What can you do in 2020 to help achieve gender parity?

The decade we are leaving behind has been great for women, but there are several things that still need to be done in order to achieve gender parity. 

Actually, according to The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020, it will take us 99.5 years to achieve parity between men and women across health, education, work and politics. 

In India, according to CNN, only about 25% of women are in the workforce, compared to 82% of men. In 2018, as read on Forbes, women’s median earnings were 81% of men’s. 

So yes, things are getting better but are not great yet. And since none of us will live to see gender parity, we can at least do something in order to let the next generation be part of it. 

Here are listed a few actions that you can do (as a person), to help shorten the gap between men and women: 

1. Help all girls access to education. According to the Borgen Project, even though there has been a boost in girls`enrollment to schools, there are at least 130 million girls in the world that are not being educated because of specifical forms of discrimination that only affect women: forced marriage, religious or cultural norms that restrict girls from education and gender based violence in schools. 

According to the World Bank, better-educated women tend to be healthier, participate in formal labor markets, earn higher incomes and marry at a later age.

Look up foundations that are trying to help these girls and donate. Time or money, no matter what. By doing so, you are giving a girl access to the labor market in the future and helping her improve her life quality. 

2. If you are a man, be part of the solution. Even if you think that you are not part of the problem, when you listen to your male colleagues' sexist jokes quietly, you are helping create an environment in which women don't feel safe. Speak out, let them know it is not okay and educate some people in the way. 

Read also: WOMEN ARE STILL 257 YEARS AWAY FROM EQUAL PAY

Also, according to Fast Company, men are usually taking the credit for their female colleagues ideas, so if you see that kind of behavior call them out and help women get the recognition they deserve. 

3. Fight stereotypes. As read on Globan Citizen, there are several studies showing that by age three people start absorbing stereotypes, “causing the world to expand for boys and shrink for girls by age 10”. Gender, as we know, is a social construct. So start the conversation earlier in life, let girls know they matter and help raise feminist boys. 

4. If you are an employer, diversify things when hiring. Change the language, change the approach, change the interviewer. According to The Muse, when only one person is doing the interviews, the selections could be biased. So allow everyone the same opportunities to get in by making a few changes in the way you hire people.

5. End violence now. Reports from the UN show that globally, one in three women will experience violence in her lifetime. Violence usually has psychological effects on women that that keep them from reaching their goals in life, so if you are experiencing violence or you know about someone that is, support them and help them speak out.