International Women’s Day: 8 ways the Thomson Reuters Foundation supports women and girls around the world

Today the world pauses to celebrate women’s achievements and contributions to society, but, with stark concern that gender inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic, it is also a rallying point for the unprecedented global movement advocating for women’s rights and opportunities to be equal to those of men. Gaining or losing ground at this critical juncture, where calls are being made for a Global Reset, is expected to define the global gender order for generations to come, with irrevocable effects on humanity, society and the planet.

Recognising the urgent need for concerted action, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’, acknowledges that “without gender equality today, a sustainable future, and an equal future, remains beyond our reach.” This sense of urgency is at the heart of the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s work, which leverages its unique legal and media expertise to build free, fair and informed societies, with a focus on women and girls who represent a majority of the world’s poor and vulnerable.

This piece outlines eight ways in which the Foundation’s work on advancing media freedom, fostering more inclusive economies and promoting human rights is supporting women and girls around the world to live freely and to be treated fairly.

1. Closing the gender pay gap

Women are still paid less than men for doing the same work, and many countries remain without legislation that requires companies to publicly report on gender gaps.

 To help promote pay equity, the Foundation’s pro bono legal service, TrustLaw, published a report ‘Gender Pay Gap Reporting: A Comparative Analysis’ in collaboration with the Fawcett Society and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, with the support of law firm Latham & Watkins. The report mapped international gender pay gap reporting legislation across 11 countries, highlighting good practices and concrete steps to hold companies accountable for their equal pay pledges.

 Shortly after the publication, the worrying finding – that a majority of companies still pay men more than women – sparked a public debate around the gender pay gap. In particular, The Independent cited the report in response to British MP Stella Creasy introducing a new Equal Pay Bill to Parliament that would allow women to request data from their employer if they suspect a male colleague earns different wages for doing the same work.

2. Protecting women journalists from harassment

 From impersonation accounts to hateful slurs and death threats, journalists around the world are facing increasing levels of abuse. The consequences are significant, ranging from physical and psychological harm, to discrediting or preventing their work and effectively silencing their reporting.

 In response to these surging attacks, the Foundation, in collaboration with its partners, has pioneered a range of initiatives that offer journalists practical solutions to defend their mission of free, fair and accurate reporting and protect them from harassment.

Last year, the Foundation partnered with UNESCO, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the International News Safety Institute to develop a range of practical and legal tools for journalists, media managers and newsrooms to strengthen responses to online and offline harassment and to protect free and independent media.

To mark International Women’s Day, the Foundation has announced a new partnership with Google Jigsaw to create a bespoke tool that supports journalists who are regularly facing online violence to remove, block and report abusive content in a way that protects their well-being and takes action against perpetrators. The tool will be available for use from June.

Learn more: Guide on Responding to Online Harassment, Guide on Gender-sensitive Policies for Newsrooms and Know Your Rights Guide on Handling Online Attacks

3. Celebrating women in journalism

 Every year, through the Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism, the Foundation honours brave and often unrecognised journalists, particularly women, for their reporting on conflict, corruption and human rights transgressions.

 Last year, Khabat Abbas from Syria received the prestigious News Fixer Award. As one of the very few fixers in the country, she made headlines with stories of women on both sides of the Syrian civil war from Kurdish fighters to ISIS wives, through her local knowledge, journalism skills and extensive contacts. Hear from Khabat on what winning the award meant to her.

4. Stamping out online sexual abuse

 Online abuse towards women is on the rise, especially during COVID-19. Yet, legal frameworks designed to prevent and prosecute such borderless cybercrimes remain a long way off.

 Through TrustLaw, the Foundation partnered with Equality Now, a human rights organisation, to launch a ground-breaking report ‘Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Women and Girls: A Call for International Standards’. The report, which examined legal frameworks on digital security, found no internationally binding legal instrument that defined online sexual exploitation and abuse or specified the responsibility of tech platforms.

 Equality Now has been using the findings to push for legislative reforms for women’s safety online, including through setting up international standards that can coordinate laws and responses to online abuse, regardless of where it happens.

5. Promoting a gender perspective in business practices

 There is growing awareness that business activities impact women differently and disproportionately. This has put investors under increased pressure to consider the ‘S’ (social) performance of the companies in their investment portfolios. But, in the world of ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) investing, the integration of social performance assessment has seen little progress, undermining business impact on an array of social issues such as gender equity.

 In response, the Foundation formed a working group of civil society actors, experts and business leaders to emphasise the importance of the ‘social’ criteria within ESG investing. The group, which included leading organisations such as Refinitiv and White & Case, produced a white paper: ‘Amplifying the “S” in the ESG: Investor Myth Buster’. The paper challenges the misconceptions often cited by investors to explain the lack of meaningful adoption of ‘S’ indicators and provides concrete actions they can take to enable wider adoption of social criteria in investment strategies.

The paper further explores why investors need to pay more attention