Women have always worked, and worked hard. From risking her life in childbirth to the responsibility of feeding, cleaning, clothing, healing or caring for the community. feeding, cleaning, dressing, healing and caring for the community. But it was in the 19th century that women began to acquire a presence in trades that, up to that time, had been almost exclusively male, adding (and I emphasize) male, adding (I stress the verb adding) these new duties to their daily work. For this reason, I do not like to talk about the situation of the Working Woman. Very few can afford not to work either inside or outside the home. I prefer to talk about the situation of Women. Today, in the 21st century, the panorama has changed. A lot in some countries and very little in others.
Let’s talk about figures: According to the WEF, Iceland and Norway lead the ranking of equality between men and women in Health, Education, Economy and Politics, with an overall score of 0.91 out of 1, with Spain in 18th place with a score of 0.79 out of 1. 18 with a score of 0.79 and the USA in 43rd place with a score of 0.78. Closing the list are Chad and Afghanistan with a score of 0.57 and 0.40 respectively. The average percentage of equality in Health and Education reaches 95% and 96%, while the parity in Economy is 60% and Political participation is 22%*.
(*) Fuente: World Economic Forum (WEF) (2023) https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2023/in- full/benchmarking-gender-gaps-2023/
But for women to enter politics is not easy, when in many countries, being a woman costs one’s life. According to the Georgetown Institute’s Women’s Peace and Security Index 2023, this is the map of violence against women in the world. violence against women in the world, with the score being from 0 to 1, with 1 being counted as the most positive indicator:
In it, not only do we see the indices of violence taken as inclusion, justice and security, but, by direct correlation, we can see the map of discrimination and economic dependence. direct correlation, we can see the map of discrimination and economic dependence.
Where the percentage of women with their own resources is higher, violence and discrimination decrease. and discrimination decrease. The higher the degree of female independence, the lower the incidence of violence. And that is the way. According to a report by United Nations Women (2022), women had a global labor force participation rate of about 61% compared to about 61% in 2022. global labor force participation of about 61% compared to 90% for men.
The good news is that this gap has been narrowing very noticeably in recent years, with the exception of a small dip during the The good news is that this gap has been narrowing markedly in recent years, with the exception of a small dip during the Covid pandemic, when, due to the economic crisis, women felt the loss of their share of the global labor force more strongly than men. women were hit harder by the loss of jobs.
(*) Source: World Economic Forum (WEF) (2023) https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2023.pdf
Currently, the degree of participation in the global labor market is 13.5% in the Industrial sector, 25% in the Agri-Food sector and 61% in the Services sector, and of the 500 largest fortunes in the world, only 4% are managed by women. of the world’s 500 fortunes, only 4% are managed by women. But many have decided that neither the difficulty of accessing the labor market nor the glass ceilings in companies will stop them. companies do not stop them. The solution: start your own company. In the US, the percentage of female business founders in 2021 was 49% compared to 28% in 2019. And in countries where access to the salaried labor market shows high rates of inequality, the rates of women owning their businesses are growing at an even faster rate. According to the Word Economic Forum (2022), this is how women entrepreneurs are geographically concentrated:
To conclude this brief reflection, I would just like to say that women have a long road ahead of us, full of difficulties and challenges, but on which we are advancing. Humanity is driven by work, effort and the need for constant improvement that we human beings feel. and to leave 50% of the population out of this contribution to development, besides being a fragrant crime against women, is an absurdity. is not only a fragrant crime against women, but also an absurd waste of talent and resources.
Fortunately, more and more men are realizing this, and just as their ancestors moved us, they are now walking the same way. displaced us, they are now walking alongside us, making our struggle their own. And together, men and women, embracing our differences, we complete the meaning of being human. human being. In closing, I would like to bring a few words from Antonio Guterres at the United Nations General Assembly on February 7, 2024. United Nations on February 7, 2024:
“Empowering women can boost economies and help the peace process, and it needs to happen faster.”
