Unless women support other women, then we have no chance of getting the equality and credit that we deserve. As the Women's World Cup has just finished, and for the first time it has been broadcast on mainstream television, there is no better time to be supporting women all over the world as, despite the success, female athletes are still struggling to be taken seriously. According to Women in Sport, 1.5 million more men play sport than women, and only 8% of girls meet their recommended exercise guidelines, which could well be due to the lackluster support for female athletes. You can do your bit by buying a ticket to your closest women's sports team or try out a new sport that is lacking female representation.
However, despite sports, there are other more serious ways we need to show support for other women, for example, supporting the campaign to End period poverty. A recent survey in the UK found that one in four girls or women have been unable to afford sanitary products, while two-thirds have been forced to use makeshift menstrual protection before. The study also revealed that restricted access to sanitary products could prevent girls and women from going to work and school, causing them to miss opportunities as a result. You can support this cause by buying period supplies online through charities like Hey Girls, who automatically donate another pack of pads for every one purchased, or generating physical donations by setting up a Red Box in your community. Period poverty is a global issue, and you can also support women internationally by donating to Saathi, who make reusable pads from the banana fiber in India, or Loving Humanity, who create sanitary products in refugee camps in Jordan.
Kiva is another great way you can help women all over the world; it is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. They do this by crowdfunding loans so that students can pay for tuition; women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment, and families can afford needed emergency care. In this article by Kiva Fellow, Anya Reza talks about the remarkable women who have been helped by Kiva; one lady was able to save enough money to transition her family from a ‘mud hut' to a solid homemade from bricks and cement as well as sending her five children to school.
Did you know that The Body Shop are also doing their bit for women and are supporting female communities all over the world, helping them to find financial independence and empowerment? For example, The Body Shop's trade of shea butter provides 646 women of The Tungteiya Women's Association in Ghana with a fair wage and a premium fund. The money earnt from the production of shea butter is used to invest in local projects that provide safe water, schools, and medical centers, actively affecting 46,000 people.
