#GenderJusticeNow From the Grassroots to the Global

People celebrate the results of the 2015 Marriage Equality Referendum at Dublin Castle, Ireland 

Only 32 countries worldwide have laws allowing same-sex marriage. Over half of those are in Western Europe. In 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage through popular vote. More than 62% of the population voted in favour of amending the country’s constitution to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. Homosexuality was only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993. This historic change was not won overnight – LGBTQIA+ activists had spent decades fighting for justice, equality and the chance to marry their partners.  

Photo credit: Clodagh Kilcoyne / Getty Images  

A person holds a Pride flag at the Pride March in Durban, South Africa in 2016 

While LGBTQIA+ people around the world have fought for, and in some cases won, access to basic human rights, the expansion of these rights has been uneven. Many lesbian, gay, queer and trans people still live in fear of violence, persecution and imprisonment. In the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights on the African continent, South Africa currently leads the way. Same sex marriages are legal, discrimination based on sexual orientation has been outlawed, and people can legally change their sex description. Elsewhere on the African continent, three out of every five countries have laws criminalising homosexuality, while same-sex sexual activity is punishable by death in three countries.* 

* europarl.europa.eu 

Photo credit: Clodagh Kilcoyne / Getty Images 

Participants at the Trans & Intersex Pride March Dublin on 16th July 2022 

In every region of the world, trans and gender non-conforming people are more likely to face discrimination, stigma, violence and lack access to justice than their cis counterparts. While trans people in Ireland have fought tirelessly for expanded rights, and people over 18 have been able to achieve full legal recognition of their preferred gender since 2015, anti-trans rhetoric and discrimination persists. On July 16th 2022, over 2,000 trans and intersex activists and their allies marched through Dublin for the Trans & Intersex Pride in support of trans and intersex rights, and to celebrate victories for the community. 

Photo credit: Hazel Coonagh 

Youth activists participate in a flash mob to protest against the taxation on menstrual hygiene products in Kathmandu, India in 2021 

500 million people lack access to menstrual products and hygiene facilities globally. For many women, girls and menstruating people, the inability to afford menstrual products - sometimes referred to as ‘period poverty’ - is a contributing factor. Lack of access to sanitary products exacerbates social and economic inequalities, impacting education, health and economic opportunities. Campaigners and advocacy groups all over the world have been successfully fighting for the removal of unfair taxes on menstrual products in order to make them more accessible. Kenya, India, Jamaica, Rwanda, Australia and Canada are among those countries who have made menstrual products tax free. 

Photo credit: Prakash Methema / Getty Images  

Crowds celebrate the referendum results in Dublin Castle on 25th May 2018 

On 25th May 2018, 66.4% of the population of Ireland voted in the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment. In practice, the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution prohibited women from accessing safe and legal abortion services in Ireland, resulting in thousands of women travelling abroad each year. The success of the Repeal movement depended to a large extent on young people who came out in their hundreds of thousands to speak up, knock on doors, and appeal for an Ireland where women are granted the freedom to make choices about their own bodies, and their own lives. 

Photo credit: Kasia Strek / Panos Pictures 

Participants at the Global Women’s March in London on 19th January 2019 

On 21 January 2017, the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, millions of people in over 30 countries around the world held protests in a global show of support for women’s rights everywhere. The protests sparked an international movement marked by global women’s marches in hundreds of cities every January since. Womens March Global, as a movement, aims to create a global community in which women — including black women, indigenous women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, lesbian, queer, bisexual and trans women, and women of every religious, non-religious, and atheist background — are free and able to care for themselves and their families in safe and healthy environments, free from structural impediments.

Photo credit: Mark Kerrison / Alamy 

Ibrea Malicha, community health strategist in Marsabit county, Kenya, crosses his arms in support of International Women’s Day’s #BreakTheBias campaign 

Achieving gender equality globally cannot be achieved without engaging, consulting and training men as allies and ambassadors. The ’Engaging men’ projects – supported by Concern Worldwide and active across 16 countries from Sierra Leone to Lebanon – create safe spaces for men, couples, same sex groups and adolescents to discuss issues related to gender equality. Many of the projects focus on combating gender-based violence, through facilitating dialogue around concepts and practices of masculinity, the positive and negative use of male power, and harmful gender norms. 

Photo credit: Ed Ram / Concern Worldwide 

Ugandan police joining UN Women Uganda & SafeBoda for a safe ride to mark the 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, after a women was attacked while taking a Boda (motorbike taxi) 

One in three women experience violence in their lifetime, across all social status, class, race, country or age group. For many women and girls, the #MeToo moment has never came, because speaking out can still have such devastating consequences. Building on the momentum of grassroots campaigns and global movements, #HearMeToo brought to the forefront the voices of women and girls who have survived gender-based violence but are very far away from media headlines. #HearMeToo was a global campaign coinciding with the UN 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence in 2018. 

Photo credit: Martin Ninsiima / UN Women 

Protesters attend the Reclaim the Streets rally in Cork on 18th March 2021 following the murder of Sarah Everard in London by a serving Metropolitan Police officer 

244 women have been murdered in Ireland since 1996. Of these, 212 were killed by a man known to them, of which 139 attacks were by an intimate partner. Women and gender minorities from all ethnic and social groups were affected by these attacks. A number of widely publicised violent attacks on women since 2020 has mobilised mass public protests and calls for increased action to end gender-based violence in Ireland. On the 18th March 2021, hundreds of protesters attended the Reclaim the Streets Rally in Cork, Ireland in solidarity with victims of gender-based violence everywhere.* 

* Womens Aid, 2022 

Photo credit: AG News/Alamy Live News 
 

The abuelas (grandmothers) of Sepur Zarco, 2018 

During the 36-year-long Guatemalan civil war, indigenous women were systematically raped by the military in a small outpost near the Sepur Zarco community. What happened to these women was not unique, but what happened next changed history. From 2011 to 2016, 15 women survivors fought for justice at the highest court of Guatemala. The groundbreaking case resulted in the conviction of two former military officers of crimes against humanity, and granted reparation measures to the women survivors and their community. Before the historic judgement, the abuelas (grandmothers) covered their faces to protect their identity. Now they are regarded as respected elders and leaders in their community. 

Photo credit: Ryan Brown / UN Women  

Protesters take part in the One Million Women March following the murder of 20 women in and around the capital city of Uganda in 2018 

Following a startling increase in the number of reported incidences of rape, murder and kidnapping of women in Uganda, and in the aftermath of the murder of 20 young women in areas around Katabi, Entebbe, and Nansana in 2018, hundreds of activists took to the streets to call for an end to gender-based violence. A small group of women established the Women’s Protest Working Group, and instigated what has become known as the One Million Women March which rallies through the capital city from Centenary Park to the Uganda Railway grounds every year. 

Photo credit: Frederic Noy / Panos Pictures 

Campaigners take part in the March of the Mummies protest in London, UK in 2017, organised by Pregnant Then Screwed 

In the UK, one in nine new mothers (11%) lose their jobs after having a baby - yet less than 1% of victims take legal action against a discriminatory employer. On the 31st October 2017, hundreds of women took part in a march organised by Pregnant Then Screwed campaign to demand better rights for working mothers, and to protest against discrimination in the workplace due to maternity or pregnancy. Since then, Pregnant Then Screwed has campaigned tirelessly for increased rights for women before and following birth, supporting tens of thousands of women each year to access employment rights and legal aid.* 

* www.equalityhumanrights.com 

Photo credit: Wiktor Szymanowicz / Future Publishing 

Members of the SOCCOMAD Womens’ Cooperative travelling along the Gender Road in Cameroon to market in 2018. The Cooperative has 42 members including 4 men who joined as allies 

A road - a basic infrastructure that many countries take for granted - can literally shape the lives and livelihood of the people living along it. It decides whether a small entrepreneur will get her products transported on time, and can determine if and when food, incomes, jobs, healthcare and livelihoods can be accessed. The ‘Gender Road Project’ is a 200-kilometre road construction project stretching across central Cameroon in Africa. Initiated by UN Women, the project aims to accelerate the economic empowerment of women along the road by facilitating financial and entrepreneurial skills, improved farming techniques and access to public services. It aims to reach 20,000 women on completion. Dozens of women's cooperatives have been established along the road due to the increased access to opportunities and markets it has brought. 

Photo credit: Frederic Noy / Panos Pictures 

Pictured: Female garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh go on strike and block a major highway to demand higher wages and access to basic rights in January 2019 

75% of the 70 million garment workers around the world are women. They face significant inequalities in wages, employment security, workplace hazards, and gender-based violence and harassment. Factory owners and managers often fire pregnant workers or deny maternity leave, violate minimum wage obligations, retaliate against workers who join or form unions and ignore sexual harrassment in the workplace. On January 9th 2019, over 10,000 garment workers went on strike in Dhaka, Bangladesh, blocking a major highway to demand higher wages and access to basic rights.* 

*www.16dayscampaign.org 

Photo credit: Mamunur Rashid / NurPhoto 

Oralia Ruana Lima, Bee Keeper & Entrepreneur, Guatemala 

In 40% of countries, women are less than half as likely to start businesses as men. Oralia Ruano Lima was among the first women in her indigenous community in Guatemala to join an all-female entrepreneurship project as a beekeeper. Today the women beekeepers of Urlanta, a village in the south-eastern region of Guatemala, are bringing in sustainable jobs and income to their rural communities and changing mindsets and attitudes towards women. ‘Before this initiative, women were expected to have babies and stay home, while the men earned and made all the decisions’ says Oralia. ‘Not anymore. Now women have a voice in the village meetings, since they are bringing income and jobs.’ 

*Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2017 

Photo credit: Rosendo Quintos / UN Women 

Women rally to demand equal pay for women and an end to the wage gap between the sexes on ‘Equal Pay Day’ in Toronto, Canada, on April 11, 2017 

Despite progress made towards ending the gender pay gap, women still earn less on average, 20% less than men for the same work. At our current rate, it will take between 135 - 202 years to close the gender pay gap globally. Equal pay for equal work is only mandated in fewer than half of economies worldwide. For women with children, women of colour, migrant women, and women with disabilities, the gender pay gap is even larger. In Canada, April 12th marks Equal Pay Day, symbolising that, on average, a woman must work 15 and a half months to earn what a man earns in 12 months.* 

* World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2021, www.europarl.europa.eu 

Photo credit: NurPhoto / Getty Images