Amartya Sen, philosopher and Nobel Prize winning economist, once said, “Empowering women is key to building a future we want”. Sen and many world leaders, scholars, and experts have brought attention to this fact but how exactly do we empower women? 4Girls Glocal Leadership sought to answer this questions by launching their first Women’s Empowerment Global Survey titled Voice & Choice: What Young Women Want.
The study surveyed 167 girls and women from 26 different countries between the ages of 10 to 32. In reviewing responses, respondents typically felt they had the most control over their education but the least control over their career. It is no surprise then that the change these women desired most was around personal development and career. The study found that “46% of respondents identified self-reflection about who they are, self-worth, purpose in life, and connecting with their inner strengths as what brought about positive changes and meaning in their lives”. The study also asked respondents what having a voice meant to them. “Voice is power,” was one answer. “It marks that ‘I exist’,” stated another respondent. Although having a voice was the most important to respondents, only 30% in both economically rich and poor countries used their voice (both verbal and nonverbal expression) regularly.
If using our voice is the key to empowerment, why are the majority of us not speaking up? On a global scale, massive violence against women is one reason many stay quiet. Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala Yousafzai, once said, “In most parts of the world, when a girl is born, her wings are clipped. She is not able to fly”. In those parts of the world, self-expression for women is stopped in its tracks and for many, their lives are taken in infancy simply for being born female.
The extremity of violence is not the only aggressor against women’s empowerment. Societal norms and discourses can often inhibit women’s voices as well. The study asked respondents to list who encourages and discourages them to speak freely and found that family/partners were listed as the highest for both. For discouraging free speech, friends and community/society were the second and third highest.
Although most of the respondents listed “career” as the biggest change they desired, the hindering of women’s voices often bleeds into the workplace. In a study released by PayScale, 31% of women stated they were uncomfortable negotiating salaries and 18% stated they didn’t want to be perceived as pushy. Although speaking up about salary desires would seem to be the obvious solution, four studies conducted by Hannah Riley Bowles and collaborators found that “people penalized women who initiated negotiations for higher compensation more than they did men”.
The key to empowering women is giving them a voice but in in our world, the majority of women are afraid to speak freely. To speak freely is to go against societal norms and in certain countries, it can put your life in danger. President Barack Obama stated, “When women succeed, nations are more safe, secure, and prosperous”. But to have a voice, we need to first make it safe for women to do so. Changing this discourse will be the catalyst to women empowerment.