Despite recent progress in promoting gender equality, women are still under-represented in cultural and creative industries, the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO says in a new report.
More worryingly, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made matters worse, the report notes and calls for a new commitment and transformative actions to promote gender equality.
The report has been released at a time when the United Nations is celebrating 2021 as the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. The report, titled Gender and Creativity: Progress on the Precipice, was prepared by UNESCO with the help of the Swedish government.
According to the report, women in the arts face several barriers in culture and creative industries.
“Impediments to gender equality in the cultural and creative sectors are numerous, and include unequal access to decent employment, fair remuneration, and leadership positions, as well as barriers to seniority. Opportunities for women to participate fully in the cultural sectors and benefit from the creative economy, notably in the digital environment, require increased support,” says UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone in the foreword to the report.
The report emphasizes that gender equality is essential for real diversity in cultural expression and equal employment opportunities in the arts.
The report also highlights that the digital divide remains a major concern, as women still lack basic access like smartphones, an internet connection, and other tools that can help them progress in creative practice.
“According to Equals Global Partnerships, 200 million fewer women than men worldwide own a mobile phone, 250 million fewer women than men use the Internet, and only six percent of women develop apps,” the UNESCO report says.
Besides, women-owned start-ups receive 23 percent less funding and are 30 percent less likely to have a positive exit compared to men-owned digital media businesses, the report says, citing data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The report also takes a look at gender protection and well-being worldwide and finds that female artists and creative professionals continue to face harassment, bullying and exploitation.
The report highlights an increase in gender inequality since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but notes that women have reacted strongly to the crisis.
“Women are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. They make up the majority of health and care workers and are more likely to lack social protection. Before the COVID-19 outbreak women were already performing more than threequarters of unpaid care work globally and that is likely to have increased,” the report says.
The report stresses that new measures are needed to safeguard gender equality during and after the Covid-19 outbreak.
Citing a study, the report notes that several countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, have implemented a total of 223 public policies aimed at mitigating the impact of the pandemic on cultural workers and cultural and creative industries.
“We now stand on a precipice, and we must not falter in our efforts to promote gender equality. It is our hope that by sharing innovative gender equality policies, measures and programs, this report can make a decisive contribution to this effort,” says the UNESCO assistant director-general.
Leave a Reply