Thirty years have passed since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, which has served as a blueprint for women’s rights worldwide. While important progress has been made, women and girls worldwide continue to face injustices, from inequality in education and employment to gender-based violence. In 2023 the proportion of women killed in conflicts doubled, according to the UN’s annual report on women, peace, and security, and around 31% of women globally are not in education, training, or employment, compared to 15% of men.
Xiomara Nuñez de Cespedes, who chairs the Gender Equality Committee (GEC) of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), thinks co-ops can “unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind”. She adds that “co-ops play an important role in this construction because they are organisations for people and by people where people are the main asset and almost 50% of co-ops have female members.”
This is not reflected in the leadership of these co-ops, she warns – but GEC is working to empower women so they can actively participate in decision-making roles.
“Sometimes we, in co-ops, say that women participate under equal conditions as men but this is not true,” she adds. “Many women face issues that limit their active participation in co-ops. A clear evidence of that are event photos, in which our male counterparts are predominant.”
To remedy this, co-ops must create the right conditions for women to participate in the decision-making process, she says. “It’s important that the right spaces are created for women to participate in co-ops. Sometimes the office hours chosen can impact whether women can participate. If we make an effort among all of us we could ensure there is real participation.”
As enterprises that function on the principle of open membership, co-ops are expected to offer equal opportunities to women. But can they go beyond that by getting involved in campaigns to promote or defend women’s rights, or by raising awareness through educational campaigns?
Related: GEC urges action to stop violence against women and girls
“There have been many initiatives that have helped foster women’s leadership but they have not been sufficient,” says Nuñez de Cespedes. “It’s important that co-ops promote education with a focus on gender.
“There are themes that tend to attract women, like social issues, and themes that seem to attract more men, such as artificial intelligence. But we all need to acquire knowledge on all areas … It’s time to see education through the gender lens and work on this.”
The gender pay gap remains an issue worldwide, with women earning 20% less than men. While some individual co-ops publish statistics on gender pay gaps, research on the matter is limited.
A 2024 report by French apex Coop FR found that men earned 11.2% more than women in co-ops, compared to 17.9% in the rest of the private economy. And in 2018, Co-operatives UK found that co-ops in England, Scotland and Wales were more egalitarian in terms of pay than other companies, with the mean gender pay gap at 8%, below that of other companies (14%). Meanwhile, many worker co-ops operate a completely flat pay structure, which means the gender pay gap would be zero.
But, insists Nuñez de Cespedes, “co-operatives are part of society and society has historic inequality.”
When professions attract more women than men, the salaries start automatically dropping, she says. “I have seen people discussing and saying everyone has equal conditions and opportunities. It may be that certain senior jobs are paid the same but there are so many more issues that impact pay – for example benefits that would not be used by women to the same extent as they would by men. Women also need to start learning to negotiate rather than accept a more senior level job as soon as offered. It’s a deconstruction we need to keep making to seek advancing. From GEC, we would like this not to be an issue and for working conditions and salaries to be the same for women and men but there are many issues that occur.”
Another challenge women face is being able to juggle work and caring responsibilities. Here, too, co-ops can make a difference.
“Some co-ops have opened childcare centres which means mothers have access to childcare – this is a fabulous initiative, especially for young mothers,” says Nuñez de Cespedes. “It means things function for women. Domestic work and caring responsibilities should be something all family members get involved in, but this is usually not the case and women end up with the highest burden on top of having to fulfil their day-to-day jobs.”
A 2020 study by the Economist’s Intelligence Unit found that 85% of women reported online violence against other women. This tends to affect younger women more, with 45% of gen Z and millennials personally experiencing online violence. Half on the women surveyed said the internet is not a safe place to share thoughts. So how can co-ops offer a safe space for women to share their views?
“In my co-op, we have an educational programme within which we decided to provide our members, the majority of whom are women, with social media training to be safe online,” says Nuñez de Cespedes. “Co-ops need to start training women to avoid dangers when using social media. I am not just talking about something that can impact women emotionally but also financially. We have seen attacks of all types through social networks and even co-ops were among victims of cyber attacks. We have to work on this and ensure more women feel safe.”
Co-ops in countries where women do not have equal rights with men can still support female members and employees, she adds. “Co-ops have a social influence in their communities, which they can use to reclaim the life and conduct of the persons involved in them.
“Every woman and girl that is close to a co-op should feel that the co-op gives her the tools needed to feel safe at home, on the street, or wherever she is going.”
In November, GEC joined the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign with awareness initiatives, events and marches.
“We bring together men, provide training and reclaim the safety of women and girls,” says Nuñez de Cespedes. “Every time a man recognised through training provided by the co-op that he needs help, or that he is ill-treating female family members, we have won a great battle. Because this is building one by one.
“That’s why we have a continuous campaign against gender-based violence, not just physical violence but also mental and financial.”
GEC also advises co-ops on gender equality matters and offers a support hub and permanent reference for gender equality issues in co-ops.
“We provide training on all these issues and promote education on empowerment, safety and women’s leadership within co-ops,” says Nuñez de Cespedes. “We also advise all co-ops to have gender committees. We work to ensure this happens and that each member of the ICA receives information – we are also always available to provide training for free to promote the work of women and raise awareness abut the importance of empowering women.”
Her message to women involved in co-ops is to actively participate. “We must definitely work to ensure this is possible for more women to participate, form strategic alliances, bring their contributions and communicate their interests – presenting a different but equally important contribution to their co-ops.”
