Can we rely on the leaders of the G20 — an informal assembly of 19 states that has been in existence since 1999 — to tackle embedded misogyny, hardened patriarchal attitudes, sexism, male privilege, raging intimate partner violence, and the sex trafficking of women?
Can we rely on and trust the leaders of the G20 to introduce bold, brave, and substantive gender equality and equity changes?
My answer is a resounding “No”.
I have stopped counting how many policy briefing papers have been produced on ending gender discrimination at the behest of whichever of the 19 states is at the helm of the G20 at the time.
It should therefore not be a surprise when the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report (2025) and the UN’s SDG gender snapshot indicate that progress in ending gender inequity is stagnating and reversing in many areas, and if we use the current pace as a yardstick, it will take the world 123 years to achieve full gender parity in all areas.
That it will take the world 123 years to take millions of women out of poverty and out of the burden of unpaid care work and violence should disqualify any of the G20 leaders — and it should keep them awake and bothered.
We expect heightened levels of consciousness, restoring the dignity of the people they serve and advancing public policy that performs humanity, not cruelty.
The gathering of these leaders and their officials in SA this month cannot be a feel-good moment; rather, it should invoke a deep reflection on how and why substantive equality and equity have been this elusive and taken this long to attain.
Since 2021, the policy espoused in the “G20 Roadmap towards and beyond the Brisbane target: More, better and equally paid jobs for women” has been developed.
At the G20 in Rome in 2021, the leaders emphasised the importance of gender equality and highlighted the crucial role of women’s and girls’ empowerment and leadership at all levels to achieve inclusive and sustainable development.
This was followed by the first G20 women’s conference on women’s empowerment in 2021 that focused on the quality of women’s empowerment, the implementation of policy actions aimed at increasing women’s access to positions and leadership, the protection of women’s workplace rights and the elimination of gender-based violence.
SA is hosting the summit this month under the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability”. However, all G20 countries still grapple with discriminatory social norms and gender stereotypes that are among the root causes of gendered violence against women and girls.
In some of the G20 countries a man can be justified in hitting or beating his wife/spouse under certain circumstances. It is also acceptable in some countries to whistle at a woman in the street or touch a woman without her consent, and women’s sexual agency in a relationship is viewed negatively and met with violence.
If you were to ask direct questions to the G20 leaders at the summit on these issues, their answers would make you yawn.
“It is unacceptable; it is wrong. We have put in place policies and laws to address the challenge. Gender-based violence is a scourge; it is a pandemic. It devalues women and girls, and it promotes negative gender stereotypes and objectifies women and girls.
“We are in the process of passing another law to strengthen the criminal justice system; we have empowerment programmes to address women’s financial exclusion and entrepreneurship.
“In the next G20 summit we will be announcing measures to end gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls.
“The OECD development centre has developed an update report on progress on social practices, changes in legal frameworks, shifts in discriminatory practices, and gender gaps in outcomes for G20 countries.
“We will be tabling the report at the next UN status of women commission, we will be appointing a special rapporteur on violence against women and children, and the recommendations will be tabled at the UN security council, and, and, and...”
The three days of spectacle in SA will continue to expose the tone deafness of these world leaders and their inability to seize the moment and be bold and courageous enough to admit that the system is rigged against women.
They have to acknowledge that in the past 26 years of the G20’s existence, they have been offering women merely liberal improvements of their situations while preserving intact the overwhelming monopoly of political power by men and leaving unchanged the structures of representation that characterise private relations between the two sexes.
- Adv Madumise is a director at Wise4aFrika
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