International Women’s Day is a marker in our calendars to cause us to pause and recognise the accomplishments of women and girls. This year I felt it was important to salute the political trailblazer who stood up in 1971 to pave the way for thirty of us to follow in her footsteps. Mrs. Millicent Mercer also known as Ms. Milli, showed courage and fortitude in an era when stereotypes and discrimination were widespread against a woman’s involvement in the Virgin Islands’ political landscape. Fifty years later, gender stereotypes have been challenged but we need to continue to break the biases. I encourage both men and women to keep working towards a society that is diverse, equitable and inclusive that supports our young women in making their contribution in our families, economy, government, religion, education, media, and the arts.
It is also a time to reflect on progress that has been made and where more is needed. For us to have a gender equal world it is important to first say that the rise of women is not about the fall of men. Women and girls represent half of the world’s population, and therefore half of its potential. Gender inequality persists everywhere and stagnates social progress. According to the UN Women organisation, the largest global gender gap is in all levels of political leadership where26.1% of 35,500 parliament seats are filled by women. Other biasesthat exist are that women and girls are expected to do most of thedomestic work in the home and in some countries women and girls are deprived of health care or proper nutrition leading to high mortality rates.
Locally, we have several gender gaps. Politically, less than 25% of the House of Assembly representatives are women. Since 1950 when the legislative council was reinstated, there has been a total of eightwomen elected as representatives and three were ministers. Economically, one gap is that single-parent households are disproportionately led by women. Another is that men are paid more than women for equal work. This difference is especially significant in the lower income brackets which could lead to more families falling into poverty with current unemployment levels. A national census is overdue for us to get a true picture of what we are dealing with, and what counter measures are needed to promote gender equality and mitigate against poverty in the short- and long-term.Also, it is important that we collect statistics consistently in between censuses so we can monitor trends and identify problems early. We cannot solve a problem that we do not know exists.
What can we do in the meantime? Firstly, we as women need to raise our awareness and call out gender stereotypes and discrimination. We must learn to give each other room to live and teach our girls to do the same. We should promote being our sister’s keeper and celebrateone another’s successes. Most importantly, remember we are not competitors but collaborators with our men. To our brothers, we ask that you educate one another on how you can support the women and girls in your lives to realise their full potential. Let us work to break the cycles of sexism and double standards that treat women as an afterthought and have a gender equal mindset. There is room for all of us at the table. A generation ago domestic violence and child abuse were sadly tolerated by a silent majority because of narrow-minded beliefs that men could dominate, and control women and girls. Uncomfortable but necessary conversations are crucial to solve these social ills if we want a healthy and balanced society.
Let us unite for “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” and embrace women and girls becoming change-makers in our beautiful Virgin Islands!
#BreaktheBias
#ChangeinConversationforaBetterVirginIslands