"I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men," ponderedThink about something carefully and reflectively. the Nobel Prize-winning British writer William Golding, "they are far superior and always have been."

The comment may have been made in jestA thing said or done for amusement; a joke., but women have no lack of things to be proud of in 2023. This year, Christina Koch became the first female astronaut assigned to a lunarTo do with the Moon. mission. Claudia Goldin became the first solo woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.

But it is not all good news. The UN's Gender Snapshot 2023 warns that over 340 million women and girls - 8% of the world's female population - will live in extreme poverty by 2030 if current trends in gender inequality continue.

Oxfam estimated that around the globe, 65% of women's working hours this year were not remuneratedPaid for services rendered or work done. at all. Statistics show that for every 100 men promoted from entry-level to manager, only 87 women got the same opportunity.¹

And so 2023 has been a nuancedHaving or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions. year, full of things to celebrate, but also full of regrets. 

Women's sport has seen a huge revival, with women's football set to become a billion-dollar industry for the first time in its history. After a stellarExcellent; great. performance by the English Lionesses in the FIFA Women's World Cup, interest in women's football surged from 51% of the public to 65%.²

November saw the tragic case of Giulia Cecchettin, an Italian woman who was murdered, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend. Protesters held vigils which remembered all 106 women killed in Italy so far this year.

The case sparked important dialogues about femicideAn intentional killing of a woman with a gender-related motivation. and domestic violence. One UN representative described femicide this year as "a global tragedy of pandemicAn outbreak of disease which occurs across a wide geographic area, as opposed to an epidemic, which is confined to a particular region. proportions."³

Women may be hitting the headlines for their fantastic achievements. But they are also disproportionatelyTo an extent that is too large or too small in comparison with something else. subject to violence, harassment, abuse and economic exclusionThe process of excluding or the state of being excluded..

Yes: It will take a huge investment and cooperation from all around the world, but we can fix systemic gender inequality. People who pretend it is impossible merely wish to maintain this inequality.

No: There will always be a level of discrimination between genders. We can hope to reduce it, but never to eradicate it entirely.

Or... In many areas, we have already reached gender equality. Women even have more opportunities than men in some spheres. We need to target gendered violence as a discreteIndividually separate and distinct. issue.