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With the will, there’s a way to end violence against women

November 27, 2020
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Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

We've seen the close connection between the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in reported violence of all kinds. We called it the Shadow Pandemic.

We have also seen the difference between the way that our societies and our public services respond to citizens who are present with a life-threatening illness, and those who come for help with a life- or health- threatening partner.

We have seen the whole world respond to the coronavirus pandemic, with all hands on deck, with responsive investment and protocols backed by determination. Every continent has recognized the health pandemic's disastrous consequences and the need to stop it in its tracks. Men's violence against women is also a pandemic – one that pre-dates the virus and will outlive it. It too needs our global, coordinated response and enforceable protocols. It too affects vast populations of all ages. Last year alone, 243 million women and girls experienced sexual or physical violence from their partner. This year, reports of increased domestic violence, cyberbullying, child marriages, sexual harassment and sexual violence have flooded in.

If you take a test to see if you have a coronavirus infection, no one asks you what you were wearing when you caught it, or if you'd been drinking. You can expect with certainty that your test will be laboratory processed, and with reasonable probability that you will get medical attention. The response won't depend on whether you are believed. You won't feel such shame that you probably won't even try to go to the authorities. You can expect care and support.

If only ending men's violence against women was as simple as vaccinating against it. If only responding to it was as well funded as our response to the virus and its impacts on our societies and economies. Imagine if we invested the same amount of expertise and energy in finding a sustainable, global solution. If all leaders including heads of state dropped everything to lead the fight, if front-line workers like prosecutors, judges and policemen worked to save lives of women and girls as the health workers have done, and if ministers of finance allocated funds and provided forensic laboratories and rape kits like they provided personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing services. Imagine if everyone did this until we flattened the curve of violence against women.

Imagine the impact.

We are at the beginning of a promising response that could be expanded to be proportionate to the challenge. Already 146 countries have undertaken measures to make the prevention and redress of violence against women and girls a key part of their national response plans for COVID- 19 in response to the UN Secretary-General's call for 'peace in the home' and as a key part of the UN's next decade of action. But it is not yet at the heart of agendas, and change is not yet at the scale required.

The collaboration between scientists, governments, civil society and industry has been a game changer in the COVID-19 pandemic. That, and more, is the scale and nature of the collaboration needed to end violence against women and girls, across all sectors, and at societal, community, family and individual levels. The Generation Equality Forum and its multi-stakeholder Action Coalitions reflect this consistent, holistic approach with a five-year plan to engage on change that is systematic and lasting.

Civil society is a key partner in this. To play its role fully, it must be flexibly resourced and the funding cuts limiting women's organizations, crisis centres, helplines and shelters reversed. The EU-UN Spotlight Initiative is leading the way on this – and others need to join in order to build the response that will truly make a difference. Women are currently being failed by their elected representatives, and under-capacitated nongovernmental organizations are unable to fill the void. Every country's fiscal stimulus packages should include provisions for ending violence against women, and for well-funded social services – crucially including sexual and reproductive health provisions – that support survivors and enable recovery.

Women must have full access to justice, with reliable prosecution of perpetrators of violence and effective prevention of these crimes. One of the reasons that women report less than 40 per cent of serious violent crimes against them or seek help of any sort, is their lack of faith in the system's response. The turn-around starts with law schools and police academies that teach their cohorts to recognize and respond to abuse and be alert to discrimination. It means ending impunity, with strong legal and policy frameworks, and data to monitor progress and help us hold ourselves and authorities to account.

Equally important are the cultural changes that help prevent violence against women and girls in the first place. For this, we have to shift the stereotypes and attitudes that shame survivors and normalize and excuse the perpetrators. And we must engage allies in this, including men and boys. After all, while a virus is indiscriminate, a man or boy can choose not to be violent and society can guide him not to be violent and hold him accountable if he is.

All these interventions must occur concurrently, continuously, in collaboration, and at scale to succeed.

The economics of violence are simple and devastating.No one gains. Everyone loses, and we have to turn this around. As we face COVID-19's devastation, there has never been a more important moment to resolve to put our combined resources and commitment behind the biggest issues, and to end violence against women and girls, for good. We know what it takes to fight a pandemic. Now we need the will to do it, and with Generation Equality, lead the way.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is the Executive Director at UN Women. You can learn more about her work here.

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Can tech help female entrepreneurs break the bias?

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Written by Kelly Devine, Division President UK & Ireland, Mastercard

Starting a business may have historically been perceived as a man’s game, but this couldn’t be further from reality. Research shows women are actually more likely than men to actively choose to start their own business – often motivated by the desire to be their own boss or to have a better work-life balance and spend more time with their family.

The recently published Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurship 2021 found that in the category of 'Aspiration Driven Entrepreneurship’ – capturing those who actively choose to start their own business – women in the UK surpass men: 60% vs 56%. And Mastercard research from February 2022 found 10% of female business owners started their business in the past two years compared to 6% of men – meaning women were 67% more likely to have started a business during the pandemic.

Yet, there are common challenges that women founders continue to come up against - not least the gender imbalance in the household and long-held biases which are still prevalent.

In the UK, women are almost three times more likely to be balancing care and home commitments than men, and this was exacerbated during the pandemic as the additional barriers of school closures and lockdowns meant that the care time of dependents rose significantly on a day-to-day level for women. In addition, women were less likely to have access to a home office, greatly impacting the work they were able to accomplish when working from home was the only option.

It's also widely known that female business owners are still more likely to struggle to access funding for their business ideas. According to Dealroom, all-women founding teams received just 1.4% of the €23.7bn invested into UK start-ups in 2021, while all-male leadership teams have taken almost 90% of the available capital.

Without financial support, and when juggling significant time pressures both at home and at work, how can women grow their companies and #BreaktheBias (as this year’s International Women’s Day termed it)? What tools or support can save them time and money, and give them the headspace they need to focus on building their business?

With female owned businesses collectively estimating revenue growth of £120 billion over the next five years, solving this problem is bigger than supporting women – it’s about supporting the national economy.

Using tech to level the playing field

There are clearly societal issues at play that need to be resolved. But when we look at the rise in technology businesses during the pandemic, we can plainly see an alternative source of support critical for business growth: digital tools.

A third of female business owners say new technologies will be crucial to the success of their business in the future and one in five say it is the most important thing for business growth.

With new technology comes new ways to pay, create, and work. And yet there are barriers that prevent business owners accessing this technology. Women are significantly more likely to say they want to use more digital tools but don’t know what is best for their business and also more concerned about the security of digital tools.

When technology is adopted by businesses – whether using online accounting solutions or messenger services for communicating with staff – it saves them time, allows them to maintain and grow their customer base, and ultimately increases cost savings and profit.

By drastically improving the training and support that is available to women-owned business to access and utilise technology we will allow these businesses to grow and succeed. And we know there is demand for it.

Research done by the IFC and Dalberg shows that female entrepreneurs are more likely to invest time and money in business development. This includes product development, customer base expansion, and digital tools and training and there are plenty of services available offering this type of support – many of them for free.

One such programme is Strive UK – an initiative of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth – which aims to reach 650,000 micro and small business owners across the UK and empower them with the tools they need to thrive in the digital economy through free guidance, helpful tools and one-to-one mentoring.

Working together with small business experts – Enterprise Nation, Be the Business and Digital Boost – we hope to ensure hundreds of thousands of UK female business owners have the tools they need to succeed and reach their ambitious goals. Because this ambition remains strong in the UK, with female business owners largely optimistic about the future despite the multitude of challenges they are facing. Four in ten say they will grow their business in the next five years – compared to only a third of male business owners – and they’re also 35% less likely than men to say they plan to downsize or close the business.

But if we do not empower female entrepreneurs to access the tools and technology they need to grow, there is a risk this optimism could be misplaced. Support programmes that provide business owners with guidance and mentorship can help ensure this isn’t the case, allowing female entrepreneurs to not only survive but thrive in the months and years ahead.