Women’s Rights Issues Pt. 3-Women’s Economic Justice

The third pillar of eliminating poverty through women’s rights includes Women’s Economic Justice. It is a common trend that women have more duties and roles within their households. Most women work within the labour force but also tend to perform what is known as invisible work. On average, women perform most of the domestic labour within the household, all of which is unpaid. Furthermore, within the workforce, women are underpaid and receive less compensation for equal work. In order to improve the economic position of women around the globe, it is crucial to bridge the gap between women and men.

Did You Know?

• Worldwide, women earn, on average, 23% less than men.

• In 2018, 606 million women said unpaid care work prevented them from doing paid work. Only 41 million men said the same.

• 1 in 10 people survive on less than $1.90 a day. The majority of these people are women.

Featured Project

One of the featured projects Oxfam is working on to reduce these statistics is Securing Rights through advocacy, education, and empowerment in Bangladesh. The domestic worker industry in Bangladesh tends to be highly overlooked, undervalued and unregulated, leaving female domestic workers and children in highly vulnerable positions with no education nor financial security to move forwards. Through this project, Oxfam is championing the importance of women’s domestic workers and advocating for better working conditions by:

• Empowering and organize women domestic workers so that they can claim and defend their rights

• Influencing policymakers and stakeholders to begin protecting the rights of women domestic workers

• Recognizing domestic work as a formal profession

Check out more information about Women’s Economic Justice and their work on securing rights for marginalized women at https://www.oxfam.ca/what-we-do/issues-we-work-on/womens-economic-justice/.

Stay tuned for our next biweekly post on Women’s Transformative Leadership!