If she can’t see it, as the saying goes, she can’t be it. Representation by women is crucial in so many areas, from cryptocurrency and blockchain to politics, leadership, protecting and promoting other women, and fighting for women’s rights around the world. When women come to the table, everyone wins. This week, we’d like to share just a few stories highlighting the importance of recognition, representation, business opportunities, lifting up and amplifying women’s voices, and highlighting opportunities to celebrate, respect, and promote women in all areas.
UTRUST’s Sanja Kon Reveals Theory About Why There Is a Lack of Women in Blockchain Jobs, from Coin Rivet—“One of the major barriers is if you think about how people are hired for a role. We hire by association to someone who is similar to us … if you think about blockchain and start-ups, these are dominated by male CEOs. The simplest thing one can do is hire by similarity. That’s my theory because when I worked at PayPal and eBay, you had someone who helped you create diversity, so we had diversity chief executives. If you have a HR system that helps you moderate that diversity, it helps you recognise the different profiles, onboarding and hiring process. The hiring by association approaches creates a more male-dominated industry.”
New Research: Reproductive Rights Are Good for Business, from Women’s Media Center—“Reproductive freedom — from the right to access abortion and affordable contraception, to ending pregnancy discrimination — empowers women in the workplace by giving them more control of their own bodies and therefore more autonomy in their career paths and goals. According to the report, based on a survey of 1,271 employed adults, “Majorities acknowledge and agree that women’s reproductive freedom is tied to their overall empowerment/equality (70 percent) and economic stability (64 percent) and is important to their success in the workplace (67 percent).”
Malaysia’s First Female Top Judge Is ‘Big Step’ for Women’s Justice, from Thomson Reuters Foundation—“It makes a difference when it comes to cases which involve the rights of women – rights at the workplace, marriage and divorce. If you have gender balance in the judiciary it only means there will be consideration and understanding from a woman’s perspective.”
Feminist Lawyers of South Asia Rally to Aid of #MeToo Survivors, from The Observer—“The site is called Ab Aur Nahin – ‘Time’s Up’ in Urdu. ‘We’re telling these people that enough is enough,’ said Dad. ‘We’re taking charge of this issue.’
Now 50 lawyers are registered on the site, 30 of them women. ‘It’s amazing because there are so few female litigators in Pakistan,’ said Dad. ‘Or if there are women lawyers, they don’t go to the courts because of the misogynistic environment.’
So far, the network of lawyers has supported 15 women with everything from writing statements to legal representation and advice on responding when accused men ‘slap back with defamation suits.’”
Men Invented ‘Likability.’ Guess Who Benefits., from The New York Times—“Likability is associated with an emotional connection between candidate and voter that makes a politician worthy of trust. And yet because that connection is forged almost exclusively through the conduit of mass media, it can never be really about the candidate but only voters’ fantasies about how a politician they can never know ought to be. That women are disadvantaged by a dynamic that emphasizes fantasies over real achievements should perhaps come as no surprise: Popular fantasies about women, sadly, still don’t tend to feature intelligence, expertise and toughness at the negotiating table.”
Women Entrepreneurship in Nepal is a Story of Perseverance and Persistence, from Entrepreneur—“Much like in the earlier context of the Indian subcontinent, women lead lives of domesticity and filial duty in the Nepalese context as well. Their role in agriculture might help them push some barriers but ultimately, they largely remain alien to professionalism and women empowerment.
Business has always been a man’s domain—but things are changing in Nepal. Many women have risen up and are coming up to break barriers in the field of entrepreneurship with some of the most disruptive ideas and power-packed legacies.”
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