Everyone benefits when we lift women and girls

When it comes to gender equality, why do we have to keep fighting the same battles?

International Women’s Day is held every March to celebrate “the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.”

As a woman who has seen decades of fighting for gender equality, I am horrified by the far-reaching impacts of political and ideological agendas that erode women’s rights.

Why do we have to keep fighting the same battles?

Being female is not an homogenous experience. Our western lifestyle often rests on the backs of many of our sisters around the world who make our clothing and grow our food.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found, “In many low-income countries, women experience greater exposure to indoor air pollution from solid fuel use, increased harm from poor sanitation, higher exposure to toxic chemicals in occupations (e.g. textiles industry), and — in general — greater vulnerability to climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem damage.

“In advanced economies, there are differences in exposure to pollution and hazardous chemicals between men and women, linked to consumption habits, physiological differences, and gaps in socioeconomic backgrounds.

“In addition, around the world, women’s ability to shape environmental choices is handicapped by legal, cultural, and social constraints of different intensity.”

Project Drawdown ranks the combination of voluntary family planning and universal education of women and girls as third on their list to achieve the greatest gains in reducing our carbon emissions.

It makes sense. Educating girls and women to at least a Grade 12 level means more options and reproductive autonomy.

If that includes climate change knowledge, it also means greener jobs and consumption habits, and not exceeding a world population of 9.7 billion in 2050.

Reducing food waste and moving to plant-based diets are the other two high-ranking methods from Project Drawdown. Oxfam cites some interesting statistics about women and farming. Small-scale farming is responsible for 80 per cent of the world’s food, and women make up 43 per cent of farm labour in developing countries.

But women also have reduced access to loans, land, and machinery, and are disproportionately tasked with unpaid domestic chores.

So isn’t it ironic that, when provided with microloans, women have been found to be more trustworthy, more reliable at paying back the loans, and to have made better use of the funds than men.

Lifting women and girls up everywhere always benefits society, but we can never expect the prevailing power structure to easily surrender what it believes it rightly controls.

Educating girls and women to at least a Grade 12 level means more options and reproductive autonomy