Women’s empowerment refers to the ability of women to empower themselves in order to achieve gender equality. It is a societal concept that encourages women to become aware of their capabilities and to act to participate in and change the world.
The health crisis has set back the time needed to achieve gender equality by more than a generation, according to the World Economic Forum’s annual study published in 2021. In France, women lost more than 64 million jobs in 2020, a loss of 5%, compared to 3.9% for men. The health crisis has had many repercussions for society as a whole, but they have been more severe for women, many of whom have lost their jobs, particularly as they are over-represented in the consumer-related sectors that have been most directly affected by the containment measures.
COVID has also had a direct impact on their psychological well-being, due to women’s double burden between work and home responsibilities. Household chores, childcare and care for the elderly are responsibilities that fall disproportionately on women and hinder their successful professional careers. For example, 39% of female SME managers have to run their business during the day and manage family life before and after their office hours, according to a study by bpifrance Le Lab.
Women still have a lot to gain. Initiated by the feminist French newsletter “Les Glorieuses”, the #5November16H47 movement encourages French women to leave their work on Tuesday 5 November, at 4.47pm, in order to denounce wage inequalities between men and women. Let’s also remember that in 2021, the movement focused on the differences between white women and racialised women, who according to statistics, should have stopped working as early as June… Five months before white women.
And what about the forgotten ones in the world of work? The rate of access to employment in France for disabled people with a higher education is 66.9% for men – compared to 22.8% for women, according to a report on the employment of women with disabilities. In addition, job insecurity is higher for women with disabilities. Almost half of disabled women workers are employed part-time (47%), compared to only 16% of men.
Beyond equal pay, it is therefore crucial to re-establish the equal distribution of tasks in the home, to denounce sexist discrimination, to encourage people to speak out, to become aware of the effects of gender, origin and validity, in short, to do everything possible to combat gender inequalities, and all the others. In order to begin this important work, training is also crucial, both to develop the skills necessary for women to assert themselves and become aware of their abilities, and to understand the roots of these inequalities in order to put an end to them.
We are all concerned by these issues, so on March 8th – International Women’s Rights Day – the “Empow(her)” playlist will be available on all platforms !
The “Empow(her)” playlist therefore consists of the following courses:
- Everyday Negotiating Techniques (Management)
- The fundamentals of leadership (Eyrolles)
- Mental health (Video Arts)
- Preventing discriminations and encouraging diversity (Wolters Kluwer)
- Preventing sexist behaviour and sexual harassment (Wolters Kluwer)
- Assert yourself (Video Arts)
- 1h to stop stressing and stay zen (Dunod Formation)