I recently boarded an empty train in the city center and a couple of rows away was a lady who appeared to be in her forties with two toddlers right next to her. One child was up on the chair, combing her mother's hair, while the other was down below on the train floor, keeping herself occupied and trying to crawl under the seat. This lady was frantically trying to keep the two kids from getting out of control, all the while attempting to maintain their balance as the train kept swaying from side to side.
As I sat by and watched, I couldn’t help but think of all the difficult things that women do to raise their children right; the sacrifices they make and the charming and bold things they do in public all to keep their kids safe.
When do they take a break? A chance to walk away, unwind and recharge?
It is reported that women in Spain spend 26.5 hours on unpaid work such as household chores and caring for the family while men spend 14 hours. This limits the time available for paid work, education, and leisure which further reinforces gender-based socioeconomic disadvantages (Report of the Secretary-General).
So how can we cheer women on, make them feel appreciated, and encourage them as they continue to serve us?
Simply refusing to keep silent when listening to comments that belittle women is one way of applauding them and this involves respectfully speaking up against rude and impolite comments. This can be reinforced on a larger scale by providing anti-bias gender and diversity courses or sessions for employees. If we don’t share this knowledge with the people around us, where will they get it from?
We can also help women by creating a safe environment where they can report discrimination and harassment by providing a listening ear without prejudice and judgement. Almost one third of all women in Spain report feeling sexually harassed at least once in their lifetime. Thorough investigations can be done by forming committees to look into such cases.
Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls is one of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) which were set in 2015 to be achieved by 2030. With these simple steps and so many more, we can create a safer and less toxic environment for the women around us.
This article was written for the United Nations Association of Spain (ANUE)
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