tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/international-womens-day-2016-25539/articlesinternational Women's Day 2016 – The Conversation2016-08-10T13:08:08Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/636722016-08-10T13:08:08Z2016-08-10T13:08:08ZLocal elections show that South Africa’s women continue to play second fiddle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133641/original/image-20160810-18037-ja2b23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and former anti-apartheid activist Sophie de Bruyn at the unveiling of a monument to the 1956 women’s march. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Three events converge in August in South Africa: the 60th anniversary of the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/1956-womens-march-pretoria-9-august">march by women</a> to the <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=187">Union Buildings</a>; the finalisation of the local government <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/08/07/retrace-all-the-key-moments-in-our-election-blog">elections</a>; and the tenth anniversary of the trial of President Jacob Zuma for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/08/aids.southafrica">rape</a>. They act as a prism, refracting South Africa’s politics of gender, its uneven legacies and its ambiguous futures. </p>
<p>The recent municipal elections do not show that political parties consider women’s issues relevant or important. Sixty years after women marched on Pretoria and 22 years after the first <a href="http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/unit.php?id=65-24E-6">democratic elections</a> there are no visible champions of women’s rights. In fact, the gains that have been made risk being rolled back.</p>
<h2>Progress from 1956 to democracy</h2>
<p>The first moment of women’s mass political mobilisation as women was through the Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw), inaugurated in 1954 with the adoption of the <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/content/womens-charter">Women’s Charter</a>. Fedsaw organised its first national protest against the extension of the hated <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/pass-laws-south-africa-1800-1994">passes</a> – identity documents used to control the movement of black people during apartheid – to black women in 1955. But it is the protest march of August 9 1956 for which they are justly honoured.</p>
<p>Political repression led to Fedsaw’s dissipation in the early 1960s, but its memory inspired the 1994 <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/content/womens-charter-effective-equality">Women’s Charter for Effective Equality</a>. This was the fruit of the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/organisations/womens-national-coalition">Women’s National Coalition</a> – the second moment of South African women’s widespread mobilisation, made possible by the transition to democracy. </p>
<p>This moment yielded important gains. Some of these included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>marked increases in women’s representation in parliament;</p></li>
<li><p>the entrenchment of gender equality in the final <a href="http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/Constitution-Republic-South-Africa-1996-1">constitution</a> of democratic South Africa;</p></li>
<li><p>the establishment of the national gender machinery. This consisted of the Office on the Status of Women (housed in the Presidency), the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women in parliament, and the Commission for Gender Equality, an independent <a href="http://www.polity.org.za/article/the-chapter-9-institutions-in-south-africa-april-2012-2012-04-26">Chapter 9 institution</a>; and</p></li>
<li><p>the enactment of important legislation such as the <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/cotopa1996325/">Choice on the Termination of Pregnancy Act</a>, the <a href="http://ossafrica.com/esst/index.php?title=Summary_of_the_Domestic_Violence_Act%2C_no._116_of_1998">Domestic Violence Act</a> and the <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1998-120.pdf">Recognition of Customary Marriages Act</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These measures advanced women’s status in important ways. They also attempted to improve the position of black women, and those living under customary law in particular. </p>
<h2>The women’s vote</h2>
<p>The 2015 South African <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/media-briefs/democracy-goverance-and-service-delivery/public-preferences-sa">Social Attitudes Survey</a> showed women were less satisfied with the country’s <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/media-briefs/democracy-goverance-and-service-delivery/elections-leaders">political leadership</a>. Whether these attitudes influenced local government election outcomes is a matter of speculation. No data are available providing a gender-disaggregated breakdown either of registered voters, or those who actually voted.</p>
<p>Through their choice of political representatives, or the content of their manifestos, political parties certainly did not give the impression that there was a “women’s vote” to influence. </p>
<p>Half of all municipal councils’ seats in local government elections are ward councillor seats. The remaining seats are calculated proportional to the party’s representation. </p>
<p>Sixty percent of the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) proportional representation candidates were <a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-07-31-lge-2016-gender-parity-in-candidate-lists-still-elusive#.V6sRD5h97IU">female</a>. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) fielded only one-third women. Only one-third of ward councillors proposed by all three parties were <a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-07-31-lge-2016-gender-parity-in-candidate-lists-still-elusive">female</a>.</p>
<p>It is argued that including more women in policymaking processes will better promote women’s rights and interests. But whether this goal can be accomplished depends significantly on the extent to which gender is substantively embedded in parties’ manifestos. </p>
<p>Neither the DA nor the EFF made specific reference to women and gender equality in their <a href="http://genderlinks.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Gender-and-local-electionsSA-2016_BRIEFNOTE1_jhclm_062016.pdf">election manifestos</a>. The ANC for its part proposed no more than what was already in place. This is prioritising women’s inclusion within the Expanded Public Works Programme and consultation with stakeholders around the problem of violence against women. </p>
<h2>Jacob Zuma’s rape trial</h2>
<p>Gender featured only weakly in the recent elections. It took the silent protest, <a href="http://www.news24.com/Video/SouthAfrica/News/watch-rememberkhwezi-protesters-violently-removed-20160806">#RememberKhwezi</a>, at the Independent Electoral Commission to dramatically reinsert these questions of women’s absence into the heart of our politics. </p>
<p>In 2005 “Khwezi”, whose father had been a close friend of Zuma’s in exile, accused Zuma of rape. When the trial began in 2006 it shattered the idea that women share the same agenda, priorities or interests. The trial pitted largely urban, feminist women’s rights activists against largely rural, <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2006-03-21-timeline-of-the-jacob-zuma-rape-trial">traditional women</a>. It also saw the ANC Women’s League remain silent on the threats against Khwezi, and the phallic, aggressive masculinity the <a href="https://amadlandawonye.wikispaces.com/Zuma+bravado+brutalising+the+public,+Ndebele,+Sunday+Times">trial celebrated</a>. </p>
<p>Precisely how this masculinity was to be understood, and what its place was within the politics of the ANC, was a central feature of the later controversy surrounding Brett Murray’s painting, “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/21/jacob-zuma-court-painting-genitals">The Spear</a>”. These questions surfaced yet again when ANC politician Marius Fransman, accused of sexually assaulting Louisa Wynand earlier <a href="http://city-press.news24.com/News/ready-for-a-fight-20160528">this year</a>, electioneered alongside Zuma.</p>
<p>The ANC’s once undeniable commitment to gender equality is now a withered imitation of its former self. Yet the DA and EFF provide little in the way of an alternative. </p>
<p>The DA’s particular brand of liberalism has proved impervious to feminist ideals. In addition, the marriage between feminism and socialism – including the EFF’s version of choice, Marxist-Leninism – has never been a happy one.
A strong commitment to practising gender equality seems unlikely in this context. </p>
<p>However, the EFF demonstrates commitment to women’s representation. Yet female EFF leaders, who are powerful and articulate individuals in their own right, play second fiddle to the party’s male national leadership. The DA does not support gender quotas but has produced <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/mayor/Pages/Biography_Delille.aspx">Patricia de Lille</a> (originally of the Pan Africanist Congress and the Independent Democrats), <a href="https://www.da.org.za/member/helen-zille/">Helen Zille</a>, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/lindiwe-mazibuko">Lindiwe Mazibuko</a> and <a href="http://whoswho.co.za/phumzile-van-damme-856003">Phumzile van Damme</a>. </p>
<p>There are lessons to reflect on in South Africa’s <a href="http://www.gov.za/2016WomensMonth">Women’s Month</a>. The country’s past tells us that, under certain conditions, women mobilise in ways that produce significant political results. Our present shows how easily these gains can evaporate. And our future urges us to look within the unfamiliar political spaces created by the contradictions of the present to forge new practices of gender equality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63672/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Vetten does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Africa’s past tells us that, under certain conditions, women mobilise in ways that produce significant political results. But the country’s present shows how easily these gains can evaporate.Lisa Vetten, Honorary Research Associate, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/559662016-03-08T15:21:24Z2016-03-08T15:21:24ZThe EU talks the talk on gender equality – but in a male voice<p>The “stay” side of the EU referendum campaign seems to be fighting fire with <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/11/whats-eu-ever-done-us">lists</a>. The aim being to reel off everything the EU “has ever done for us” in the hope of convincing people to vote to remain.</p>
<p>And as women make up half the electorate deciding whether the UK stays in the EU, it seems appropriate to ask for some evidence on what the EU has, or has not done, for gender equality. After all, the Brexit campaigners have launched a dedicated women’s group, claiming that their struggle is <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/12186842/Women-who-campaign-for-a-Brexit-are-like-Suffragettes-Priti-Patel-says.html">akin to that of the Suffragettes</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_7026/">list-makers</a> would point us to the multiple areas of EU “activity” related to gender equality. <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/your_rights/eu_gender_equality_law_update2013_en.pdf">Sex discrimination</a> in the workplace, and in goods and services, <a href="http://bit.ly/24NZq9Q">equal pay</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/21iZBW9">pregnancy discrimination</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/1iJmGSX">maternity and paternity rights</a>, <a href="http://europa.eu/epic/studies-reports/childcare/index_en.htm">childcare</a>, <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-3045_en.htm">domestic violence</a> and <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-violence/eliminating-female-genital-mutilation/index_en.htm">female genital mutilation</a> are all part of the European agenda. But the challenge is to sieve through these activities to find genuine changes – particularly ones that would not have happened anyway.</p>
<h2>Assessing the record</h2>
<p>Here are some examples from the first entry on the list – sex discrimination in the workplace. In spite of having adopted sex equality legislation in the 1970s, there are a number of specific aspects of sex discrimination on which the UK dragged its heels until EU institutions intervened.</p>
<p>The EU Court of Justice told the UK it couldn’t impose a <a href="http://bit.ly/1M4kQ7k">compensation cap</a> in sex discrimination claims, for example. And it instructed the UK to stop requiring a <a href="http://bit.ly/1U1hN7C">“sick man” comparator</a> for pregnant women, since this had effectively permitted discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy.</p>
<p>The EU also permitted women on maternity leave to <a href="http://bit.ly/1pvBlEE">accrue holiday pay</a> (though UK rules remained <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/31555/11-699-1-consultation-modern-workplaces-working-time.pdf">in conflict</a> with this principle for some years).</p>
<p>The EU appears more ambitious (if not always effectively so) than the UK on the subject of further changes to maternity rules. The European Parliament recently proposed extending full pay to <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20101020IPR88388/Extending-maternity-leave-to-20-weeks-with-full-pay">20 weeks</a> of maternity leave – a suggestion <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/249969/TaskForce-report-15-October.pdf">rejected by the UK</a>. The idea has since been <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5287_en.htm">abandoned</a>.</p>
<p>When it comes to discrimination at work, The EU’s rulings have been incremental, rather than revolutionary. They also tend to operate squarely within a pre-determined, male-leaning model of economic activity and male work patterns.</p>
<p>The limitations of the EU’s sex equality legislation are further underlined by the <a href="http://bit.ly/21iZRVl">exclusion of unpaid care</a> of adults from the reach of discrimination protection, while <a href="http://bit.ly/24O0878">reproductive work</a> simply does not register on the EU’s radar.</p>
<h2>On the agenda</h2>
<p>Figures on the pay gap vary. Women earn on average <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Gender_pay_gap_statistics">16.4% less than men</a> per hour in the EU economy as a whole. But we know that it fluctuates according to age, sector, whether work is full or part time, and level of pay. Highly-paid women earn <a href="http://www.poverty.org.uk/56/index.shtml">20%</a> less than highly paid men, while male bonuses were recently reported to be <a href="http://www.wherewomenwork.com/Career/80/Male-bonuses-double-those-of-women-as-gender-pay-gap-widens">double</a> those of women’s. It also varies considerably between member states, and between regions of each state, as this <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/7116161/7188977/1305EN.pdf">pay gap map</a> shows.</p>
<p>The EU has acknowledged <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-43_en.htm">“persistent gender differences”</a> and notes that they “should be effectively tackled whenever they result from societal or institutional barriers or constraints”. Warm words indeed, but it hasn’t given much by way of an action plan.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114289/original/image-20160308-22143-nlg8w2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114289/original/image-20160308-22143-nlg8w2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114289/original/image-20160308-22143-nlg8w2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114289/original/image-20160308-22143-nlg8w2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114289/original/image-20160308-22143-nlg8w2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114289/original/image-20160308-22143-nlg8w2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114289/original/image-20160308-22143-nlg8w2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some male parliamentarians blurred out to give you a better view of a male parliamentarian.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/24606585384/in/dateposted/">European Parliament</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Access to childcare remains critical for increasing female labour market participation, career prospects, and earning potential. Way back in 2002, the European Council <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/documents/130531_barcelona_en.pdf">pledged</a> to provide childcare to at least 90% of children over the age of three before they start school and at least 33% of children under three. By <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-490_en.htm">2013</a>, just ten member states had reached the target for under threes and only nine reached the target for over threes. Even where the targets were met – as in the UK – cost, availability and quality were all significant problems.</p>
<h2>Brussels boys club</h2>
<p>On inadequate child care and related pay gap policies, the member states – including the UK – must take a share of the blame. But the EU must take responsibility for how its own institutions are constituted – and they are constituted largely of men.</p>
<p>Even allowing for the role of member states in nominating representatives, it is implausible to say the EU could not address the striking male tilt in Brussels.</p>
<p>There are five female judges in the <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_7026/">Court of Justice</a> – out of 28 in total (and two out of 11 Advocates General). There are six out of 28 in the <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_7035/">General Court</a>.</p>
<p>Women account for just nine of the 28 <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019_en">Commissioners</a>, and only eight of 36 <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/civil_service/about/who/dg_en.htm">Directors General</a> – and that is after a reshuffle to <a href="https://www.globalpolicywatch.com/2015/06/reshuffle-of-directors-general-at-european-commission/">improve</a> the gender balance. The European Parliament, where women make up 37% of MEPs, is a little more balanced.</p>
<p>It should also be said that as dismal as these numbers seem, they still compare favourably to domestic institutions. In the UK, 191 out of 650 MPs are women (29%). Only one out of twelve <a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/about/biographies-of-the-justices.html">Supreme Court</a> judges is a woman, and eight out of 43 <a href="https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/you-and-the-judiciary/going-to-court/court-of-appeal-home/coa-biogs/">Court of Appeal</a> judges.</p>
<p>But in light of the dominantly male character of EU institutions, it shouldn’t be surprising that its actions on gender equality are found wanting.</p>
<p>If we ask <a href="http://www.genderequality.ie/en/GE/Pages/WP13000060">what the EU has ever done for women</a>, we are suggesting that the EU is somehow a separate entity to women, who should be grateful recipients of well-intentioned, mostly-male actions. Paternalism is disenfranchising and disempowering. The EU “doing things for women” is not enough. Women need to be “doing things” in the EU.</p>
<p><em>This article also appears on <a href="http://ukandeu.ac.uk/the-eu-speaks-the-language-of-gender-equality-but-with-a-male-voice/">The UK in a Changing Europe</a> blog</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55966/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte O'Brien receives funding from the ESRC. She is a member of the Labour Party. </span></em></p>Brussels is forever preaching women’s rights to member states, but it always seems to be men giving the orders.Charlotte O'Brien, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/558762016-03-08T04:38:45Z2016-03-08T04:38:45ZWomen in science: equality is impossible unless society shifts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114037/original/image-20160307-30471-1j5xyo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women scientists are far more common today than they were in the early 1900s.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/National Photo Company Collection/Library of Congress</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s a lot more good news for women in science than you might expect. Research shows that the landscape for women working in scientific disciplines – including maths, engineering and technology – has <a href="http://www.springer.com/br/book/9783319086286">improved dramatically</a> over the past 50 years. </p>
<p>Gender representation and sexism are taken far more seriously than used to be the case. Behaviour that may once have been swept under the carpet is now openly and roundly condemned. </p>
<p>A Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Sir Tim Hunt, resigned in 2015 from University College London in the wake of a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/09/tim-hunt-sexism-controversy-ucl-attempts-to-draw-a-line-under-saga">sexism row</a>. Also in 2015, renowned astronomer Geoff Marcy quit the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, after being <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/science/geoffrey-marcy-to-resign-from-berkeley-astronomy-department.html?_r=0">found guilty</a> of sexually harassing women students. And the world’s most important science journals have dedicated <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/specials/women/index.html">entire issues</a> to gender and equality concerns. </p>
<p>These sea changes have been largely driven by three factors: the general advancement of women in society; the implementation in many countries of gender-sensitive <a href="http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/gst_2010/Lee-EP.6-EGM-ST.pdf">policies</a> designed to attract more women to the sciences; and, as illustrated above, a growing awareness in the global scientific community about the realities of gender bias.</p>
<p>But, as the world celebrates <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day">International Women’s Day</a> on March 8, it’s worth exploring what still needs to be done – and whether science can ever be a truly equitable space while society more broadly is not.</p>
<h2>No gender parity yet</h2>
<p>The United Nations’ 2016 theme for International Women’s Day is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for gender equality. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is linked to the UN’s <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/post-2015">Agenda 2030</a> and its <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">Sustainable Development Goals</a>. Scientists still have a long way to go before hitting the 50/50 mark for women’s representation. </p>
<p>The problem starts from student years: women are significantly more likely to <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/inequality-quantified-mind-the-gender-gap-1.12550">drop out</a> of science careers at doctoral level than their male counterparts. </p>
<p>Beyond university, women scientists remain in the minority. The most recent UNESCO Science Report shows that only <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002354/235407e.pdf">about 30%</a> of the world’s researchers in science, technology, engineering and maths are women. </p>
<p>Their under-representation is even more pronounced when one considers rank – women are <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/science-and-gender-scientists-must-work-harder-on-equality-1.19064">far less likely</a> to become full professors in these fields, to become members of the prestigious Academy of Science or to sit on scientific journals’ editorial boards.</p>
<p>So what is holding women back in university classes and research labs? A <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/unofficial-prognosis/study-shows-gender-bias-in-science-is-real-heres-why-it-matters/">number of studies</a> have suggested the following factors:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>gender bias at <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474.full">graduate</a> level;</p></li>
<li><p>unconscious gender bias in applying <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/111/12/4403.full.pdf">performance</a> and promotion evaluation criteria;</p></li>
<li><p>a disparity in <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/gender-balance-women-are-funded-more-fairly-in-social-science-1.18310">funding awards</a> – men get more funding to conduct research that will go on to boost their professional reputation;</p></li>
<li><p>a lack of institutional support for women; and</p></li>
<li><p>more personal and <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-01-05-the-great-lobola-disappointment">cultural aspects</a> such as the idea that women must put their families first and take on more domestic responsibilities than their male colleagues.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So: we know that gender bias in science <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/unofficial-prognosis/study-shows-gender-bias-in-science-is-real-heres-why-it-matters/">is real</a>. We know that it must be addressed. But are scientists focusing too much on trying to patch up what is actually broader societal damage? Scientific research and endeavour doesn’t exist in a vacuum: it is being conducted in a world full of gender bias.</p>
<h2>Women must feel free to take risks</h2>
<p>As a student, I was extremely shy and barely ever asked questions during lectures. </p>
<p>I see the same thing happening now that I am a lecturer. Female students don’t ask a lot of questions. Nor do they take risks by challenging my assertions or questioning me closely about something they don’t understand. This is what happens when you’ve been raised in a patriarchal society – and most are – that discourages women from asking questions or standing out in any way.</p>
<p>It has been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/05/girls-lack-self-confidence-maths-science-oecd-school-engineering">reported</a> that girls’ lack of self-confidence directly impacts their performance in school maths and science. </p>
<p>This doesn’t surprise me. After all, science is based on engaging with a process of trial and error. Self-confidence gives a person the freedom to allow themselves to fail, take risks and not fear <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-crucial-that-young-scientists-are-taught-the-value-of-being-wrong-54839">getting things wrong</a>. </p>
<p>Those risks are bound to increase as one climbs the ladder to become a principal investigator or group leader on a research project. Leadership and decision-making are based on both competence and self-confidence.</p>
<p>Women certainly don’t lack the former. Employers, institutions, lab managers and colleagues all have a role to play in making work a safe space for women scientists to take risks without feeling judged.</p>
<h2>A far bigger battle</h2>
<p>This is the heart of the matter. As long as scientists focus only on individual episodes of gender bias in their fields – or in any other facet of human life – not much will really change. </p>
<p>Science exists in a social and cultural context that prioritises men over women. While women are still undermined, discriminated against, <a href="http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/files/girls-factsheet-en.pdf">denied</a> access to education and <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-are-still-paid-less-than-men-in-south-african-companies-45782">paid less</a> than men, there cannot be true equality in science.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emanuela Carleschi receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa and the University of Johannesburg. </span></em></p>Women have come a long way in science, but plenty of work remains. After all, gender bias in science doesn’t happen in a vacuum.Emanuela Carleschi, Senior Lecturer in Condensed Matter Physics, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/558252016-03-08T01:06:01Z2016-03-08T01:06:01ZWomen in the porn industry need rights and proper pay, not token gestures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114184/original/image-20160308-15288-10hl3p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Independent porn producer Gala Vanting at work: the adult film industry has moved from subscription sites to video-on-demand.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sensate Films</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the last two decades independent producers have made important contributions to the “<a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/66455/">pornosphere</a>”. Enabled by increasingly affordable and accessible technology, alternative, indie, feminist, queer, ethical, amateur, user-generated and <a href="http://mimesisinternational.com/porn-after-porn-contemporary-alternative-pornographies/">“post” porn</a> have arguably “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415572910">democratised</a>” pornography. </p>
<p>These genres blend performance art, experimental film, diverse bodies and <a href="http://www.femaleporndirectors.com/">women’s pleasures</a> with a <a href="http://thefeministpornbook.com/">focus on the process</a>, not just the final product.</p>
<p>This week, to coinicide with International Women’s Day, tube site YouPorn launched a “female director series”, asking female directors to share their work - for no remuneration but for mass exposure. </p>
<p>Tube sites provide free video streaming similar to YouTube and include user-generated material. But they also buy archival content from defunct websites and often <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-porn-industry-is-being-ripped-apart-by-tube-site-litigation-2012-7?r=US&IR=T">pirate content</a> from competitors.</p>
<p>YouPorn is owned by Canadian company MindGeek, which <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/news/how-a-canadian-founded-company-youve-never-heard-of-took-control-of-the-porn-industry">reportedly owns eight of the top ten tube sites</a> including Pornhub and Redtube.</p>
<p>Is its offer on International Women’s Day an altruistic measure? Or, given that small producers are being asked to provide free content that will generate advertising revenue, is an international corporation seeking to profit from women’s labour?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114171/original/image-20160307-31260-12y323b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Porn performers discuss stigma and labour at the launch of Coming Out Like a Porn Star, Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gala Vanting</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Porn monopolies</h2>
<p>MindGeek is defending a <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelthomsen/2015/11/30/mindgeek-is-both-plaintiff-and-defendant-in-two-new-dmca-lawsuits/#33598c9926dc">piracy lawsuit</a> for allegedly hosting and charging for access to pirated videos on Pornhub Premium. Adult star Stoya has claimed MindGeek is <a href="http://graphicdescriptions.com/28-tubes-vs-torrents-the-ethics-of-piracy">devaluing companies through piracy</a>. And some have suggested MindGeek is fast becoming a “<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/10/mindgeek_porn_monopoly_its_dominance_is_a_cautionary_tale_for_other_industries.html">single, monopolistic owner</a>” of porn production and distribution. </p>
<p>Offering female-friendly content may improve a corporation’s image, but a more meaningful step would be to focus on ethical labour practices in the porn industry. </p>
<p>Performers are urging consumers to “<a href="http://www.payforyourporn.org/">pay for your porn</a>” and “vote with your wallet” as a form of <a href="http://jizlee.com/ethical-porn-consumption-pay-for-porn-anti-piracy/">ethical porn consumption</a>. </p>
<p>Sex workers have spearheaded a movement for fair working conditions and adequate payment and control over how and where their scenes are distributed. A desire to capitalise on women’s creative labour is very different to a genuine commitment to <a href="http://www.nswp.org/research-sex-work">sex worker rights</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed feminist porn pioneer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoKDa032fw&feature=youtu.be">Candida Royalle</a> has insisted that women must “take control of the reins of production” to ensure our voice is heard.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dIoKDa032fw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Mini-documentary Female Porn Directors: Taking The Reins (2016).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A decade of the <a href="http://www.feministpornawards.com/">Feminist Porn Awards</a> and <a href="http://www.pornfilmfestivalberlin.de/2015/de/">Berlin Porn Film Festival</a> (where 50 per cent of directors are women) have nourished a growing community of porn-makers invested in <a href="http://www.b-books.de/verlag/ppp/">political change</a>.</p>
<p>But although women now have greater access to the means of production, we cannot say the same for the means of distribution. As long as male-dominated corporations own and control the infrastructure, men predominantly make the money and female producers are encouraged to work for free.</p>
<h2>When you can’t sell sex</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, independent producers face barriers that they say make the sale of porn <a href="http://www.vice.com/read/how-the-financial-sector-is-making-life-miserable-for-sex-workers-714">virtually unviable</a>. These include refusals from banks in processing adult payments, administrative and financial costs in securing billing from Australia, and higher fees due to the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/29/porn-stars-high-risk-bank-accounts">assumed risk</a> of adult websites.</p>
<p>Platforms such as <a href="http://msnaughty.com/blog/2013/06/28/what-happened-when-i-asked-vimeo-to-define-pornography/">Vimeo</a>, <a href="http://www.thefrisky.com/2014-04-02/the-soapbox-how-paypal-wepay-discriminate-against-the-adult-industry/">Paypal</a> and <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/amazon-sex-worker-wish-lists/">Amazon</a> have all refused adult content.</p>
<p>As academic Georgina Voss has argued, working in porn is a kind of “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23616692-stigma-and-the-shaping-of-the-pornography-industry">stigmatised labour</a>”. Combined with <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23268743.2014.928463">criminal laws in Australia</a> that prohibit advertising of X18+ material, it is increasingly difficult and expensive to actually sell pornography. </p>
<p>The increasing access to free online pornography, available without credit card, age verification or email log in, is currently the subject of an <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/Online_access_to_porn">Australian Senate Inquiry</a>, following an inquiry into <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Revenge_porn">revenge porn</a>, the non-consensual sharing of explicit images. </p>
<h2>Crowdfunding and consumer entitlement</h2>
<p>Porn’s move towards free content in return for patronage or advertising is similar to the trend in other creative industries. Porn has moved from subscription sites to video-on-demand, and now towards <a href="https://www.patreon.com/fourchambers?ty=h">crowdfunding</a>. </p>
<p>In some cases, giving away free content has been a <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-pandora-blake-fight-the-anti-porn-laws#/">political protest</a> to circumvent criminal laws. And some feminist producers have offered sliding scales and discounts for women, while featuring free sections on their websites.</p>
<p>But pornography is different to other creative industries because ongoing stigma brings <a href="http://www.comingoutlikeapornstar.com/">additional risks</a>. The reuse of old content on tube sites can have consequences for retired performers, leading to their being discriminated against when finding work or even in child custody battles.</p>
<p>Ethical porn producers are guided by performers as to whether their image is to remain behind a paywall or can be used in marketing. Contracting with tube sites risks performers losing control of the product, which may be featured next to misogynist, racist or <a href="http://www.xojane.com/sex/chelsea-poe-shemale-slur-petition">transphobic</a> taglines. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06d2g5d">Ethical porn</a> is not only about production – it is about marketing, distribution and consumption.</p>
<p>Requests to provide free content to satisfy <a href="https://medium.com/@creatrixtiara/the-willingness-to-pay-for-porn-businessybrunette-hbx-week-2-d351bdae6383#.5uu9pcagh">consumers</a> ignore the skilled yet precarious labour of sex work and the capital involved in producing porn – from location, wardrobe, talent, camera equipment and editing software.</p>
<p><a href="http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/10471/siri-piracy-pay-for-your-porn/">Solo producers</a> who shoot and star in their own content operate with no/low budget, shoot sporadically and may supplement porn with other work to earn a living.</p>
<p>The University of California’s <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/02/porn-industry-labor-adult-expo/">Heather Berg</a> argues this is part of a larger trend under late capitalism: work/life is blurred, performers are encouraged to take on their professional identities 24/7, and workers are expected to perform for love, not for money.</p>
<p>Still, there are avenues to <a href="https://vimeo.com/101036482">support your local pornographers</a>. In Australia, porn is characterised by performer-producers, solo operators, small partnerships and <a href="https://theconversation.com/porn-and-feminism-not-strange-bedfellows-after-all-1446">“cottage industries”</a>. </p>
<p>On International Women’s Day, we don’t need token gestures that mask inequalities and offer no material benefits.</p>
<p>We need decriminalisation of the production, screening, advertising and sale of pornography and protections enabling performers to access industrial rights mechanisms and health and safety standards. </p>
<p>This way we can nurture a <a href="http://www.vice.com/read/australia-has-a-thriving-art-porn-industry-run-by-women">thriving</a>, democratic and fair industry of independent artists.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55825/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zahra Zsuzsanna Stardust has worked as an independent adult performer in Australia and abroad, and has collaborated with fellow independent producers. Her PhD research is funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award. She has previously run for parliament for the Australian Sex Party. </span></em></p>Asking female porn directors to share their work for free on International Women’s Day is a backward step that masks industry inequalities.Zahra Zsuzsanna Stardust, PhD Candidate, Arts/Media & Law , UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/557652016-03-07T18:58:43Z2016-03-07T18:58:43ZCompanies prefer ticking boxes to breaking the glass ceiling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113968/original/image-20160306-17740-1n2slh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows when there are three women on a board, as opposed to one, they are seen as individuals rather than the "female voice".</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image sourced from Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Empowerment of the world’s women is a global imperative,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/21/un-global-womens-economic-empowerment-initiative-davos">2016 World Economic Forum</a>. Although the worldwide trend to promote equal opportunities has also impacted Australia, progress in the corporate world is slow and a change in pace is required. Improving disclosures is a good place to start.</p>
<p>In 2010, the ASX Corporate Governance Council made several amendments to its <a href="http://www.asx.com.au/documents/asx-compliance/cgc-principles-and-recommendations-3rd-edn.pdf">Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations</a>. The most prominent change was that companies should publicly disclose the number of female directors, senior managers and total number of women in the workforce, as well as progress against diversity objectives established by the board.</p>
<p>New research by <a href="http://csr.catalyst.org.au/reports/gender-equality-at-work/">Catalyst Australia</a> finds that ASX50 listed companies – Australia’s largest companies and industry leaders – tick all the gender reporting boxes. But while some progress is made concerning women on boards, facilitating the career advancement of women into executive positions remains a problem area.</p>
<p>Likewise, while ASX50 companies do refer to pay equity, our research finds their disclosures are limited and often do not include figures for management or the workforce.</p>
<h2>Slow progress</h2>
<p>The research finds that 26.7% of ASX50 board positions are occupied by women. This is more than the average percentage of female directors at companies included in <a href="http://www.companydirectors.com.au/director-resource-centre/governance-and-director-issues/board-diversity/statistics">other ASX indices</a>: ASX200 (21.9%), ASX300 (20.0%) and All Ordinaries (16.6%). </p>
<p>Forty-four ASX50 companies have at least two women directors, which is important to form a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10551-011-0815-z">critical mass</a>: two women can help one another to get their contributions across and, when there are three women, they are seen as individuals rather than as the “female voice” on the board. </p>
<p>These statistics nevertheless mean that only about one in four ASX50 board positions are occupied by women. In addition, the absence of female CEOs remains a major issue: only three heads of ASX50 companies are women. In comparison, the ASX50 has more CEOs named Andrew (five), as well as Michael (four), and has an equal amount of Peters as there are female CEOs.</p>
<p>The top levels of the corporate pyramid thus remain male-dominated. This suggests that despite a growing amount of gender equality disclosures, substantial barriers to female career advancement remain.</p>
<p>For decades, a larger percentage of women in OECD countries - among which Australia - enrol in <a href="http://www.oecd.org/gender/data/primarynetadjustedenrolmentratiosbysex.htm">tertiary education</a> compared to men. Figures from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) show that while women make up nearly half of the Australian workforce, they are <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-15-WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf">lacking in management</a>, representing only a third of managers and 26% of senior managers. Catalyst finds that the number of female managers at ASX50 companies is 28.8%.</p>
<p>This simply means that some of Australia’s brightest minds are not being put to good use.</p>
<h2>Some solutions</h2>
<p>An increase of women directors can be achieved by appointments based on demonstrated skills in other organisations and activities. In comparison, senior managers normally need to work their way up the executive ladder, either internally or in the industry. The pipeline for managers is therefore narrower than for directors. Also, progress through corporate ranks requires a commitment that may conflict with family and other duties. </p>
<p>Consequently, it is essential that companies create a <a href="http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-014-2069-z">supportive organisational culture</a> and introduce enabling work-life balance arrangements.</p>
<p>Catalyst’s research finds that offering flexible working arrangements is the most common practice among ASX50 companies to facilitate the ascent of women on the corporate ladder. Yet according to the WGEA, a flexible working arrangement such as <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-15-WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf">working part-time</a> is mostly used in non-managerial positions, which suggests a lack of flexible management roles contributing to an underutilised female talent pool. </p>
<p>Analysing gender pay equity can help companies uncover where women cease to progress through the talent pipeline and remain in lower paid positions. Today, on International Women’s Day, the OECD will release its latest pay gap information for OECD countries. </p>
<p>The global pay gap is in decline over the last decade, but this trend has started to flat line in the last five years and is stuck at around 15%. <a href="http://www.oecd.org/gender/data/genderwagegap.htm">Australia’s record is mixed</a> over the years, but worryingly the last five years has shown an increase in the overall gender pay gap.</p>
<h2>Mandates required</h2>
<p>Overall, while companies increasingly report on gender equality, performance lags behind. Improvements could be made by establishing quantifiable targets to increase and retain women at all levels of the organisation, by disclosing more detailed pay equity information, and by providing more narrative around the creation of a supportive organisational culture.</p>
<p>In order to bolster performance these reporting recommendations could be mandated by the ASX Corporate Governance Council, while related performance could be included in executive performance indicators and remuneration strategies. </p>
<p>Lastly, the fact that women are increasingly well-represented on corporate boards and have started to constitute a critical mass should serve as an imperative for management to explain the glacial pace at which progress is currently made.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55765/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martijn Boersma works for Catalyst Australia.</span></em></p>Australia’s largest companies are happy to tick gender reporting boxes, but when it comes to pay equity they are largely silent.Martijn Boersma, Researcher in Corporate Governance, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/558972016-03-07T17:18:36Z2016-03-07T17:18:36ZGetting more women into ministerial jobs is not that hard – here’s how to do it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114115/original/image-20160307-31287-73twzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Canada shows the rest of the world how it's done.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Prime Minister of Canada</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women are still underrepresented in political institutions across the globe. A lot of time has been spent looking at how to increase the share of women in parliaments but progress in political executives – where political power is concentrated – has been slower and more erratic.</p>
<p>But recent developments suggest it isn’t that hard to make governments more representative of the population as a whole. Our research shows that to make a real difference, national leaders need to <a href="http://www.genderpower.net/main/publications/ECPG2015.pdf">make it their personal goal</a> to appoint more women to their top team. And since the theme for International Women’s Day 2016 is <a href="http://www.internationalwomensday.com/">#PledgeforParity</a>, there’s no time like the present. </p>
<p>Take Canada as an example. In November 2015 incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed an equal number of men and women to his ministerial team because he wanted <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/11/04/new-government-to-be-sworn-in-today.html">“a cabinet that looks like Canada”</a>. Parity cabinets have also been formed in France by François Hollande, Chile by Michelle Bachelet, Italy by Matteo Renzi, and Spain by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.</p>
<p>What is the common denominator here? In each case the prime minister or president has had a strong enough political will to achieve parity. Our research on ministerial recruitment finds that prime ministers and presidents have significant powers of discretion over ministerial appointments. What they say and want is key when the top team is chosen. If the prime minister or president prioritises gender representation in the process of cabinet formation, he or she can make it happen.</p>
<h2>Tired arguments</h2>
<p>Several arguments are often wheeled out against prioritising gender parity. These start with insistence that there are just not enough qualified women to fill the jobs and then move on to the <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-trudeau-cabinet-should-be-built-on-merit-not-gender">assertion</a> that “appointments should be made on merit not gender”.</p>
<p>But cabinets are small – usually between 15 and 20 members – so a head of government needs only to find a few of women to make a big difference. Just six women are needed in a cabinet of 15 for a selector to reach a 40% gender equality threshold. It is, frankly, inconceivable that there are not six qualified women in the ministerial eligibility pool.</p>
<p>It doen’t even necessarily matter if a president or prime minister is faced with an insufficient number of elected women on the government benches. The eligibility pool is often larger than we might think. In most cases, national leaders are not restricted to the lower houses of parliament when looking for ministers. In the UK, Australia and Canada, for example, ministers can be appointed from upper houses too; and in parliamentary democracies like Germany and Spain ministers are often senior politicians from regional political institutions. In many cases prime ministers can even bring on board non-elected experts.</p>
<p>What’s more, it doesn’t make sense to say there are not enough “qualified” women because we have found that there are multiple ways to qualify as a minister. Put another way, merit means a number of things in the process of selecting ministers to form a cabinet.</p>
<p>Some ministers will of course be appointed to a specific portfolio on the back of their policy expertise, but other qualifying criteria are equally as important. Experience in parliament; leadership in the party, loyalty to the prime minister, all come into play.</p>
<p>There is also a range of other <a href="http://www.genderpower.net/main/publications/ECPG2015.pdf">representative criteria</a> that a selector needs to consider to produce a balanced cabinet. These vary by countries but might include region, language, religion, or party faction. Increasingly, over time, we find that gender is becoming an important representative criterion in <a href="http://www.ideas-idees.ca/blog/why-are-we-still-debating-diversity-versus-merit-2015">many countries</a>. The point is that merit is not a fixed entity. It <a href="http://psawomenpolitics.com/2015/11/05/what-is-merit-anyway-on-using-gender-quotas-in-cabinet-appointments/">varies</a> across country and leader. </p>
<h2>Pushing ahead</h2>
<p>Despite all this, it would wrong to claim that prime ministers face no obstacles to appointing more women, even if the will is there.</p>
<p>One constraint for a selector is leading a coalition government. Back in 2008, British Prime Minister David Cameron made a pledge, not quite for parity, but to give a third of his jobs in his first government to women by the end of the 2010-15 parliamentary term. By 2015 just five of 21 ministers (24%) in his cabinet were women.</p>
<p>Cameron faced significant constraints to his powers of selection because he governed in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The smaller party had five ministerial posts but its selector (Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg) failed to appoint any women. Cameron had discretion over 16 portfolios to which he appointed five women (so in a sense he did manage 31%). Following the 2015 election Cameron, as sole selector, appointed seven women to his cabinet of 21 (or 33%).</p>
<p>Prime ministers and presidents – and other selectors in coalitions – have significant power and discretion in the process of ministerial appointment. They have the power to include women in cabinets, and to increase women’s cabinet numbers quickly. These selectors are the people to persuade to pledge for parity if we want to see more equal gender representation in more cabinets worldwide.</p>
<p><em><a href="Susan%20Franceschet">Susan Franceschet</a> and <a href="http://politicalscience.case.edu/faculty/karen-beckwith/">Karen Beckwith</a> also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Annesley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is parity. World leaders take note.Claire Annesley, Professor of Politics, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/535822016-03-07T16:05:05Z2016-03-07T16:05:05ZWhy the world needs a UN treaty to combat violence against women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114052/original/image-20160307-30504-9r94xe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">patronestaff/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Violence against women is <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures">one of the most prevalent</a> human rights abuses in the world. It is estimated that 35% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lives either by their partner or a stranger. </p>
<p>Yet there are no provisions under existing UN treaties which refer directly to this issue. This is unacceptable. It is time for the world to develop a new UN treaty on violence against women. </p>
<p>The absence of international, legally binding provisions set down in a UN treaty creates difficulties in holding countries accountable for their responses to domestic violence, forced marriage and a host of other abuses. </p>
<p>The UN’s primary instrument on the rights of women is the <a href="http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/">Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women</a> (CEDAW), adopted in 1979. This convention contains no express mention of violence against women, although the CEDAW Committee (the convention’s monitoring body) interprets the issue as part of its remit.</p>
<p>In 1992, the committee issued its <a href="http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/recommendations/recomm.htm">General Recommendation 19</a> which stated: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits women’s ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Using this interpretation, the CEDAW Committee frequently <a href="http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/TBSearch.aspx?Lang=en&TreatyID=3&DocTypeID=5">makes recommendations</a> to states relating to violence against women. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114051/original/image-20160307-30473-1ou1q73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Violence against women in numbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/multimedia/2015/11/infographic-violence-against-women">UN Women</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1994, the first <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/SRWomenIndex.aspx">UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women</a>, its causes and consequences was appointed, a position currently held by the Croatian <a href="http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/news/simonovic.htm">Dubravka Šimonović</a>. Despite this, the key difficulty has been that all of the statements issued by UN bodies on violence against women are “soft law”, meaning they are non-binding on states. </p>
<p>The former UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, has spoken out against the problems she faced in holding states accountable. In a report to <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj3r4WbpaLLAhXJDxoKHeu3BSYQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ohchr.org%2FEN%2FHRBodies%2FHRC%2FRegularSessions%2FSession26%2FDocuments%2FA%2520HRC%252026%252038_AEV.doc&usg=AFQjCNGqCUf5ukTNeftydP50j4YQaZ9GnA">the UN Human Rights Council</a> in May 2014, she said that: “Although soft laws may be influential in developing norms, their non-binding nature effectively means that states cannot be held responsible for violations.” </p>
<h2>Taking the lead from regional systems</h2>
<p>In the absence of a global, legally binding treaty at UN level, some regions have taken matters into their own hands. In 2011, the Council of Europe adopted a <a href="http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/210">Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence</a>, also known as the Istanbul Convention.</p>
<p>The Istanbul Convention could provide a good starting point for the development of a UN treaty on violence against women. It is comprehensive in scope and places detailed obligations on states to adopt measures to prevent violence against women. </p>
<p>It covers specific issues such as forced marriage, stalking, psychological violence and forced abortion – all of which should be addressed in any global treaty on violence against women. </p>
<p>In addition to ensuring that countries’ criminal justice and civil law systems are effective in responding to violence against women, countries that are party to the Istanbul Convention must take steps to raise awareness in society of issues surrounding violence against women. They must also provide support to victims, and provide sufficient training for professionals who come into contact with victims. </p>
<p>The large majority of states within the Council of Europe have either ratified the Istanbul Convention or stated an intention to do so. This apparent readiness could be an indication that other countries around the world could be willing to sign up to a global treaty on violence against women. </p>
<h2>Holding countries accountable</h2>
<p>Careful consideration would need to be given to how to monitor any new UN treaty on violence against women. All of the UN human rights treaties suffer from extensive enforcement difficulties – and it is unlikely that a new UN treaty would be any different. </p>
<p>If a state violates its obligations under a UN human rights treaty such as CEDAW, there are essentially no penalties which can be imposed by the relevant monitoring bodies. The primary monitoring mechanisms are reporting mechanisms, through which states must submit periodic reports on compliance. </p>
<p>Yet, the value of binding treaty provisions, such as those found in CEDAW, lies in the fact that if a state breaches them, pressure can be exerted by other states in order to “shame” the offender into complying. In general, most countries do not wish to be seen to be repeatedly violating human rights law – although there are some which take this more seriously than others. </p>
<p>At present there does not appear to be widespread political will at the UN to adopt a new treaty on violence against women. Its development would be a long and challenging process. But it is unjustifiable that there are still no legally binding, global provisions on the issue of violence against women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53582/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ronagh McQuigg is a member of the Europe Working Group of the Everywoman Everywhere project which is examining the issue of the development of a global treaty on violence against women.</span></em></p>The world is dragging its feet – and it’s costing lives.Ronagh McQuigg, Lecturer, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/557722016-03-06T11:21:00Z2016-03-06T11:21:00ZWomen who work are held back by a lack of quality daycare in Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113917/original/image-20160304-17765-1hnd0j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women's ability to work is severely constrained by the lack of child care facilities in urban slums.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Thomas Mukoya</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women’s economic empowerment hinges on the assurance that quality and affordable child care is available so that they can go about the business of doing their jobs.</p>
<p>Globally, women’s participation in the labour market has remained at around 52% for the last 20 years, according to <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/worldswomen/WW_full%20report_color.pdf">United Nations</a>. But women also bear most of the responsibilities at home, including caring for children or other dependants, cooking, cleaning and other housework. </p>
<p>In Kenya, only 46% of the country’s women participate in the <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS">labour force</a>. For most working mothers, having formal employment may allow them more options for child care. A steady source of income eases their ability to send their children to daycare centres, or even pay for in-home care. </p>
<p>But for the women in Nairobi’s slums, who toil in the informal sector with modest and irregular pay, their likelihood to afford child care is greatly reduced. This is partly due to the increasingly disjointed nature of life in the urban slum where there’s no network of family support. In the past mothers could rely on this network to lend a hand or a watchful eye until a child is of school age.</p>
<p>There has been a growing awareness of the potential to provide daycare for children in Nairobi’s urban slums. But the quality of care varies widely because of a lack of adequate regulation. </p>
<p>Caregivers in this setting lack the support they need to provide quality child care or ways that they should stimulate the children’s environment while their mothers are at work.</p>
<h2>Improving women in the workforce</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://aphrc.org/projects/creating-better-economic-opportunities-for-women-in-nairobi-slums-through-improved-childcare-options">study</a> is a three-year project. It explores the daycare options available in Nairobi’s slums. It also assesses whether a woman’s ability to work and earn can be improved if quality child care is provided and subsidised. The study provides subsidised and quality improved daycare interventions to mothers in Korogocho, one of the largest slum neighbourhoods of Nairobi. </p>
<p>Almost half of all Kenyan women aged 15 to 49 years have a child under the age of five. For most of these women, participating in the labour force is dependent on concurrent child care responsibilities. </p>
<p>Our aim is to examine the nature and magnitude of barriers to child care, such as high cost and low quality and what impact these have on the way that women participate in the labour force. This will generate critical evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at increasing the participation of women in the labour force.</p>
<p>The results of the study will also provide researchers with insights into ways women’s participation in the workforce can be stimulated and how the gender gap in earnings can be narrowed.</p>
<p>The findings can also serve as the basis for discussions between policymakers and community leaders about how better to meet the needs of mothers with young children.</p>
<h2>A global conversation</h2>
<p>The research findings could have broader impact. Exploring the challenges that women in the most vulnerable and compromised environments face may improve their livelihoods.</p>
<p>This research will feed into the global conversation about women in the workforce, and how to approach the targets outlined in the newly ratified <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">sustainable development goals</a>, in particular, goals five and eight that deal with gender equality and economic growth through employment. </p>
<p>Understanding the choices women have to make to meaningfully contribute to their countries’ development, while also sustaining their households, is a step towards realising economic parity. Economic parity should not only be an ambition for the privileged but for all women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stella Muthuri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For most women, participating in the labour force is dependent on whether they have adequate child care they can rely on.Stella Muthuri, Postdoctoral fellow, African Population and Health Research CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.