Recently, Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, made a scandalous statement: at the current rate of progress, gender equality is 300 years away. This statement is all about the plight of women in the world. I believe that the time has come for active action, otherwise we will have to wait three hundred years for equality.
Different positions
Famous actress Connie Britton quoted the UN leader and added the hashtag #WomensRights. Indeed, there is a global need to demand that women be able to live with respect and dignity.
The struggle for women’s rights is particularly relevant in Afghanistan and Iran, where misogynistic regimes are in power. But the world as a whole is not much better.
According to the World Bank study called Women, Business and the Law, 2.4 billion women are subject to abuse. That is, every third or fourth inhabitant of the planet. In 178 countries around the world, there are legal barriers to women’s full participation in economic life. 95 countries do not guarantee women equal pay for work. What personal freedom can we talk about if a woman does not have financial and economic independence?
At present, women worldwide have only 3/4 of the rights that the law grants to men. Yet, these statistics are averaged, in which the indicators of civilized countries are shared with the country where the Taliban rule.
I am most outraged by the number of countries where women and girls are treated as secondary. Just imagine that over the past two years, 23 countries have legislated to increase women’s economic participation and they present it as a huge achievement!
According to World Bank Managing Director Marie Pangestou, the gap between men’s and women’s expected lifetime earnings is $172 trillion globally. It is almost twice the world’s GDP for a year.
The price of women’s inequality makes two global GDP per year. Gabon, for example, had been praised for its comprehensive reform of the Civil Code and its adoption of a law on the elimination of violence against women. Thus, Gabon’s indicator rose from 57.5 points in 2020 to 82.5 points in 2021. You can compare this to how there was one goat on the farm, and the next year a second one appeared. As a result, livestock production increased by 100% during the reporting period. Something like that.
The era is changing
UN Secretary-General Guterres warned of the threat of a massive deterioration of women’s rights in many regions. He believes that equality between women and men is becoming increasingly remote. Well, it is true, but I am outraged by those words from the head of the world’s largest international organization.
How can you talk nonsense about 300 years needed to achieve equal rights for women and men? How can he think so? Epochs do not change on a mathematical principle. We need a push, and in this case, we need a kick.
The Middle Ages in Europe lasted a thousand years – from about 500 to 1500 AD. The Renaissance, the industrial revolutions and the achievements of science were the kicks from which the modern concept of human rights emerged.
Wasn’t Iran once a civilized country? Look at the photos of Iranian women before the Ayatollah took office. What brought the country back to the Middle Ages? How long does it last and, most importantly, low long will the Middle Ages last under the Taliban in Afghanistan?
There are plenty of examples from more civilized and prosperous countries. Currently, 18 countries provide 14 weeks of maternity leave for mothers. But I personally doubt that many employers, even in civilized countries, will hire a pregnant woman.
The global system does not work for girls and women, so we must change it. Certainly not in 300 years. Mechanisms of coercion to civilization have long been invented and there is no need to invent the bicycle in this case. We need to act with tough sanctions against Iran and Afghanistan, using educational projects all over the world.
And most importantly. Don’t forget to donate money to charities. Every dollar of yours narrows the 300-year gap that the head of the United Nations talks about.
I recently donated £55,000 to the Artists for Peace and Justice Project. The project supports local communities around the world with education, health and dignity programmes. I also donated 385 thousand euros to the Global Gift Foundation that supports children, women and needy families and £100,000 to the Caring Family Foundation, supporting vulnerable women, children and communities in the UK and Brazil.
I also call on you, if possible, to donate money to the fight for women’s rights.
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