Los Angeles and its Ongoing Fight Towards Gender Parity
Implementing new policy, legislative accountability, and motivating civic action within the community.
Written by Jennifer Castle, Senior Content Writer, UN Women USA LA
The goal for global gender parity has a long way to go. As we stand today 1 in 5 women, ages 15 to 49, report experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, within a 12-month span. Women today represent 1 in 4 members of Parliament worldwide and only 34% are elected into local governments. 1 in 3 of the world’s managers/supervisors is a woman. In addition, extreme poverty amongst women and girls continues to be on the rise, and is estimated to hit 383 million by the end of 2022, in comparison to 368 million men and boys. Gender parity is at a critical crossroads.
There have been a variety of complications that have come between our global goals on equity, COVID-19 being one of the main. Sima Bahous, UN Women’s Executive Director, referred to this time as a tipping point, “it is critical that we rally now to invest in women and girls to reclaim and accelerate progress. The data show undeniable regressions in their lives made worse by the global crises — in incomes, safety, education, and health. The longer we take to reverse this trend, the more it will cost us all.” Local action, civic engagement, social justice efforts, and connective resources have become imperative. The more we dig into this research, the clearer it is that it starts with community and local neighborhoods. So let’s take a closer look at ours, Los Angeles.
Los Angeles was one of the first cities to embrace the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Act (CEDAW), in 2005. In 2015, more changes were pushed forward in the fight for gender equity when Mayor Eric Garceetti immediately enacted Executive Directive NO. 11. This directive was created in response to a recent report on the status of women and girls within L.A., the results were “measurably disadvantaged.” Economically, professionally, and socially, women and girls were still facing much inequity within the city. So a few reformations were made, not only in policy but also on how gender would be defined and diversity acknowledged. Achieving true gender equity means looking past the traditional gender binary construct, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, within new systems, policy, or laws.
Another way in which Los Angeles has committed to reform is in accounting for all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs were originally established in 2012. The purpose behind them was to establish specific actions towards global issues such as poverty, equity, and threats to the environment. All of the SDGs are colorfully categorized and displayed within the L.A. Mayor website, where their own digital subsections are just a click away. There are 17 goals in total, the fifth being that of gender equity. These goals are all sewn together through a common thread, that in order to make progress in one, all 17 must be accounted for. It’s even proudly stated within, “in L.A., we organize our SDG actions in three ways: we measure progress through data reporting; we mobilize new projects and build capacity for the Goals; and we connect with partners, while centering our commitment to leave no one behind.”
L.A.’s first Voluntary Local Review on the city’s progress towards these SDGs began in 2019. They were the second city to begin conducting, analyzing, and posting these reviews, New York being the first. The reviews aim to bring focus to a specific set of data. For the fifth SDG, that data would be categorized to reflect the current state of gender-based violence, descrimination, forced marriage, leadership, reproductive rights, health, economic resources, exposure to technology, and the promotion of policy. The most recent categories to be added to this list are the gender pay gap, access to child care, and LGBTIA+ inclusivity. Each category is defined by a target and an indicator, where you can then click over to the current report and its statistics. Because COVID-19 hit early in 2020, the review came to a brief halt but then resumed in 2021. If ever you wish to see where L.A. stands in relation to the SDGs and gender equity, keep your eye on these reports.
L.A. continues their efforts in these various reviews and are diligent about facing accountability for the systems that aren’t working. They create change or new tactics where they see weakness. Additional changes that have been made are through programs such as The Innovation Team, a team of diverse individuals that support the Mayor in creating solutions in justice, equity, and the overall lives of Los Angeles citizens. MyVoiceLA was created for City employees who are seeking additional information on employee rights, laws, harassment, or discrimination. Complaints or violations can also be immediately filed via phone, email, fax, mail, or in person. L.A. has also joined the City Hub and Network on Gender Equity (CHANGE), a groundbreaking international coalition of cities committed to achieving gender equity.
Of course, alongside all of these city-wide actions has been our UN Women USA L.A. chapter, which has also worked hard to establish local projects that enforce the SDGs. Projects such as “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces,” “Belonging and Displacement: Uniting Heads, Hearts, and Hands,” and in creating a series of self defense classes for women that were accessible throughout L.A.
The “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces for Women and Girls” initiative was formed by UN Women for the purpose of affecting change, encouraging better systems for safety for women and girls in our global cities. Our L.A. chapter immediately took on this initiative with the intention for it to be an open, ongoing conversation regarding future projects, work, and goals. The idea was to work towards gender parity collectively, with the community and within the city of L.A. The L.A. Safe Cities Self Defense classes came in 2017 as the decision was made to help equip women with tools for defense. These classes were held at 2 different locations, at opposite ends of L.A. Nine were held in total.
Our “Belonging and Displacement: Uniting Heads, Hearts, and Hands,” was a platform that came to L.A. in 2019, designed to connect residents with women who have experienced displacement, as refugees, immigrants, or the unhoused. This event allowed speakers to share their perspective with hundreds of other Angelinos and was shaped around the single theme of belonging, how we can all take part in creating and encouraging a greater sense of belonging, not only locally but globally as well.
Los Angeles as a whole has done much in the last 10 years to improve upon its tactics towards gender parity. In fact, in 2022 they hit their first huge milestone, achieving full gender parity on its 41 boards and commissions. Women were now holding more than 50% of those positions. It’s a huge accomplishment but there’s still so much more to achieve. In all of this, L.A. seems to have devised a working system that starts at the local level. It starts within our own backyards and community, our own outreach, connective groups, and hard work. As Mayor Garcetti phrased it in his 2020 American Leadership speech, “what we do in our neighborhoods ripples far beyond our municipal borders. Our global goals come to life when we understand them as local goals. When they’re rooted in our communities”
On December 10, 2022 our UN Women USA LA chapter will celebrate all that has been accomplished within our community. We will be launching a very special event to celebrate past chapter platforms, events, and our most memorable moments. We’ll also be holding a discussion on what’s to come for the future. We could not have done any of this work without our members, activists, speakers, board, donors, and volunteers, in other words the peacebuilders, activists, and changemakers who collectively seek to make the world a better place. Our celebration will look to them specifically, celebrating them through community, connection, and storytelling.
To learn more about our anniversary celebration, as well as obtain tickets for this event, navigate the following Eventbrite link. Please keep an eye out for further details on this upcoming celebration. If you subscribe to our mailing list, be sure to add our email address: la@unwomen-usnc.org before publishing to your contacts so the details are sure to reach you.
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