How are women across the world changing the narrative?

Gender stereotypes perpetuate a system that makes it difficult for women to occupy positions of leadership. ECPAT strongly believes that these stereotypes must be challenged to ensure that every woman and girl has equal opportunities in all aspects of life and free from any form of violence and discrimination!

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Chair of ECPAT International

From an early age young girls learn that, because of gender norms and expectations, there will be barriers that prevent them from achieving their full potential. Whether that comes in the form of being denied access to education, the expectation to marry young, or it presents itself in other insidious ways, such as sexual exploitation, young women all around the world are being denied their rights. 

Inclusion matters! Studies have shown that the presence of women in leadership positions ensures peace, inclusion, and a more equitable society. When women join political conversations, they bring perspectives of the world that were silenced in the past. When women are in power, other women, young women, and girls have the space to speak up about their world’s experience, seeking for justice! 

The presence of women in leadership builds a roadmap that further inspires other girls to excel, achieve their goals, and become independent, all that while challenging the narrative of old gender norms and stereotypes! 

Despite the upheaval experienced by all because of the global pandemic, 2021 saw countless women breaking the glass ceiling and contributing to achieve gender equality!

• Kaja Kallas was elected Estonia’s first female Prime Minister. She began her political career in 2011 as a member of the Estonian Parliament and was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2018.  
• Samia Suluhu Hassan was elected President of Tanzania and she is the first woman in the country covering this role. Suluhu-Hassan is the third female head of government of an East African Community (EAC) country.  
• Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa was elected Prime Minister of Samoa. Before this, she had the role of Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, becoming the first woman in Samoan history elected as a Minister in 1999.
• Robinah Nabbanja was nominated Prime Minister of Uganda. Before her appointment to the position, Nabbanja served as the State Minister of Health until the end of 2019. She served as the elected Member of Parliament for Kakumiro District Women Constituency in Uganda until 2021.  
• Najla Bouden Ramadhane is Tunisia’s Prime Minister and the first woman to lead a country in the Arab region.  
• After Barbados became a Republic, Sandra Mason was elected as the country’s first-ever female President. Mason built a high-level career path since 1991. To mention a few of her achievements, she was the chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the first woman magistrate from Barbados to be appointed Ambassador to Venezuela, and she became the first woman to serve on the Barbados Court of Appeals.  
• Magdalena Andersson was elected as the Prime Minister of Sweden. She started her political career at the age of 16, and became the Swedish Minister of Finance in 2014.    
•  Xiomara Castro was elected President of Honduras in 2021and officially started her mandate in 2022. She is also the President of the Women’s organization of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America (Copppal Mujeres) since 2016. 

The full article was published on 22nd March 2022 via ecpat.org. Click here to read more.

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