Gemma Welsh
'Looking to the future of Institutional Mechanisms'
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Firstly, what actually are "Institutional Mechanisms"?
Twenty years ago, at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, 189 countries made a commitment to reach gender equality; a 12-part framework called the Beijing Declaration.
The 8th critical area of the Declaration (or Platform for Action) was "Institutional Mechanisms".
This is a fancy name for a body funded by government, to work independently with government and civil society (charities, academia, business - not government basically) in order to make sure that governments are and can do their best to achieve a gender-equal world. A national institutional mechanism's job is to consult people about their lives, consult civil society about their expertise, and work with and advise their government. This includes making sure that a country's laws and policies don't unfairly affect groups of people based on their gender.
Things which may not appear to be discriminatory may in fact impact groups of people differently when they're implemented.
- For instance, women may be able to own a property under a country's legislation. However, in practice, if in that country a woman is not able to take out a bank loan, that would mean that realistically she's unlikely to be able to buy a house, and therefore the law about property-ownership is not going to be of any use.
This is why it's important to have a body in place to check for any gaps or any hidden or unintended implications. It is shocking that barely any countries in the world have effective national mechanisms, despite the 20 years that have passed since they internationally and legally committed to doing so!
For me, this is because that barely any people know about Beijing, or are incredibly passionate about institutional mechanisms - I mean the name doesn't exactly inspire passion does it? But, without these essential parts in place, progress to change things which are embedded into our lives: the pay gap; stereotypes; workplace and academic bias; harassment etc...) cannot happen.
All over the world, people raise their voices in attempts to call for change, however in many parts of the world it is dangerous for people to fight exercise these rights. And it is legally the job of the 186 countries who have signed up to Beijing to make sure they are making every effort to ensure that people (at least with regards to gender equality), don't have to.
Just in the UK, the average woman works 1 in every 6 working days free compared to the average man; men are three times more likely to end their own lives than a woman; and 1 in 3 girls will experience unwanted sexual touching in school.
Worldwide, 1 in 3 women experiences sexual abuse; the equivalent of 5 jumbo jets full of women die in labour every day, in majority from very preventable reasons; and there are 107 million women and girls missing from the world due to gender discrimination: more than all of the men who died in all the conflicts in the 20th Century.
Clearly there are vast inequalities to be eradicated, not just by responses but also through prevention, and areas such as policies and lawmaking are key to this.
As such, I called for everyone at CSW59, and call for everyone who reads this to consider how they can add their voice and show their governments they care about gender equality.
