MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Women around the world experience various forms of discrimination based on biased gender perceptions. Women face cultural, political and economic issues ranging from gender-based violence to underrepresentation and economic exclusion. These and other issues contribute to the fact that poverty affects women disproportionately more than men. Worldwide, 247 million women live below the poverty line compared to 236 million men. Gender inequalities create societies where women suffer from marginalization and cannot reach their full potential. It is this overlap between gender issues and poverty that the National Organization of Women (NOW) seeks to address through its advocacy and mobilization efforts.

The importance of gender equality

Recognizing the importance of gender equality in global development, the United Nations (UN) has included gender quality as Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN stresses that “gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world”.

The UN highlights some of the global violations against women, explaining that in 18 legal systems around the world, a husband has the legal right to bar his wife from getting a job. In 39 countries, “daughters and sons do not have the same inheritance rights” and 49 countries do not have legislation in place to legally prohibit domestic violence.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Report, the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting women and widening existing inequalities. This means that the global gender gap will now take 135.6 years to close, compared to 99.5 years before the effects of the pandemic. While Iceland is currently closest to achieving gender parity, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan are furthest from achieving gender equality.

The eradication of global poverty cannot be fully realized without addressing global gender inequalities. In an article, Margarita Astralaga of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) writes that “in economies where gender equality is greater in terms of opportunities and benefits, there is higher economic growth and better quality of life”.

Origins of the National Organization for Women (NOW)

NOW, a title indicative of the urgency of advancing women’s rights, is an organization with a long history. NOW is a United States-based organization established in 1966 by a group of feminists, including well-known feminist Betty Friedan, to promote women’s rights and freedoms and establish that women’s rights are indeed part of civil rights.

NOW’s work focuses on a variety of core issues impacting equality for women, such as economic injustices and gender-based violence. Although its founders formed NOW with the goal of advancing women’s rights in the United States, NOW’s work also extends to promoting and defending women’s rights around the world. In an interview with The Borgen Project, NOW’s press team says the organization recognizes that “sSome of the greatest injustices against women are experienced outside the United States in countries where the culture places no value on women and girls. As such, NOW partners with campaigns and women’s rights programs outside the United States “to show solidarity [with]women around the world. »

Justice for Jeyasre

NOW prioritizes women’s rights and gender equality issues globally. The organization’s press team mentions that in 2021, “NOW represented the United States at Justice For Jeyasre Vigil to raise awareness of sexual violence against garment factory workers in India.” Jeyasre Kathiravel was a 21-year-old woman from Tamil Nadu, India. Kathiravel worked as a laborer in a garment factory called Natchi Apparel in Tamil Nadu, which supplies clothing brand H&M. On January 1, 2021, Kathiravel “did not come home from work”. Her body was found in a desert days later – she was raped and killed by her supervisor. Since then, many other women have reported cases of abuse and harassment at the garment factory.

On April 21, 2021, more than 1,000 people from 33 countries came together to show their solidarity with Kathiravel’s family and the union she was part of, Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labor Union (TTCU). At the vigil, several members of women’s rights groups and trade unions expressed their support for an urgent end to gender-based violence in garment factories around the world.

At the vigil, NOW President Christian Nunes said, “We need to reinvent work cultures that treat women as submissive and powerless… Jeyasre Kathiravel was part of this fight to end gender-based violence and harassment at his workplace… we have to keep saying his name.”

Look forward

From a small group of women gathering resources, the National Organization for Women has grown into one of the largest feminist organizations in the United States. eliminate discrimination and realize and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political and economic life. With the commitment of organizations like NOW, the world is one step closer to global gender parity.

–Owen Mutiganda
Photo: Flickr