October 2009Women and the Economy: How is the current economic crisis affecting women?
- In July 2009 the ECLAC:
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean held an international
meeting on the gender perspective of the financial crisis in Mexico City. The objective was to create policies that would increase gender equality and work towards the Millennium
Development Goals and the Beijing Platform for Action in
the short and long term. The conclusions of the seminar will be prepared for
the July 2010 eleventh Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and
the Caribbean.
- A September 30th New York Times Magazine article
explored the new gender gap, created by the global economic crisis. It reported that although only 22 percent of
jobs lost so far during this recession were held by women, this is actually an
indicator of the remaining wage disparity between the two genders. Women are
more likely to accept lower offers and are less likely to quit. Comparing jobs
lost at the top of the wage scale, however, men and women have lost their jobs
at an equal rate. Employers are cutting
back on employee benefits such as flex-time as well, which tends to have
more of an impact on women who more often serve as family caregivers. The Census Bureau
analysis on stay-at-home mothers released in September 2009 found
disparities in this market as well, as “mothers who do not work outside the
home are likely to be younger, Hispanic or foreign-born” than those women in
the labor force.
- As reported in the September 2009 issue of Asia Times, the global
economic crisis has greatly affected women of Myanmar
who migrate across the border to the Thai town of Mae Sot in search of work. These women often work
in factories that produce materials usually sold to US and European markets and
demand for those products has declined significantly. Factory owners and other
migrant employers continue to refuse to pay minimum wage, as 43 percent of
women surveyed in the area said their wages dropped. All the while, women carry
the bulk of the financial responsibility for their family still living in Myanmar.
- Also in September of 2009, the Clinton Global Initiative partnered
with ExxonMobil, Ashoka’s Changemakers, and the International Center
for Research on Women (ICRW) to empower women.
The organizations will sponsor a global competition titled Technologies to
Improve Women’s Economic Livelihoods to “help identify the most promising technological
innovations that can improve economic opportunities for women in the developing
world
Women and Media: Women in leadership positions within the media industry - Diane Sawyer will become the new anchor of "World News" on ABC, replacing Charlie Gibson in January 2010. Ms. Sawyer follows a select few prominent women nightly news anchors including Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, and Connie Chung, and was turned down twice for the position over a period of ten years. However, boundaries still remain as the major evening news positions often mean less hard news than the worldly issues Ms. Sawyer has experience covering. During her interview with Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, Ms. Couric prefaced a question about their sex life saying, “I didn’t spend my life as a serious journalist to ask these kinds of questions.”
The Girl Child: Body image issues
- Sudan: Lubna Hussein, a female Sudanese
journalist, was arrested in July of 2009 and charged with indecent dress
for wearing pants. Twelve other women were arrested at the same time and the
punishment for this crime, which is influenced by Islamic law, is a $100 and 40
lashings. The law dictates punishment for anyone “who commits an indecent act
which violates public morality or wears indecent clothing.” However, as Mrs.
Hussein points out, nowhere in the Koran or elsewhere does it say that pants
qualify as indecent clothing so she has not done anything illegal. Unfortunately,
it is among many “moral crimes” that Muslim women are often beaten, shunned,
and jailed for. With the support of many people, she stands strong saying,
“It’s well known that Sudanese women are pioneers in the history of women’s
rights in this region, and that we won our rights a long time ago because of
our awareness, open mind, good culture and struggle.”
- Germany: The leading German women’s magazine, Brigitte announced that they will
no longer be using extremely thin models in their pages, instead opting to
portray women sized to reflect the average build of German women. The
magazine’s editor-in-chief Andreas Lebert expressed his exasperation and
uneasiness with needing to digitally add bulk to anorexic models. The magazine
wants to feature “women who have their own identity, whether it be the 18-year-old
A-level student, the company chairwoman, the musician, or the footballer."
- South Africa/ Berlin: The New York Times explored the controversy surrounding Caster Semenya, a runner from South Africa who won the 800 meters race at the track and field world championships in Berlin in August 2009. Some doubted her qualifications to compete as a woman, comments about which were degrading, even as officials announced that she would be tested. Sex-determination is still conducted for cases in Olympic sports even though it was generally ended in 1999 for reasons of gender discrimination.
Violence Against Women: A Universal Problem
- Deputy Secretary Asha-Rose Migiro delivered a keynote address to a conference on violence against women held in Rome in September 2009. She spoke about rising levels of domestic violence around the world, aggravated by the global economic climate. Ms. Migiro referenced statistics in the United States that 75 percent of 630 domestic violence shelters reported an increase in women seeking assistance as compared to this month last year. She then called for the world’s wealthiest countries to adhere more strictly to their signatures on international treaties against violence towards women and girls.
- A report from the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) in July 2009 announced that the global economic crisis is forcing more women in Cambodia into the sex trade. The study of 357 women and girls ages 14 to 49 revealed that women are entering the sex trade at a higher rate from sectors that have been affected most by the crisis. Officials say that most women report doing so because of “difficult family circumstances.” The UNIAP warns that this could translate into greater abuse and manipulation and suggests providing more information about the risks of money lenders, access to and training for alternative jobs, and informing people about the warning signs of vulnerable individuals.
- During
a September 30, 2009 meeting of the United Nations Security
Council, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the issue of a “mandate [for]
peacekeeping missions to protect women
and children from rampant sexual violence during armed conflict.” The United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon will also appoint an individual to identify specific methods to
combat this crime. This was partially in response to Ms. Clinton’s visit
to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Violence also occurred in the end of September 2009 during pro-democracy
protests in Guinea when female protesters
were raped by military members and 157 protestors present were killed
after the military open fired on the crowd.
- Russia Today reports that honor killings are on the rise in immigrant communities in Western Europe, the majority of which are women and total about 5,000 annually as estimated by the UN. The United Kingdom police force is starting special training to target and help prevent this crime.
Women in Power and Decision-Making:
Political Power
What impacts gender parity in politics? - The continued publicly sexist behavior of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is finally being decried by an emerging feminist movement. Resistance methods include reports to the European Court of Human Rights, feminist documentaries, requests of the G-8 country first ladies to boycott a meeting in Italy in June, and a petition with 15,000 signatures to encourage them to do so.
What mechanisms exist to promote women's participation in politics? - In Kabul, Afghanistan investigations are being made into widespread fraud and intimidation towards voters, especially towards women, in the country’s presidential election. It is reported that women faced violence, intimidation, and it is estimated that 650 women’s polling stations did not open, even though women have equal rights according to the Constitution. Even female candidates were threatened. The required minimum representation of elected women is 25 percent but currently stands at 10 percent.
Women and Poverty: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- During the Forum on Advancing Global Health in the Face of Crisis at the United Nations Headquarters in June 2009, a report from the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs was made public which cites actions in various countires to increase efforts on the health-related MDGs, including gender equality and maternal health, especially related to the status of women and children during this difficult global economic time. Specific county programs that are being implemented include: “Conditional cash transfer programmes for women and children in Brazil and Indonesia; economic stimulus packages for small businesses in rural areas of Mozambique, Brazil and Indonesia; and food protection programmes in Tanzania, Mozambique, Senegal, Brazil and Indonesia.” Joy Phumaphi, Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank, and a former Health Minister for Botswana is one that agrees that maternal health standards are still struggling. Ms. Phumaphi stated, “Even before this crisis began, family planning and reproductive health had fallen off the radar of low-income countries, aid donors, and development agencies — with the result that we’ve lost precious time in helping women get access to these vital health services, and helping countries get on a faster track to reducing poverty.” For example, Human Rights Watch reports that maternal death during pregnancy remains high despite the availability of free maternal health programs.
Women and the Environment: Women
as Front Line Observers of Climate Change, The
Impact of Climate Change on Women
- In July 2009 the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) signed on to the Seal the Deal campaign along with other UN agencies who are advocating for a successful global climate agreement during the international conference in Copenhagen in December. The executive director of UNIFEM Inés Alberdi stated that women often bare the strongest brunt of the impact of global climate change, which in turn also negatively impacts the global fight against poverty.
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