The United Nations reports that 2.5 million people are trafficked each year. Approximately 80 per cent of victims are women and girls, with most engaged in the sex trade. The authors, members of the Massachusetts General Hospital Initiative to End Slavery, conducted research in eight metropolitan areas: New York City, Los Angeles, London, Manila, Mumbai, Kolkata (India), Rio de Janeiro and Salvador (Brazil), interviewing hundreds of health workers and anti-trafficking leaders. Based on their research, they make four recommendations for global businesses, who they encourage to exercise leadership in the effort to eradicate human trafficking.
Quotas probably won’t get more women into the boardroom in places like the U.S. and Canada. They have a better chance however in countries such as China or Germany where people place a higher value on obeying authority and conforming to cultural norms, say Profs. Soo Min Toh and Geoffrey Leonardelli, from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
Sarah Kaplan, the director of Rotman’s Institute for Gender and the Economy, says the Sunshine List is a “small window” into the equity issue. But, she said, women should take advantage of any transparency when it comes to information about pay.
For a short recap of Dr. Elson’s talk, see the video below.
About the talk
In a context of widening inequalities, it is more than ever important that the alignment of government budgets and social justice should be improved. Gender budgeting seeks to secure this through a focus on how budgets impact on gender equality and the well-being of women, in particular women who also experience other inequalities, such as those related to class, ethnicity, age, disability and sexual orientation. Professor Elson’s talk drew on UK experience with gender budgeting, focusing on the different and changing roles of government and civil society; the implications of equalities law; and research conducted by the UK Women’s Budget Group on the distributional impact of budget measures. She highlighted lessons learned that may have relevance to Canada.
About the speaker
Professor Elson is an internationally known researcher on gender, economic rights and social rights, and government budgets. She is one of the founding thought leaders for gender-responsive budgeting – the analysis and development of government budgets from a gender equality perspective, and has given presentations on this to government officials and parliamentarians in numerous countries, including South Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Morocco. From 2009 to 2016, she served as chair of the UK Women’s Budget Group, which brings together feminist economists, researchers, policy experts and activists to work towards a gender-equal society in which women’s financial independence gives them greater autonomy at work, home, and in civil society. Professor Elson is a member of the UN Committee for Development Policy and consultant to UN Women. She has served as Vice-President of the International Association for Feminist Economic and on the advisory committee of the IMF project on gender budgeting. She is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology at Essex, Research Associate at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, Rutgers University and has held visiting appointments at several schools including Carleton University, Ottawa. In 2016 she was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.
Sponsors
The event will be co-sponsored by the York Research Chair on Global Governance, Gender and Human Rights; The Gender Budget Lab @ York; and The Institute for Gender and the Economy at Rotman.[/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”50″ bottom_margin=”50″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/events/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more past events[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_title margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” hide_on_mobile=”medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” size=”5″ content_align=”center” style_type=”default” sep_color=””]
Are politicians such as Angela Merkel, Theresa May and Hillary Clinton, and public figures including Beyoncé, the 50-foot women we need to save the day?
Catherine Mayer tackled those questions and more in Attack of the Fifty Foot Women: How Gender Equality Can Save the World! on April 26, 2017.
About the book:
Catherine Mayer’s book, Attack of the Fifty Foot Women, takes readers through her years as a journalist and as Editor at Large for TIME magazine, her experiences in forming the Women’s Equality Party, and insightful research into the global reality of gender inequality.
Mayer says:
“You may have noticed a popular refrain in public life at the moment: ‘Men have made a mess. We need women of stature to clear it up’. This book tests that proposition and asks what else the power of women, unleashed, might achieve. A lot of research points to the economic benefits of increasing female participation but what else would change? Are Equalians happier? What’s going on in Equalian homes and workplaces? Who’s looking after the children? Does the air smell cleaner? What’s on TV? It wasn’t until I started advocating for gender equality on doorsteps and at meetings of the Women’s Equality Party that I realized everyone struggles to imagine a gender equal society because nowhere on the planet does such a society exist. My book works to plug that gap.”
Through deep and sometimes hilarious accounts of her own journey, as well as studies and interviews with experts and leaders in diverse fields, Mayer illuminates the obstacles holding women back and how much women contribute in the face of these daily setbacks. She also reveals her visions of a truly gender-balanced society—a place that she calls “Equalia,” and shows readers how to get there.
About the author:
Catherine Mayer is a bestselling British author and journalist, and the co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party (WE) in the UK.[/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”50″ bottom_margin=”50″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/events/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more past events[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_title margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” hide_on_mobile=”medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” size=”5″ content_align=”center” style_type=”default” sep_color=””]
In April of 2015, Ms. Heyninck was one of four individuals appointed by the government to the Gender Wage Gap Strategy Steering Committee, which is conducting research and seeking public input into solutions to close the gender wage gap in Ontario. The Committee’s recommendations will be submitted to the Minister of Labour in the spring of 2016. Ms. Heyninck is immediate Past President of the Society of Adjudicators and Regulators and has served on several of SOAR’s committees and on the Board of Director and Executive. She is a member of several Advisory Councils, including Conestoga College and the University of Western Ontario Student Law Clinic and is a mentor at Brescia College. She holds an Hon. B.A. in Italian and French from McMaster University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor. Before her appointment to the Pay Equity Commission, she practiced civil, family and administrative law in London, Ontario for 25 years.
Jamison Steeve, Executive Director, Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity
Jamison is the Executive Director at the Martin Prosperity Institute and the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, two of Canada’s leading think tanks. Jamison is responsible for the day to day operation of both institutes, as well as the development of the strategic plan, communication vehicles and policy agenda. Since joining the ICP, Jamison has increased the pace and impact of the Institute’s work. The ICP has covered a wide range of topics including health care, infrastructure, scaling up businesses, and the utility of government grants in attracting businesses to Ontario.
Victoria Budson, Executive Director, Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at Harvard’s Kennedy School
WAPPP is the leading institution for advancing interdisciplinary research on approaches to closing gender gaps, educating students and leaders on gender policy, and implementing policy changes at local, state, and national levels. Budson speaks regularly on topics related to closing gender gaps such as gender and public policy, electoral politics and political action. She also addresses how diversity and gender equality improve the profitability of corporations and the prosperity of families and society. In her work, she focuses on evidence-based methods that are proven to improve diversity and gender equality in the workplace.[/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”50″ bottom_margin=”50″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/events/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more past events[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_title margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” hide_on_mobile=”medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” size=”5″ content_align=”center” style_type=”default” sep_color=””]
