Artwork by Maite Franchi
Towards Equality
2023 Edition
For International Women’s Day in 2023, Sparknews teamed up with 14 news outlets from around the world to reflect on the challenges and solutions to reach gender equality.
From March 8 to 15, they shared 27 stories, 138 times across their platforms, in 7 languages, reaching over 234 million people worldwide.
Here’s a look at some of them, in English:
-
#TowardsEquality 2023: Editorial
🌎 To mark International Women’s Day, 14 international news outlets join forces to highlight the challenges and solutions to reach gender equality and build stronger societies.
-
From women’s strikes to referendums, the road to equality, the Swiss way
🇨🇭 In Switzerland, the battles for equality have been long and drawn out. What ended up making a difference? Are there any Switzerland-specific takeaways?
-
Zeinab Moukalled, 86, a Tireless Pioneer of Waste Sorting in Lebanon
Against all odds, Zeinab Moukalled has organized waste sorting in her Lebanese town for more than three decades.
-
Ni Una Meno: The Latin American protest that anticipated #MeToo
🇦🇷 In 2016, the first national strike against femicides was held in Argentina; it was echoed in Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Honduras, France and Spain. A year…
-
Web App Helps Combat Domestic Violence in Rio de Janeiro
In response to soaring domestic abuse during Covid-19 lockdowns, law students created the novel Maria da Penha Virtual app.
-
Shukria Barakzai: “What the Taliban claim in Afghanistan has no background in Afghan culture”
🇦🇫 Shukria Barakzai is one of the Afghan Active Women who highlights the women’s issues in Afghanistan in international platforms, and defends the rights of Afghan…
-
An Environment of Gender Equality
🇮🇳 Supriya Sahu, the woman at the forefront of India’s first state-level climate action, knows that women must be part of any viable climate solution.
-
Tackling Gender Inequality in the IT World
In Brazil, men still hold 80 percent of IT jobs, but {reprograma} is helping narrow the gender gap.
-
Indian economist Jayati Ghosh: “Women’s Work Is Not Valued Properly”
🇮🇳 “Ultimately economics is about power, and therefore politics. It is presented as this “technocratic” discipline, but that is a smokescreen for hiding the real power…
-
Fawzia Koofi: “Equality in Afghanistan is unfortunately a far-off dream”
🇦🇫 Fawzia Koofi was one of the few female members of the government team tasked with negotiating with the Taliban in 2020.
-
When Boreholes are Gamechangers
🇰🇪 In drought-stricken Kenya, boreholes provide desperately needed water–and help save women from gender violence.
-
Wanted: Female Engineers
In Japan, universities are instituting quotas to help bring parity to this male-dominated field.
-
No, Women Are Not Actually Bad at Math or Directions. So, Where Do These Sexist Clichés Come From?
🇫🇷 French historian Muriel Salle explains the origins of some of the most widespread stereotypes devaluing women.
-
Gender Quotas in Politics: Still a Long Road Ahead for Lebanese Women
Fifty-Fifty and other women’s associations have made the participation of Lebanese women in politics their mission.
-
Cleaning up India, one septic tank at a time
🇮🇳 The trials and triumphs of five female de-sludging operators (DSOs) in the south Indian city of Tiruchi.
-
La Furiosa, the milonga that breaks tango stereotypes
🇦🇷 Tango without gender-defined roles. Women who dance with women. Men who are led by women. The queer milonga was introduced in Argentina at the beginning…
-
Kenya’s Battle to Eradicate FGM
🇰🇪 The government and other actors are determined to win, but this harmful practice remains stubbornly entrenched.
-
Female-Only Uniforms in Japan? Don’t Bank on It!
Japan’s financial institutions are abandoning decades-old dress codes for women.
-
Irène Frachon v. the Mediator Drug: One Woman’s Fight to Help Numerous Victims
🇫🇷 The French pulmonologist and whistleblower Irène Frachon looks back on her years of battle against the appetite suppressant drug Mediator, which has been blamed for…