In case anyone had doubts, Philanthropy Women is one of the world’s leading authorities on feminist giving. Time Magazine recently ran a story on the topic, and one of their major sources for the story was Kiersten Marek and the Philanthropy Women website.
The information presented in the opening paragraphs will be familiar to regular readers Philanthropy Women. The article cites both the World Bank and a McKinsey Report that have found that directing grants to women and girls can boost the overall world economy.
In addition, progressive-thinking countries like Sweden, Canada, and France have recently implemented feminist agendas to their giving in order to advance the cause of humanity.
In short, feminist giving produces tangible monetary benefits while at the same time fostering gender equality. Everybody wins. So why are issues of gender equity and social justice facing so much opposition?
The article then goes on to interview Kiersten.
…“There is a lot of talk about doing this work globally, but not many dollars match that talk,” says Kiersten Marek, who founded the website Philanthropy Women. “I would argue that there is a ‘say/do’ gap in gender justice funding, both in the U.S. and globally…Donors have a tendency to start off strong and strident, and then lose momentum over time,” Marek explains.
Unfortunately, this loss of momentum comes at a moment when a “strong and strident” response is desperately needed. Reactionary forces are threatening gender equality movements worldwide. There are many global events that not only to stop forward progress for women, but also seek to reverse any of the gains of the last sixty years. While the actions in different countries are not coordinated, there is a clear trend toward authoritarianism and reversing movements for gender equality.
According to Time,
…Between 2013 and 2017, the “anti-gender” movement—which the U.N. describes as opposition to reproductive rights, sexuality, and gender-sensitive education in schools, the rights of the LGBT community, and in some cases, even the very notion of gender—received over $3.7 billion, more than triple the funding for LGBT groups globally in those years.
Womens’ rights in general, reproductive rights, and even access to quality healthcare are being challenged. Overall social justice is at risk.
This reaction is global, so it may not be an overstatement to say that we are at a crisis point.
