel Sankara, “women hold up the other half of the sky.”

When the opportunities available to women open up, so do the opportunities for entire societies.

Consistently, developmental indicators have demonstrated this truism.

Research conducted by McKinsey noted that while women are less likely to hold managerial roles, there is a positive correlation between the number of women in management, organisational effectiveness and financial performance.

In short, more women better the bottom line — for everyone.

Similarly, numerous studies have found a relationship between equitable pay and more prosperous societies. According to conservative estimates, in closing the pay gap, by 2025, $12 trillion will be added to the global economy.

Some have cited the global benefit to be twice that at $25 trillion.

A myriad of other studies have further demonstrated the link between gender equality and the achievement of developmental indicators.

Given the benefits of gender equality for women and men, what then, should be done to advance gender equality? First, legislators ought to review and alter discriminatory laws.

According to facts and figures provided by UN Women, in a study of 143 countries — both developing and developed — 90 percent had at least one inequitable

law, that curtailed women’s economic rights.

Alongside state actors, companies and educational institutions should implement policies around family leave and flexible hours that would make it possible for both men and women to care for their families while contributing to society outside of the home.

But beyond these oft cited measures, and perhaps most critical, is for men and women to check their own bias.

From the hiring manager who assumes the male candidate really “needs” the job because he has a family to take care of — assuming a woman does not — to the ways in which children are raised to believe that “boys don’t cry” each member of society has a role to play in ensuring the next generation builds more equitable communities.

In this way, we can ensure the vision of the women of 1956, and so many others who fought for racial, gender, and economic equality, becomes a reality.

— African Independent Y Obenewa Amponsah is the executive director of the Harvard University Centre for African Studies’ Africa Office. She writes in her personal capacity