Young girls in the village of Sonu Khan Almani in Pakistan's Sindh province perform most of the household chores, like making bread. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

By Preethi Sundaram and Fiona Salter
NEW YORK, Mar 16 2015 (IPS)

It is estimated that women account for two-thirds of the 1.4 billion people currently living in extreme poverty. They also make up 60 per cent of the world’s 572 million working poor.

Rapid global change has undoubtedly opened doors for women to participate in social, economic and political life but gender inequality still holds women back.If you can decide who you live with, what happens to your body and the size of your family, if you are free to make decision about these fundamental rights – only then are you able to participate fully in social, economic and political life.

Around the globe, women and girls continue to have subordinate status, fewer opportunities and lower income, less control over resources, and less power than men and boys.

Son preference continues to deny girls the education they have a right to. And the burden of care work that women face impinges and intrudes on their opportunities in terms of education and career.

Now a new report to be launched by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Mar. 16 in New York examines the links between SRHR and three core aspects of gender equality: social development, economic participation and participation in political and public life.

The report, Sexual and reproductive health and rights – the key to gender equality and women’s empowerment, provides specific recommendations to governments and to United Nations agencies to make sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equality become a reality.

The reason for the report is to assess objectively what we have long suspected, namely that sexual and reproductive health and rights are critical to achieving equality.

Why? Because when women are able to maintain good health the trajectory of their lives can be transformed.

There are fewer maternal deaths and less reproductive illness; women and girls can realise their sexual and reproductive health and rights, they are free to participate in social, economic and political life.

Stark figures show that the denial of sexual and reproductive health and rights is a cause and consequence of deeply entrenched ideas about what it means to be a man or a woman.

Gender norms leave women and girls at risk and unable to reach their full potential. In some extreme cases, they can kill.

Women die because they cannot access the abortion services they need. Women die of preventable causes in childbirth. Women die at the hands of their violent partners. We see examples of this in all corners of the world.

Globally, one in three women experience either intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence during their lifetime. And, shockingly, women how have experienced intimate partner violence are 50 per cent more likely to contract HIV.

Sexual and gender-based violence is a major public health concern in all corners of the world. It’s a barrier to women’s empowerment and gender equality, and a constraint on development, with high economic costs.

And then there’s work. The percentage of women working in formal wage employment has increased over the last half century but a striking number of women are still likely to work in the informal economy due to gender inequality.

Across cultures and in all economies, women continue to do the bulk of unpaid care work. Women make up the majority of workers in the informal economy – 83 per cent of domestic workers worldwide are women.

Work in the informal economy can be more insecure and precarious, and can have specific impacts on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women. For example, lack of regulations can make women more vulnerable to lower wages, limited access to health care, maternity leave or child care and workplace discrimination, including sexual assault.

In virtually every country, men spend more time on leisure each day while women spend more time doing unpaid housework. Women devote 1 to 3 hours more a day to housework than men; 2 to 10 times the amount of time a day to care (for children, elderly, and the sick), and 1 to 4 hours less a day to market activities.

Globally, female labour force participation decreases 10-15 per cent with each additional child for women aged 25-39.

Women also tend to have less access to formal financial institutions and saving mechanisms. While 55 per cent of men report have an account at a formal financial institution, the figure is just 47 per cent for women .

Here, too, women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are key – true economic empowerment and stability comes from ensuring that regulatory frameworks across both the formal and informal economies take into consideration women’s reproductive lives.

In the political realm gender norms limit women’s opportunities to participate in decision making. As a result, women’s domestic roles are over-emphasised, they have less time to engage in activities outside of the home. This then restricts their influence to informal decision making, which tends to be hidden, or not respected.

Hardly surprising, then, only 1 in 5 parliamentarians is female.

One reason for women’s low participation in public and political life is because party politics and strategic resources are dominated by men.

In addition, women also have to overcome barriers that men don’t, such as poor networking, limits on whether they can travel.

Women voters are four times as likely as men to be targeted for intimidation in elections in fragile states. After all, would you vote if you faced threats on your way to the polling station?

What this report shows is that gender inequality prevents girls and women from reaping benefits and contributing to social, economic and political life.

So what’s the answer? Truth be told, no single approach will work. We have to look at solutions that work for women’s varied and complex lives.

But there is something that we can change – something that goes to the very heart of poverty eradication and development goals. We can uphold sexual and reproductive rights.

Because if you can decide who you live with, what happens to your body and the size of your family, if you are free to make decision about these fundamental rights – only then are you able to participate fully in social, economic and political life.

It’s the freedom from which all other freedoms flow.

Women and girls should have the right and ability to make decisions about their reproductive lives and sexuality, free from violence, coercion and discrimination.

That’s what equality is all about.

Edited by Kitty Stapp

Excerpt:

Nafis Sadik, renowned women's right advocate, and Cathleen Miller discuss Miller's book about Sadik, "Champion of Choice". Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 24 2013 (IPS)

Once dubbed “the most powerful woman in the world” by the London Times, Nafis Sadik learned at an early age that persistence leads to opportunities for change – and backlash from the Pope.

“Champion of Choice”, a book by acclaimed author Cathleen Miller, details the life and times of Sadik, the extraordinary women’s advocate who served as executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) from 1987 to 2000.

A dynamic collaboration between Miller and Sadik, “Champion of Choice” stands as an example of dedication and the power of the human spirit. The journey began 12 years ago in a quest for a story that led Miller all over the world.

“The main thing that connected me to her was my tremendous respect for her,” Miller told IPS about her decision to write a book about Sadik. She emphasised the importance of spending time with Sadik’s family, the local communities with whom she had worked and the women whose stories remained poignant contributions to “Champions of Choice”.

“People are not going to open up and tell you their life’s story over the telephone, to a stranger,” said Miller. “It was just about spending time with people and getting them to trust you, getting them to tell you things that were personal and sometimes very painful.”Sadik fought tirelessly for women's rights and opened a global conversation on family planning.

On Mar. 20, UNFPA, Friends of UNFPA and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) hosted a book launch at the Ford Foundation in Manhattan to celebrate both author and subject.

The importance of advocacy

Sadik’s work focused heavily on the health of women and girls. She fought tirelessly for women’s rights in sexual and reproductive health and opened up a global conversation on family planning.

As an undersecretary general at the United Nations, Sadik noted that her position gave her “a platform to really say what I always wanted to say about the rights of women, about sexual and reproductive health – including family planning – and how important it was and is for women to be able to exercise those rights”.

Not to be outdone by her male counterparts, Sadik became well known for her outspoken views and disarming clairvoyance. Advocating for her fellow women to advance themselves within the UNFPA, Sadik changed how the organisation was set up.

When she joined, she set up a task force to examine how women could advance in the organisation. “I let it be known in the office that if a position was open for advancement, I would consider both women and men,” Sadik described. “For a while, if they were equal, I would promote the woman.”

Advancing not only UNFPA but also the conversation surrounding global health, Sadik defied stereotypes and set out on a historic mission that fought to give women control over their bodies.

In 1994, Sadik was appointed secretary general of the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) in Cairo that brought together world leaders, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and activists to discuss population development and human rights. She called her work there “my best achievement”, describing, “what I did was get people to the negotiating table”.

Spearheading an initiative for marriage equality and the empowerment of women, Sadik believed that when a woman has the right to reproductive health and the power to decide what’s best for her and her family, population management and sustaining global development become possible.

“Of course couples should make decisions together, but in the end it should be the woman who should be able to decide about her own life and about her own health and about her own needs,” Sadik said. This, however, “is not the case for the majority of women in the developing countries”.

A special narrative

With her many contributions and the occasional controversy – the Vatican opposed Sadik’s stand on sexual and reproductive health – Sadik’s story found its own special voice through Miller.

“This kind of narrative story that’s very much about storytelling – and very intimate – had the power to affect people in a different way than a book that’s historical or policy driven,” Miller told IPS.

Asking tough questions and relying on Sadik to recount stories, Miller wrote from a place of learning. The outcome was an incredible account of advocacy. In a era when the world is driven by instant gratification and immediate results, Sadik remains one of the most dedicated activists for women’s health and rights, an inspiring story and legacy in her own right.

“The main thing I learned from Dr. Sadik is that you have to have courage,” Miller shared. “Not just courage, but the determination to keep after a task or a change for decades.”