Goal 5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls
Goal 5 Recap:
June was an amazing month for focusing on Gender Equality issues.. Not only did #TheSDGVizProject have a ton of great submissions, but the project also overlapped with two rounds of the #Viz5 initiative, meaning there was a huge focus on Gender Equality from our community throughout the entire month. Altogether, we had 11 people submit vizzes, 3 of which were brand new participants, and another 6 who have participated in every month so far!! To date, we have over 70 vizzes from over 30 participants, which is just incredible! Let’s take a look at this month’s submissions.
Submissions:
Here are all of this month’s submissions. Please click on a thumbnail below to view the viz on Tableau Public, or view them in our Viz Gallery
Community Submissions:
Organizer Submissions:
What We Learned:
We learned so much about state of Gender Equality this month, but here are a few of the takeaways.
- Women on average earn 77 cents per every dollar that a man earns for the same work. Women also spend, on average, 3x as many hours on unpaid work.
- As of 2019 only 24% of seats in National Parliaments worldwide, were held by women, up from 13% 20 years ago. There are only four countries (United Arab Emirates, Bolivia, Cuba, and Rwanda) where at least half of seats are held by women, and another three countries (Micronesia, Papa new Guinea, and Vanuatu) where there are no seats held by women. This is an issue that is not specific to less developed countries. In 2019, 19 of the 46 (41%) Most Developed Countries had less women in National Parliament than the worldwide average of 24%.
- Women represent 39% of the Global Workforce, but only 27% of managerial positions, as of 2018.
- 1 in 3 women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in their lifetimes. 1 in 5 women and girls (aged 15 to 49) have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse from their partners in the last 12 months.
- 750 girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday. In West Africa, as much as 1 in 3 girls are married before their 18th birthday. In Niger, it’s over 70%.
- At least 200 million girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation.
How can we contribute to improving Gender Equality?
For many of the goals we’ve covered so far, one of the more effective ways for us as a community to help, was to donate to organizations that were actively working towards furthering that particular goal. Gender Equality is different. It is such a pervasive problem, existing in so many facets of life, in literally every region on the globe. It’s a people problem. It’s a mindset problem. It’s not a money problem. With that said, there are certainly organizations that can use your support and we’ll discuss those a little bit more below, but money alone will not solve this problem. To improve Gender Equality in all aspects of life we need a monumental shift in our policies, our traditions, and most importantly, our attitudes. A lot of progress has been made in these areas, but there is still so far to go. Here are some things that we can do in our day-to-day lives to help accelerate that progress, at home, in public, at work, and around the globe.
What can I do at home?
- Practice and demonstrate equal decision making
- Practice and demonstrate equal sharing of household duties
- Embrace talking about women’s rights, gender equality, and stereotypes with your family
What can I do in public?
- Increase female representation in political positions through voting and campaigning for female candidates
- Know the signs of domestic violence, look for it, and if you suspect it, report it!
- If you come across a media outlet portraying a woman as inferior, incompetent, or less intelligent, speak up and let them know about the harm that type of female representation can cause.
What can I do at work?
This section focuses mainly on what employers can do, but all employees should support and be actively pursuing the following;
- Increase female representation in leadership roles
- Provide equal pay for equal work
- Use mentoring and coaching to help women advance in their careers
- Make flexibility and work-life balance part of company culture
- Create a safe and clearly communicated process for women to report harassment without being exposed or dismissed
What can I do to help other areas of the world?
- Help spread awareness of the atrocities happening to women in some areas of the world (female genital mutilation, child marriage, rampant physical and/or sexual abuse). Volunteer, advocate, educate, and speak up on their behalf.
- Volunteer or donate to organizations helping to improve the lives of women in these areas. Here are a few recommendations;
Thank you for another great month, and keep an eye on our blog for the July Goal Announcement!