+
upworthy

Equal Everywhere

True

This story was originally shared on #EqualEverywhere — a campaign to champion the changemakers working to make equality for girls and women a reality. You can find the original story here.

Christine T. Rose is founder and CEO of Christine Rose Coaching & Consulting, a boutique coaching firm in the greater Seattle area dedicated to facilitating and accelerating transformation for individuals and organizations. The firm has helped business leaders grow their leadership skills, teams, and companies since 2015. Christine's book, Life Beyond #MeToo: Creating a Safer World for our Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Friends, lays out a vision for freedom from violence and discrimination and offers tools for taking action to change the world.

Why do you advocate for equal rights for girls and women?

I grew up in a home with three sexual abusers. My early life was traumatic. In fact, I've forgotten much of my childhood and made some very poor decisions about relationships with men as a result. I've spent years working with counselors and coaches, reclaiming my life and rebuilding on the ashes of past abuse. I also have experienced workplace sexual harassment. I've volunteered and coached and worked with countless girls and women who have shared stories of harassment, abuse, and violence. I have felt the call to use what I know about coaching to help others who have faced similar challenges. Even recently, since press releases about the book have gone out, I've been subjected to online sexual harassment from people I've never met. It's an epidemic which needs immediate attention around the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
United Nations Foundation
True

This story was originally shared on #EqualEverywhere — a campaign to champion the changemakers working to make equality for girls and women a reality. You can find the original story here.

London J. Bell is Founder and President of the Bell Global Justice Institute. She is connecting the drive for equality from Michigan to the world while raising awareness about what it will take to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals. Bell is also a member of UNA-USA, and is a UNA Women Co-Chair.

What does #EqualEverywhere mean to you?

To me #EqualEverywhere means gender equality in every area of life for every global citizen. #EqualEverywhere means equal pay, equal access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities for all. #EqualEverywhere means equal access to participation in the political process on local, national, and international levels. #EqualEverywhere means the eradication of all forms of violence against women and girls.

Why do you advocate for equal rights for girls and women?

I advocate because I know the impact of the oppression of girls and women around the world. I am particularly concerned with violence against women and girls and the lack of access to justice for victims and survivors as well as the impunity of perpetrators. The absence of justice reinforces the belief that the dehumanization of women and girls is acceptable and normal. As an advocate, I use my voice to let law and policy makers know that the dehumanization of women and girls is 100% unacceptable. I am particularly vocal about laws, policies, and customs that strengthen protections for women and girls locally and globally.

What motivates me to do this work?

I am motivated to do this work because I know the lives of women and girls are at risk of violence around the world every hour of the day. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where women and girls are often impacted by violence in many forms. This past summer, I was deeply troubled when I learned that, within the span of one week, four African-American women were murdered in Detroit. In response to this violence, in August 2019, I organized and led a Universal Periodic Review Consultation Session (UPR) on gender-based violence with fellow members of the United Nations Association of Greater Detroit. Our Consultation Session was included in UNA-USA's National UPR Consultation ahead of the country's scheduled appearance before the UN as part of its Periodic Review in May 2020. When we held our UPR Session at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, an inter-generational, intercultural group of about 25 community leaders offered personal stories, observations, and recommendations for the U.S. to address systemic issues that perpetuate all forms of violence against women here at home and globally. As an advocate, a member of UNA-USA, and as a UNA Women Co-Chair, I will continue to use my voice to empower women and girls and to demand accountability in every area of life where women and girls are adversely impacted.

Keep ReadingShow less
United Nations Foundation
True

This story was originally shared on #EqualEverywhere — a campaign to champion the changemakers working to make equality for girls and women a reality. You can find the original story here.

Caroline Gatwiri Mutiwiri is a gender statistician at the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

What does #EqualEverywhere mean to you?
#EqualEverywhere is fundamentally about fairness. It means that women and men as well as girls and boys enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections, irrespective of their orientation, gender, or any other defining characteristic. Notably, #EqualEverywhere does not assume uniform treatment of all people, since deliberate steps are needed to reach gender parity and to redress the exclusion of girls, women, and marginalized groups.

Why do you advocate for equal rights for girls and women?
Men and women are not equal and gender affects an individual's living experience. Gender equality is a fundamental human right and is essential to a prosperous, sustainable world. Inequalities faced by girls begin right at birth and follow them all their lives. Women and girls represent half of the world's population — empowering them can facilitate a more peaceful society where everyones' full potential can be realized. By accelerating social progress, gender equality can correct the long-held status quo of men being better positioned in social, economic, and political arena than women.

What motivates you to do this work?
Steady progress in integrating gender perspectives into development policies over the past few decades has motivated me. Kenya's progress across many sectors is a case in point. According to World Bank data, the share of Kenya's waged and salaried female workers in the labor force rose from 19.4% in 2000 to 23% in 2018, a significant shift, albeit still low when compared to men, who constitute 53.2% of the workforce. News of this disparity led to a push for equality everywhere. Nonetheless, women globally earn 77 cents for every dollar that men receive for the same work, so clearly, we are far from #EqualEverywhere. Likewise, more effort is required in the economic and political sectors where the disparities persist and where legislative reforms and affirmative action are needed.

Keep ReadingShow less
United Nations Foundation
True

This story was originally shared on #EqualEverywhere — a campaign to champion the changemakers working to make equality for girls and women a reality. You can find the original story here.

Kritika Singh is a bioengineering and chemistry student at Northeastern University in Boston, MA who in 2014 founded Malaria Free World, an initiative promoting research and education about the epidemic. In 2017, she established Northeastern's Global Health Initiative (GHI) with support from faculty advisors. GHI is a student-led conference focused on public health issues around the world. Kritika is a recent Rhodes Scholarship awardee, a Truman Scholar, and a Goldwater Scholar.

What does #EqualEverywhere mean to you?
#EqualEverywhere means women and girls feel empowered to do whatever they want in whichever field(s) they want.

Why do you advocate for equal rights for girls and women?
I advocate for equal rights for girls and women because it is our right to be successful in any field we choose. The most important thing for the next generation of girls is to have role models in the fields they want to go into. Right now, there are not enough leadership positions in engineering, science, medicine, or policy held by women. This needs to change. Women are half the world's population — not having them seated at decision-making tables, especially in global health, impairs program development and undermines public health efforts. We need an equal balance of leadership so that all voices are represented at the highest echelons. For example, there has only ever been one female Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We need more women leaders to bridge the gaps between health policy, biomedical research, and clinical medicine, which is why I aspire to be a physician, a scientist, and advocate.

Keep ReadingShow less