"I want my sons to escape the pressure to be a particular kind of masculine that is so damaging to men and to the people around them. I want them to be comfortable being themselves, and being feminists." - Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Iceland made headlines last week for being the first country to mandate equal pay. While this legalistic approach may not be a best fit for Hong Kong, we know there is a lot of work to be done to close the gender gap – in pay, in power structures, in opportunities – and we need to expand the reach and deepen the engagement of men, women and institutions to create a more gender equal society.
On our side, we will be working more closely with our Male Allies– a group of committed male leaders who are changing mindsets, behaviours and practices from within their organisations to create an inclusive environment where both women and men thrive. We will also be working with influencers in the 30% Club Hong Kong to adopt best practices in promoting more women onto boards, and we will be working with companies through our HR Advisory Council and other initiatives to help improve processes, practices and infrastructures to ensure they are hiring, attracting and retaining the best talent from both genders.
As we work side-by-side with our passionate stakeholders and supporters, we are also looking at coupling our advocacy efforts with Hong Kong focused research examining gender education among boys – their influences when it comes to forming gendered expectations and the most effective ways of uprooting and transforming those stereotypes. And, as always, we will continue to work with young men and women in our T.E.E.N. Programme and Girls Go Tech Programme to nurture and develop their skills to be young advocates for gender equality.
Engaging men and boys needs to be a priority on the gender agenda going forward. As Dr. Michael Kimmel, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities powerfully notes in his TEDTalk "...gender equality is not a zero-sum game...it is a win-win for everyone. And what we also know is we cannot fully empower women and girls unless we engage boys and men." Through this engagement, we are enabling the full, stigma-free participation of men and women, girls and boys – as earners, carers and citizens.”
Let 2018 be a year of action-oriented change to build a gender inclusive Hong Kong so that we can all lead the lives that we want to live.
Get in touch at Fiona.Nott@twfhk.org.
