The guarantee of gender equality, in addition to being a fundamental right, is a necessary basis for building a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world, as indicated by the Sustainable Development Goal 5. This was one of the consensuses in the Female Leadership panel, held at the CEBDS 2019 Seminar, which included the participation of Adriana Carvalho (UN Women), Ana Bavon (Business for People), Ana Lúcia Salmeron (Schneider Electric) and Maite Schneider (Trans Empregos). The debate was moderated by journalist Flavia Oliveira.
The issue permeates several themes on the Vision 2050 agenda and, in addition to specific legislation, demands engagement from the entire society. The purpose is to ensure women's full participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
“How can we move faster to end inequality? The first secret is to work in a network. We need to bring all the actors together, because a more equal world is better for everyone,” says Adriana Carvalho, project manager at UN Women.
A survey released by Ipsos in 2018, conducted with 20,000 people in 27 countries, including Brazil, showed that for most of the interviewees (32%) the biggest problem faced by women is sexual harassment, followed by sexual violence (28%) and physical violence (21%). In Brazil, the biggest problems highlighted are the same as those presented in the global result, but the order is different.
Sexual violence leads the ranking (47%), followed by sexual harassment (38%) and physical violence (28%). It is noteworthy that for 61% of the women surveyed, reports of sexual harassment are ignored, generating a feeling of impunity. The issue of equal pay appears in fifth place in the world ranking, leads in developed countries and in Brazil is the sixth most important problem faced by women.
The data therefore proves that there is still a long way to go. Data from Women in Business, which interviewed more than 5,000 executives from the 36 largest economies in the world, showed that only 25% of CEO positions in international companies are held by women. In Brazil, there are 16%.
“All of this comes down to one word: respect. We are far from it, but I see progress in respect within companies. We need to convince leaders to support equality within companies,” said Ana Lúcia Salmeron, director of Schneider Electric for Latin America.
Alarming inequality among black women
According to the IBGE, they are also minorities in management positions (37%) and on executive committees of large companies (10%). The situation is even more alarming when it comes to black women. Research by the Ethos Institute showed that only 0.4% of executive positions in companies are occupied by black women. Three out of four HR professionals say there is no demand for black professionals to occupy senior positions in companies.
Data from the IBGE released in April 2018 show that women received only 77.5% of the income paid to men — men received R$ 2,410 and women R$ 1,868. There is also the aggravating factor that, between 2016 and 2017, this difference increased, instead of decreasing. When we think about black women, the difference is even greater: a black woman with a degree receives 43% of salary of a white man.
“To talk about female leadership and gender equality, we need to understand that we are talking about people. Imprisoning stereotypes is dangerous and destroys diversity,” said Ana Bavon, from Business for People.
Employability is also a matter of concern. In Brazil, 781% of men and only 561% of women have paid employment, according to I estimateds of the International Labour Organization (ILO). However, staying at home is not always a woman's choice. Another search The ILO’s survey shows that the vast majority of Brazilian women would like to have paid work. Eliminating the gap in the labor force participation rate between women and men would add 382 billion reais to the country’s economy, or 3.3% of GDP, says the ILO.
Inclusion, equity and diversity in organizations
CEBDS launched this year the publication Breaking down walls and building bridges: corporate initiatives for inclusion, equity and diversity. A collection of case studies from companies associated with CEBDS with initiatives focused on inclusion, equity and diversity, which generates an inclusive ecosystem. The work is the result of two editions of Quebrando Muros, a CEBDS project that provides a space for dialogue between companies and society, which addressed the topic.
“We continue to label people and give power to words. How long will we give so much weight and importance to words and not to people? Many people come to us wanting to introduce diversity, without working on the inclusive ecosystem,” said Maite Schneider, co-founder of the TRANSempregos portal.
