I am a domestic violence survivor. Even as an engineering graduate, I was not allowed to work outside the confines of the house. Irrespective, I took pride in looking after my children and looked after my family as best as I could. As a wife, daughter-in-law, and mother, I feel I have done well. Our two intelligent citizens of the country stand testimony to this. Unfortunately, though, at this stage in my life, I am left wanting to know my worth as a homemaker. Tortured and abandoned by the same family, domestic violence has become the reality of my life.

My name is Archana Mittal (maiden Sharma) aged 59 years (Turning 60 this year). As a Chemical Engineer, I have an MBA in Development Management. I have been a national scholarship holder and a District Topper who is now seeking her worth as a homemaker.

We have come a long way since the Violence Against Women Act was passed in 1994. It is important to recognize that domestic violence impacts millions of people, and it’s not only women who are victims; men suffer domestic violence as well.

Seeking legal recourse after domestic abuse, My experience with the police and courts exposed me to torture on another level. From exorbitant lawyer fees to delays in police complaint registration and subsequent delayed court dates. I continue to experience a multiplicity of litigation as filed by my estranged husband to break me with his might in the corporate world and the monetary success that I had silently helped him accrue as his homemaker wife. It’s been over six years that I am waiting for a date in the court that gets me my due as a 59-year-old homemaker. Despite all the evidence, I am suffering on all accounts. At this age I do not want a divorce, all I want is to lead a dignified life as supported by my constitution, and protected by the laws of our country.

Here are a few suggestions to affect a policy change such that the laws are actually impactful to those who suffer and not just become a tool for manipulation for a few.

These are arrived at after diligent research through journals, as well as speaking with survivors and other stakeholders.

· Do you know there is NO data available on domestic abuse offenders? Incorporating or creating a national register for domestic abuse offenders is of prime importance

· Addressing domestic abuse as an issue with the public health system

· Give a mandate to public distribution systems (milk booths, ration shops), places of worship, medical shops, and Kirana stores to have trigger buttons where women can register their domestic abuse call to authorities. All these centres/places have helpline numbers of NGOs working on Domestic violence. Sensitization to be done for these places

· Making help more accessible to victims in a seamless manner

· Creating a special task force by integrating offices from the Ministry of Health and Family welfare

· Training domestic abuse health counsellors (special counsellors)

· Special tribunals in courts for fast-tracking domestic abuse cases

· Gender-neutral laws (men and women both can be offenders)

· Creating awareness about domestic violence from the school level (inclusive of boys and girls)

· Introducing a subject on finance and law to understand the basics at the school secondary level (since most women are not involved in these at home they tend to suffer not knowing even the basics)

· Along with the registration of marriages, handing booklet of domestic violence laws to the couple

· Acknowledging the role of Homemakers in GDP growth. Some percentage of the earning member’s salary can be kept in an escrow account or GOI can collect as a cess tax (deducted from salary), and grant an adequate amount as maintenance, as prescribed by the supreme court, so the long-drawn-out fight lessens the burden on courts as well as resulting in giving dignity of women in society for being homemaker.

· After the amendment of laws, a review should be done to see the impact. Ever since the decriminalisation of adultery, chaos has erupted in the fabric of society. As though it’s a license to become immoral and corrupt leading to more divorces and collateral damage to families and children.

Divorces affect the GDP of the country too.

Please find a recent researched base report on the reasons for domestic violence as conducted by a couple of research scholars in Tripura focusing on their state. This research on reasons for domestic violence must be done countrywide to assess the situation of women in their own homes, reasons, challenges and what needs to be done for half of the population.

With All respect

Archana Mittal

Views are personal. The author, Archana Mittal volunteers with Mission Anganwadi,(CSO), an initiative for restructuring and strengthening Anganwadis. She also works for Vriddhachi Anganwadi at Pune, creating an ecosystem for elders ( 60-95yrs) within the community to age gracefully. She further supports women in challenging situations by creating short videos spreading awareness about women’s rights. As a certified therapist, she also provides counselling to women undergoing trauma and abuse in their own homes.

The post Domestic Violence: A victims appeal appeared first on Woman Endangered.

Suparnaa has been conducting these sessions pro bono since 2014 and is regularly invited by schools, institutes as well as corporates to conduct the session. The Simply Suparnaa © Media Network has been awarded by the UN Women as an SME champion. Woman Endangered is a non-profit trust under the network that promotes Responsible content besides conducting menstrual hygiene as well as awareness sessions on violence against women. The other initiative under the network is SABERA. A one-of-its-kind annual social impact award, and summit highlight ESG best practices & sustainable development initiatives by corporates, nonprofits, and individuals

Voice of Pratigya a local newspaper wrote about the session and shared ‘ महावरी के प्रति जाग रुकता लाने के लिए ऑनलाइन काउंसलिंग की गई’ (Online counselling was done to bring awareness towards Periods).’ ‘बालिकाओं को ग्रामीण क्षेत्र मैं इस दिशा में गलत धारणाओं को छोडने अवं वैज्ञानिक चिंतन पेयदा करने की दिशा मैं अग्रसर किया’ (In the rural area, the girls were encouraged to move beyond misconceptions and start thinking scientifically in this direction).

Let us know if you know of a school/college/community in the remote parts of the country – we would be happy to conduct a session! write to womanendangered@gmail.com or suparnaa@simplysuparnaa.com

To support our initiative contribute here.

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The shoot was creatively ideated and executed collectively by photographer Kuldpeed Rohilla along with stylist Jhanvi Bansal. While all the women wore white, all the frames were individually designed to visually express each of their journeys and highlight their personalities.

“It has been an honour for me and since this is the first-ever creative to go out of India, I am particularly thrilled about it”, says Kuldeep Rohilla, the lead photographer of this campaign.

Suparnaa, the founder of the Simply Suparnaa © Media Network, a UN Women awardee, is a media professional who gave up a senior executive role to start an alternative platform promoting GOOD content beyond sensationalism. A Shakti initiate, she has trained in the ancient wisdom of Sankhya Shastra by her Guru Shree Umeshwar Shrivastav.  She has also been conducting pro bono Menstrual hygiene sessions in marginalized as well as corporate sectors and institutions as part of the nonprofit trust Woman Endangered for the past 8 years.

The other women featured in the campaign include Sheetal, who has faced all odds to start doing medical clowning for ailing kids and patients in hospitals to make them feel mentally better in pain.

Suviena, is an A-league B-school graduate and has quit a full-time high paying career to do something that she finds fulfilling i.e., teaching

Rudrani, who has started the first transgender modelling agency in India.

Yash, who is a drag artist and started the first transgender salon in Delhi.

Zareen, one of the few ASI and government-licensed women tourist guides in India

Urmi,  a journalist and a researcher turned author of the acclaimed book – “After I Was Raped”, and winner of UN Laadli Award

 Silpa,  an IP Lawyer and a theatre actor, is in a long-distance marriage for the last 3 years just to give back to the theatre community of India

Bruna is a young tattoo artist who has led a life of a man for 25 years but identifies as a woman now. She strongly believes in the concept of Shiva and Shakti being one and hence believes that though the body is of a man, a woman also resides within her.

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The Network consciously works towards creating a positive narrative away from sensationalism. सबेरा SABERA, is a one-of-its-kind annual social impact award and summit which highlights SDG & ESG aligned work across the country. Amidst others, the network stands for causes enabling gender sensitivity as promoted by Woman Endangered. An initiative to affect behavioural change and enhance gender equity. With a keen spiritual bent, I am training in Shaktism under my Spiritual Mentor, Shree Umeshwar Shrivastav, and have also formally studied the Sankhya Shastra under his tutelage. I strongly believe that leadership and spirituality are interconnected and have the potential to bring a larger change in society.

From engaging with girls from economically weaker sections, daughters of sex workers, rag pickers, launderers or gardeners to employing women who have had to take a career break. From documenting steps in the unfortunate incident of Rape as explained by the Super Cop Chhaya Sharma who busted Nirbhaya’s perpetrators to conducting menstrual hygiene sessions in slums and offices. And of course, acknowledging Gender equitable campaigns and companies across the country. I remain grateful for your support and belief in my work. I have had help from different corners of the industry and as I receive this acknowledgement – I thank you from the bottom of my heart for it wouldn’t have been possible without your direct support or the warmth of your blessings.

Yours Sincerely,

Suparnaa Chadda

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Frida Kahlo was a brilliant painter, but a far more exceptional woman. Her recognition today is far wider, her contribution and merit much better appreciated. But even during her lifetime she was far ahead of contemporary mould and mindset. She was, first demurely and later boldly, more than willing to break the cast and establish a uniquely extraordinary identity. And she did so with style, statement and panache!

What does pain do to humans?

Much. And more intense, more excruciating, more soul-searing the pain, greater is its impact on the human mind. Those who had a close brush with death or who had a near-death experience, once recovered, either completely overcome and win over the fear of death or they become so obsessed with the pain and prospect of death that they continue to die every moment of the remainder of their existence. This encounter, infrequent but not rare, immanently ingrained both in physiology and psychology of the person, gets permanently, indelibly engraved and etched on one’s psychic slate that alters one’s purpose of existence immutably.

Frida belonged to the former experience. Once she recovered, though she continued to physically suffer in some way or the other, she not only overcame the fear or imminence of death, she, indeed, but also became defiant and ridiculed death. This, in some way, explains her preference of themes of pain and suffering; and her derision of the same in most of her creations – vibrant in colour, deeply drenched in sad sublime pathos, aglow with luminosity, douce but disturbing at the same time. She immortalized her personal experience of chronic pain in her paintings, defining even celebrating her spirited triumph over the inflictions of fate.

Early Life

Born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón to a German father and a mestiza mother, Kahlo spent most of her childhood and adult life at La Casa Azul, her family home in Coyoacán (today it houses the famous and popular Frida Kahlo Museum).  She was disabled by polio as a child but proved herself to be promising enough to qualify for medical school until she suffered a bus accident at the age of 18, which caused her lifelong pain and medical problems. During her recovery, she returned to her childhood interest in art with the idea of becoming an artist.

Body of Work

There are three aspects of Frida’s oeuvre that stand out. The most evident aspect is of course the underlying pain her body and soul had received early in life and which endured as an abiding aspect of her physical existence, the best expression of which gets imminently expressed in her portraits, the majority of them being her own. The second aspect is her passionate attachment to the popular culture of Mexico and of artefacts, folk art, even natural bounties of her homeland mirrored majestically in her portrayals. This aspect is so pronounced in her paintings that they are treated by many as emblematic of Mexican national tradition and culture. The third and the most striking aspect, however, remains the depiction of feminine experience and form fearlessly and boldly, stated without compromise or reservation. The first aspect dominated her initial years of creativity, while she was still unexposed to the influences obtaining in the world outside Mexico. The second aspect dominated her work after her paintings were seen and noticed in the US and France. The third aspect of a feminine perspective underlined almost all her works, at times boldly and eloquently; and at others, subtly and subliminally, even mutely. Kahlo’s unique identity as a painter makes her stand out largely owing to this permeated, suffused and yet brightly emitting scintillas of feminine sensibilities.   

In a Man’s world

Painting for Kahlo was always an exploration of questions and conundrums of identity and existence. The accident and the isolating recovery period made her desire “to begin again, painting things just as [she]saw them with [her]own eyes and nothing more.” Her corporal pain and disability and the attendant loneliness blended so beautifully with her creativity that the outcome was effortlessly brilliant, eloquent and touching.

Her passionate love affair with Diego Rivera culminating in her marriage with him transformed her in extraordinary ways. Content to be always introduced as Diego’s wife, her own identity as a painter became evident when she toured US with Diego. Diego was already a mural painter of considerable standing by then. She preferred to remain in his shadows even when she had begun producing paintings in her own distinct style. When they were in Detroit together, none of Kahlo’s work was featured in exhibitions in Detroit, though she did give an interview to the Detroit News on her art. The article that appeared, however, was condescendingly titled “Wife of the Master Mural Painter Gleefully Dabbles in Works of Art”.

Even much later, when she had already held more than half a dozen exhibitions, in November 1938, reviewing her exhibition in New York, Time wrote “Little Frida’s pictures … had the daintiness of miniatures, the vivid reds, and yellows of Mexican tradition and the playfully bloody fancy of an unsentimental child”.  Not very flattering, and typically patronising to a woman artist.

While Diego did encourage and mould her creativity and introduced her to his circle of friends and fellow artists, her own sensitivity and restlessness began to bloom, first during her sojourn to the US with Diego and then with the encouragement and support of Andre Breton, the founder of ‘surrealism’, to France. Breton, saw in her, the very essence of surrealism, where the dream and reality indistinguishably mingle and merge. Her exhibitions in San Francisco and Boston in US; and in Paris in France brought her recognition but more than that she began to discover her own independent identity giving her the courage and boldness to experiment with newer techniques of paintings focusing on themes that appealed and touched her sensitivities. She wanted her exhibition in France to be a success, which it was not. Yet, Louvre bought one of her paintings ‘The Frame’, the first one from a Mexican artist to be included in their collection. In her 40s and subsequently, till her death she confined herself to exhibitions in Mexico and US and to teaching. She taught at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (“La Esmeralda“) and was a founding member of the Seminario de Cultura Mexicana. Her solo exhibition in 1953 preceded her death in 1954.

A woman of passion

If the marriage with Diego was a delicious denouement in her physically painful life, the divorce and reconciliation with him after one year, contributed to diversifying her portrayals of the colours and contours of life and took her expressions of sensitivity to as yet unknown and unexplored levels. It did not help matters that Diego’s wandering affections and numerous liaisons also embraced her own younger sister. The paintings made by her during this period of separation which was intensely distressing, deranging and destabilizing depict a range of emotions-helplessness, revenge, rage, and surrender against a person she could not live without. No painter had ever portrayed so effectively and poignantly and passionately, the power and hold of affection and dependence of a woman for and to a man. To draw self-images on such a volatile theme was by any standard intrepid defiance of the prevailing conventional position of women in society in Mexico then, in an unprecedented assertion both courageous and unprecedented.

In keeping with the times then, Frida was also attracted to the ideas of socialism; gender, class and race- equality and empathized with the resentment and rebellion against discrimination and injustice and exploitation of poor and underprivileged. These were the times when to do so was not only passionately popular but also deemed fashionable, even romantic. Given the highly emotional nature of Frida, her fascination and attraction to men with strong conviction and commitment to these ideologies were distinctly pronounced. This partly explains her love and fascination for and attachment to her fellow artist and painter Diego Rivera, who was not only older but could offer an intellectual fulfilment Frida had always craved.  

Surreal or Traditional?

She experimented with different techniques, such as etching and frescos. Despite the popularity of the mural in Mexican art at the time, she adopted a diametrically opposed medium, votive images or retablos– religious paintings made on small metal sheets by amateur artists to thank saints for their blessings during a calamity. Amongst the works she made in the retablo manner in Detroit are Henry Ford Hospital (1932), My Birth (1932), and Self-Portrait on the Border of Mexico and the United States (1932). Kahlo had an extensive collection of approximately 2,000 retablos, establishing Kahlo’s interest and prowess to use narrative and allegory to the limits of iconic purity.

Trees, Roots, Thorns, Hair, Eyebrows, Anatomy were some of the icons that she liberally used, as also the Aztec symbols drawn from its mythology. While her visual portrayals were bold and vivid, the underlying meanings and messages were always subtle and often ambiguous, as if revealing the conflict in her mind. Her paintings were also invariably an exercise of reconciliation between opposites. So, while there was death, there was also life side by side, if there was hope, there was despair as well, and if there was decay and destruction, there was regeneration and growth too. That surrealists like Breton and the Mexican traditionalists were simultaneously able to see powerful though conflicting messages in her paintings only illumine her genius.

While she did enjoy moments of recognition and fulfilment during her lifetime, her work was reassessed by the late 1970s by art historians and political activists. By the early 1990s, she had become not only a recognized figure in art history but also regarded as an icon for Chicanos, the feminism movement- a social and political movement, inspired by prior acts of resistance among people of Mexican descent. The defining aspect of her work and the most important facet of her art, however, eminently reveals her identification with La Raza, the people of Mexico, and her profound interest in its culture.

Variously described by art critics as ‘Symbolist’, a Folk Artiste, practising elements of ‘Magical Realism or New Objectivity’ and drawing elements of fantasy, naivety, and fascination with violence and death, Kahlo’s work today stands celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions and by feminists for what is seen as its undaunted and uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form. But in essence, her style developed mixed reality with surrealistic elements, often depicting pain and death. It’s a style that evolved with the spontaneity of elemental energy spurred by the diverse experiences of her life. Her oeuvre is a distillation of a synthesised amalgam of prevailing artistic traditions, indigenous movements, peer influences and above all a personal life replete with pain and an indomitable spirit of its defiance.

A feminist

Kahlo, thus, created in herself a unique and unusual woman of Art who was at once feminine, Mexican, modern, and powerful and who dared to diverge from the usual dichotomy of roles of mother/other woman allowed to females in contemporary Mexican society.

Women have often been neglected as major contributors to the history of the world either through commission or distortion. It’s a delight for us to have taken on the challenge to unearth these overlooked gems and keep relevant the stories of amazing women in history.

The author was the former Information and Broadcasting Secretary, GOI. Mr Uday Kumar Varma, serves as an esteemed jury member on the SABERA The Social and Business Enterprise Responsible Awards 2021 Jury Board.

This article is the third in the series of women in history who have excelled in their area of passion. The first being on activist Emmeline Pankhurst from England and the second on the lady sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko

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“A girl shouldn’t sit like that” my 3^rd grade teacher once told me, before proceeding on to demonstrate how a straight back with crossed legs was the ‘lady-like’ way to sit.

I never noticed any teacher telling a boy how to sit or to not be loud, whereas girls were policed about how they should talk, be non-disruptive and behave like ‘ladies’ in general.

As I grew up and feminism rescued me from a very dangerous thought process, I realised the fact that everything a girl does is seen as explicit by the society (a society that we contribute to, by the way).

We have been systematically taught that it is shameful to be a girl. Everything should happen behind closed doors and yet is secretly lusted after anyway in public. Naturally it escalates into full-blown misogyny towards even the most natural of things, like menstruation.

God forbid a tampon falls out of our bag in a metro or we carry Pads without the black polythene the shopkeeper so kindly offers. All this is necessary, believe me, or otherwise the world might just find out that half of its population bleeds every 28 days.

The shame and stigma that we associate with Periods (yes I said the word) is blatantly obvious in the euphemisms we use, ‘chumming’, ‘on the rag’, ‘I’m down’.. a few of at least 5,000 such slang words that we chose to use instead of just calling them periods.

And let’s not even touch upon the subject of period taboos, a whole thesis on how a woman is impure and what she should or should not do during her cycle. And all of this dictated by a handful of people, who sit hiding behind the veil of privilege and ‘good sense’.

Just when we think there is no end to this regressive mindset, we have non-profits and activists actively propagating women’s safety, rights and sanitation (while also restoring our faith into humanity).

There have been age-old movements and rebellions that have successfully enabled the world to move on from the times when women weren’t even allowed to vote or have a voice.

One such modern-day initiative, “#Letstalkperiod – Gift a Menstrual Cup”, is challenging the very ground of ignorance for menstrual health.

Created by Woman Endangered and Stone Soup, it challenges period taboos and superstitions while addressing the issue of human health crisis that stems from repeated use of commercial pads or tampons over decades. It does this by distributing menstrual cups free-of-cost.

Why Menstrual Cups?

Studies have found that a woman uses a pad or a tampon for more than 100,000 hours in a lifetime. And that’s just the minimum estimate!

Yet we don’t talk about the chemical residue these products leave on the vaginal walls which can cause serious diseases such as cancer.

India accounts for 27 percent of deaths caused by cervical cancer, which is twice the global average. And the study links the cause partly to poor menstrual hygiene.

Amidst all of this, menstrual cups provide a safer, eco-friendly and economical option for women all over. It simply holds the period fluid, which can be emptied, and cup can be reused again.

The medical grade silicone used to make these cups, is infection-free and does not irritate the vaginal walls or pose any health risk by leaving residue.

After a one-time cost, it can be washed and reused for up to 10 years. Since, a single cup lasts that long, it greatly reduces the amount of menstrual waste generated to be disposed-off.

Benefits Of Using A Menstrual Cup

• Made from medical grade silicone which reduces risk of infection since it is also anti-bacterial – a quality otherwise not seen in other materials.
• It is bell-shaped and does not irritate the vaginal walls, as it is adjustable and easy to insert/remove.
• Simply holds period fluid and can be washed to be reused 2 to 3 times a day and is easy to store.
• Lasts from 8 to 10 years and reduces the hassle of disposing of used menstrual materials
• Reduces the burden on environment by reducing waste generation.

Menstruation health issues are probably the most stigmatized and ignored topic, even in the 21^st Century. And this is exactly what the #LetsTalkPeriod campaign aims to destroy.

The agenda is simple:

• Provide a sustainable menstrual alternative to pads and tampons which is a silicone menstrual cup
• Distribute these medical grade silicone cups free-of-cost to the most marginalized sections of women
• Address the ignorance and stigma around periods which has forced women to suffer in silence for years.

Joining hands with the crowdfunding platform DesiredWings.com, WE and Stone Soup have launched a crowdfunding campaign that aims to raise enough funds to organize a free-of-cost distribution of menstrual cups in Azadpur in New Delhi.

Aiming to distribute 1000 cups to 1000 women or even more, they want to target this health, environment and mental crisis at the grass root level.

In a time where period blood is still depicted as a ‘blue liquid’ gently splashed upon fluffy pads and any close-to-reality depiction is deemed inappropriate (not a family dinner conversation apparently), we need to stand up for menstrual health.

It’s time each of us contribute to the Gift A Menstrual Cup – Let’s Talk Period campaign, and destroy a few stereotypes ourselves!

About the Author:

A feminist at heart, Tarushi Varma believes change starts with just one person. So, raise your voice, stand up for yourself because you have it in you to make the world a better place.

The post Challenging Mindsets appeared first on Woman Endangered.

Double standards belief in #feminism n not in #LGBT rights! #WECHATUPhttps://t.co/nFYNL0fQgb

— Woman Endangered (@WE_Endangered) May 27, 2016

A wide range of questions came from across the globe ranging from disparity of income in couples to gender & age. Interests were piqued on status of feminism & LGBT rights as well.  Shared here is a summary of questions and their responses.

Question: Is the age of each gender an important factor in a heterosexual relationship? Why is the emphasis on having a young bride.

Answer:  We are moving towards equality in couple relationships. Age in gender should matter less and less, not more.Wanting a younger bride is still living in the era where men were the providers. It should change , In fact it is changing.

Question : Is #feminism a fashion or reality today?  Why is taken lightly or made a joke?

Answer : By it being a fashion, it has become a reality. However, its is still misunderstood to be hatred against men. Feminism at its core believes everyone should be treated equally. And any one who believes in gender equality is a feminist.

Question: What happens when a wife earns more than her husband. Can a couple live happily with this disparity?

@prernakumar21 @WE_Endangered The Indian patriarchal male needs to really work hard as does his mother, if the marriage has to work.

— Raksha Bharadia (@raksha_b) May 27, 2016

Answer: The Indian patriarchal male needs to really work as hard as does his mother, if the marriage has to work. According to a marriage therapist family interference is the biggest issue of urban couples.

Question: Is online activism as effective as other forms of activism?

Answer: Online activism is not limited by geography and hence has unlimited potential! We can change the world!

Question: Comment on feminist who don’t believe in LGBT rights?

@WE_Endangered @thewisebonobo Feminism at its core believes everyone should be treated equally.

— Raksha Bharadia (@raksha_b) May 27, 2016

Answer: People who don’t believe in LGBT rights are not feminists! This would amount to having double standards.

The post #WECHATUP with Raksha Bharadia appeared first on Woman Endangered.

Recognizing gender equality as a fundamental human right, central to driving the global economy and achieving the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), business leaders joined UN Member States and civil society organizations at the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Annual Event. The event focused on the multiplier effect of empowering women and girls in advancing all development issues and the enormous opportunity for business to lead on promoting gender equality.

In the keynote address, His Excellency Mr. Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, President of Costa Rica urged: “The time is right. International consensus has been reached, at Beijing+20 and in Agenda 2030, about the importance of women’s empowerment in the global sustainability agenda.” He emphasized that “a society that puts gender equality at its forefront not only grows economically but becomes more human.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon explained, “We cannot achieve our Sustainable Development Goals without securing the full and equal rights of half of the world’s population, in law and in practice.” He noted that “when companies invest in women, they see a range of benefits and a return on investment. It is clear that gender equality is a business issue.”

The Women’s Empowerment Principles – a partnership initiative of the UN Global Compact and UN Women – provide companies with an integrated and proven approach to unlocking the power of women in business and society. It is the largest business-led gender equality initiative in the world endorsed by more than 1,100 CEOs from 80 countries. Held in conjunction with the 60^th Commission on the Status of Women, this year’s annual event spotlighted companies that are implementing the WEPs to achieve the SDGs, step up action, and find innovative ways to partner and advance gender equality.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, stressed the importance of partnerships and collaboration with business to achieve gender equality, stating: “The engagement and commitment of the private sector to gender equality are essential to reaching the Agenda 2030 goals and aspirations. Gender equality and sustainability must be integral to every business plan and strategy.”

Lise Kingo, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact told participants, “We have not reached the tipping point on gender equality. It’s time that we have honest conversations about what is really holding women back. We need to end bias, both overt and unconscious. We must recognize that gender equality is not just a women’s issue – it’s a men’s issue, a family issue, a community issue and a business issue.”

To help accelerate progress, the development of a new gap analysis tool was announced by the Inter-American Development Bank, the UN Global Compact and UN Women, along with supporting partners from business and government. The tool will assist companies in identifying gaps in gender equality and scale up implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Principles.

The post Gender equality linked to economic development appeared first on Woman Endangered.

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