Delivering for women: It is everybody’s business to dismantle glass ceilings across society

Last month, the US state of Alabama shocked women’s rights activists after it banned abortion in almost all cases, including rape and incest. What was even more flabbergasting was the fact that those legislators who passed the regressive legislation were all male. Then in our own country recently, we saw two young newly-minted women members of Parliament being shamed on social media because of the so-called western attire they chose to wear during their first day at the highest seat of democracy. Again, most of the trolls were men.

What’s clearly common between the two incidents is that even in 2019 we have men — both in the first and developing worlds — making policies or surmonising about women. And while gender justice has indeed come a long way, the patriarchal construct survives across the globe. This means women continue to be treated as second-class citizens, either literally or subtly. This has got to stop for the sake of humanity. For, locking 50 per cent of the human population into restrictive conditions and fettering their potential is not only against the natural laws of justice but also a gargantuan opportunity cost. That’s why women’s empowerment is actually human empowerment.

I am at the 2019 Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver, Canada where over 6,000 delegates from all walks of life — development workers, activists, donors and policymakers — are gathering to exchange ideas, coordinate, build synergies and reinforce the movement for women’s empowerment. Again, this is everyone’s business and true gender justice and equality will only come about when conscientious people in every segment of society and economy work to allow women to reach their full potential. For example, at the conference, Landesa, one of the world’s leading organisations in poverty alleviation through land rights, hosted an event on the transformative power of realising land rights for women. After all, multiple studies have shown that when women have ownership of land, it significantly improves the quality of life for their families. But despite the existence of several laws guaranteeing equal land rights for women, in reality social circumstances in many cases deny women their rightful ownership of land.

Landesa seeks to rectify this by working at national, state and local levels with partners, governments and community actors to help women realise their land rights. And when women have ownership and access to land, it enhances their dignity, improves their economic situation and increases their decision-making authority. Over a period of time, this process should organically put women in positions of power at all levels so that the Alabama anti-abortion law and countless other gender discriminatory practices are either nipped in the bud or overturned. Creating equal opportunities for women is a must for a better world. And nothing should be decided about women without women.