Gender Equality is Your Issue Too
Written by Jennifer Castle, Senior Content Writer, UN Women USA LA
“Men — I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too.” -Emma Watson, UN Global Goodwill Ambassador, HeForShe
The 21st Century fight for gender parity has become an ongoing uphill battle. Women today represent 1 in 4 members of Parliament worldwide and only 34% are elected into local governments. They make up less than 10% of the heads of state and approximately 100 countries have never experienced a woman executive. It’s been estimated that at the pace we are currently moving, gender equality will take another 135 years to accomplish. The original goal in 1995, at the Beijing Platform for Action, the Fourth World Conference on Women, was to achieve complete 50/50 parity by 2030. We are far behind that original goal.
So in 2014, in an effort to promote civic action towards this issue, UN Global Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson and Director Elizabeth Nyamayaro decided to create the platform HeForShe. Their approach would be collective and communal because in order to end gender inequality, everyone must be involved. In other words, men and boys need to be included in this fight.
At the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, Hilary Clinton alluded to this by making the statement, “If there is one message that echoes forth from this, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.” During Emma Watson’s first address for HeForShe, she chose to reflect again on that statement, taking it a step further, “Sadly,” she lamented, “many of the things she wanted to change are still a reality today. But what stood out the most was that only 30 percent of her audience were male.” She then paused for the next question, “How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited?” To the men directly she added, “I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too.” Women’s rights are human rights.
The truth is, gender parity is often more complicated in times of conflict or struggle. This could be the reasoning for the pause in action towards these goals. COVID-19, the ongoing climate crisis, and the recent revoking of women’s reproductive rights have all presented incredible conflict. It has been shown through studies that during a crisis women are more likely to lose their jobs, let go of their jobs, lack important healthcare resources, and are more consistently threatened by violence. Women are also fourteen times more likely to die during a disaster. During times of crisis, we tend to rely on pre existing systems, change gets tossed to the side, and the gender imbalance continues to grow. So yes, the years of 2020–2022 have presented even more undeniable challenges for equality. That being said, many of the UN platforms persist in this fight, especially that of HeForShe.
The HeForShe call is a specific one, to all men and boys. It is a call of encouragement, to give their testimonials, while inspiring hard work towards action. The mission is concisely stated on their site, it is “an invitation for men and people of all genders to stand in solidarity with women to create a bold, visible and united force for gender equality. The men of HeForShe aren’t on the sidelines. They’re working with women and with each other to build businesses, raise families, and give back to their communities.” It is also a doing away of gender stereotypes, gender-based violence, and patriarchal routines. Equality comes in many forms. So it’s important to stay current on the many different facets of this fight. Today the HeForShe platform continues to thrive, forging forward in active hope. Several celebrities and political leaders have pledged their voice as well and recently, HeForShe held another successful Summit, which can be viewed on YouTube at any time.
On Sunday October 1st, the Los Angeles chapter conducted their own community HeForShe celebration. It was held beside the Santa Monica Pier and arch. This street action was extended to people of all genders, to stand in solidarity with women. They were asked to write their definition of gender equality and what it means to them. Many of them also decided to speak out. The turnout and passion behind each participant was awe inspiring. It was an amazing opportunity to get to know our community and motivate action within. UN Women USA LA hopes to project that same tangible energy into all of our future events.
#HeForShe, because when we better the rights of women, we better the rights of humanity. Equality is most attainable when we work together.
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