In recent weeks, the world has woken up to the experiences of women everywhere. What some may have considered a rarity was, in fact, standard procedure. As Australia was left reeling from accusations of sexual assault from those within Parliament House, overseas Asian women were brutally killed in a shooting, while Sarah Everard was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a police officer. These events aren’t isolated however, and as the world united in collective journey, women around the globe began sharing their experiences of sexism and stories of the state of fear they lived in. A viral Instagram post was shared repeatedly, simply with the lines: “Text me when you get home,” illustrating just how deeply entrenched these feelings are for women.

As protests take place around the world, women are calling for change. Now is the time to hold male perpetrators of sexual assault accountable. Now is the time for equality; for equal job opportunities and equal pay. While many have spoken out about issues of equality, Venus Williams recently penned a moving letter about equality that was shared in Vogue UK. The five-time Wimbledon champion discussed being the first woman tennis player to receive equal prize money to her male counterparts and how she now hopes to use her platform to champion global pay equality. As she writes, “The battle for equal pay in tennis started from the outset in 1968, when the sport was made ‘open’ or fully professional. It’s the reason why, five years later, Billie Jean King established the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to unite and strengthen the voices of women tennis players around the world.”

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https://www.instagram.com/p/CMuv7yjlBPJ/

Venus continues: “I firmly believe that sport mirrors life and life mirrors sport. The lack of equality and equal opportunities in tennis is a symptom of the obstacles women face around the world. While Nordic countries such as Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland demonstrate some of the lowest disparities in pay between men and women, Turkey, Bahrain and Nigeria are some of the highest. In the US, women made 82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019.”

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https://www.instagram.com/p/CMz3wLWFj8O/

Venus has since started the inaugural #PrivilegeTax campaign in a means to address the gap via her own lifestyle and activewear company, Eleven by Venus Williams. Equal Pay Day is on March 24 (today), and customers can opt to donate 19 cents at the checkout when they shop participating brands like Nordstrom, Tracy Anderson, Tom Brady’s TB12 and Carbon 38, amongst others. All of the customer donations will then go to the charity Girls Inc of Greater Los Angeles, which provides hundreds of girls with “life-changing support through its education enrichment programme that focuses on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.”

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https://www.instagram.com/p/CMce_kmF_-7/

As Venus details, there are ways to address the gender pay gap. “Women are often underrepresented in senior positions in firms” but “overrepresented in low-paying jobs,” she explains. “Increasing the minimum wage is a priority. Then there’s the urgent need for transparency; if women don’t know they aren’t being paid fairly, how can they do anything about it? Childcare and medical leave also need to be expanded to create equal opportunities for women as they are more likely to take time off work to look after their family.”

She is quick to note: “None of these things are possible without men being part of the solution. Sexism isn’t a women’s issue any more than racism is a Black issue. Men need to understand gender equality is about equal opportunities for women rather than men relinquishing power.”

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