Our consumption can also help promote gender equality. Today, March 8th, we would like to point this out. On this day as we raise our voice even more to denounce violations of fundamental rights, fair trade organizations are demanding the rights of women around the world. Because it is true that there is no real equality in any country, but the realities of life of the female population are more unfair in some regions than in others.
At work for example. Globally, there are only six women for every ten working men. A problem that is exacerbated in some areas, such as the Middle East and the Maghreb, where female unemployment is twice as high as male unemployment. Or in Asia, where women are, on average, 70% less likely to enter the workforce than men. The pay gap is another significant example: according to United Nations data, women earn on average 23% less than men worldwide.
I’m the first woman in my family to work, I’m proud of it and I’m also a role model for the younger generation
Guddiva Yadav, textile worker
We cite the example of employment because it is one of the most visible and tangible faces that reflect discrimination against women. But also because the violation of this right is often linked to the violation of other essential rights, such as the right to education, social participation, personal development, autonomy or the protection of physical integrity in violent situations.
With this in mind, it is no coincidence that Fair Trade makes gender equality one of its core principles. Therefore, the organizations of this international movement advocate, among other things, the employment of women with decent, stable and egalitarian wages and their presence in governing bodies. In addition, benefits are guaranteed during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as well as special measures to protect them.
And all this leads to significant changes. This is how Amina Ait Taleb from Agadir (Morocco) explains it. She was one of the promoters of a fair trade cooperative that produces argan oil for cosmetics. “Thanks to the cooperative, women have a job that means economic independence, work experience and autonomy from the family for them. We’ve managed to dispel the myth that a woman alone doesn’t have the means to succeed.”
Across the ocean, from her coffee farm in Nicaragua, farmer Johana Montenegro says, “I’m not the woman who took care of the family at home anymore. You opened a door for me to move forward on my own.”
From a slum in the Indian city of Mumbai, the story of Guddiva Yadav, who works at the textile cooperative Creative Handicrafts, also shows a change that goes far beyond her own experience: “I am the first woman in my family to work, I am me I’m proud of it and I’m also a role model for the younger generation.”
Globally, there are only six women for every ten working men.
Like Amina, Johana and Guddiva, the workers of the more than 2,000 fair trade organizations from more than 70 countries that produce coffee, cocoa, sugar, herbal teas, textiles, cosmetics, decoration or toys are empowered women who have fought and are still fighting exercise their basic rights, take their rightful place in society and break with established roles.
Especially today, March 8th, and every day of the year, fair trade organizations defend and demand women’s rights. And we do this at demonstrations, on the streets, with political lobbying initiatives and with heeding decisions that can backfire on what has been achieved over the years. We continue to raise awareness and mobilize society in the face of inequality. In addition, we want to highlight that with something as mundane as our consumption choices, we can contribute to the exercise of women’s rights around the world and to progress towards the necessary gender equality.
Monica Gomez She is Vice President of the State Coordinator for Fair Trade.
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