Natasha Stott Despoja: "Women should feel no guilt in making the same decisions as men."

She was smaller than I imagined, for a woman who has accomplished so much. As Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls Natasha Stott Despoja stepped up to the podium at the Lowy Institute in Sydney’s city yesterday afternoon, I wondered where her talk, “Are we there yet?”, would take us. She knows more than most of us about the fight for gender equality. She has so much to talk about.

In 1995, at the age of 26, she was the youngest woman ever to be elected into the Australian federal parliament. She is also the longest serving member of the Australian Democrats party. She tabled the first legislation seeking paid parental leave in May 2002. She is a self-proclaimed feminist (increasingly rare, lately), a long-time advocate for women’s rights and the Chair of the Foundation to Prevent Violence against Women and their Children – an initiative from the Victorian and Commonwealth governments.

In December 2013, Stott Despoja was appointed the Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls by Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Now, after travelling overseas 45 times, to 31 different countries, she is stepping down from that role.

“The hardest thing about the last three years has been balancing family and professional life,” Stott Despoja, who has a daughter Cordelia and a son Conrad, told the audience.  Part of the fight for equality, she says, involves reforms that facilitate women’s participation in both work and family life.

Part of the fight involves ending violence toward women and girls.

During her Ambassadorship, Stott Despoja has met with women in Vanuatu, who believe it’s okay for their husbands to hit them.

“But Ambassador, if I am home late from a night out with girlfriends, I should accept a slap from my husband, it’s about discipline,” Scott Despoja was told on her last trip to Vanuatu. The young mother speaking was one of the 60 per cent of women in Vanuatu who think domestic violence is justified.

She has seen women enter clinics with their hands or limbs severed by their husbands. "I have seen how domestic violence affects a woman, the shame and stigma involved. The physical and emotional toll of it," Stott Despoja said.

She believes Australia has a heightened role to play in the fight for equality over the coming years, particularly since the election of the US president elect Donald Trump. "Not one country has gotten gender equality right," she said. "We have taken steps forward, but we are not there yet. We need to reach a point where women feel no guilt for making the same choices men make."

She feels the Pacific is too often "invisible" and, perhaps because of this, it's also the region that needs the most help in empowering women and young girls. "72 per cent of women in Vanuatu have experienced sexual or physical abuse," Stott Despoja said. "That figure increases to 90 per cent in Papua New Guinea."

She says gender equality is one of the most, if not the most, important issues facing this century. And there are three ways we can push for change:

Facilitating economic empowerment of women  

"70 per cent of the world's poor are women," Stott Despoja said. "At the same time, 90 per cent of a woman's income will go back into the household, compared to 60 per cent of a man's." Nearly two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women. Globally, 65 millions girls are not going to school because of mensuration or traditional expectations. "We know this, we also know that just one year of additional schooling will boost a women's earning capacity by $10,000," Stott Despoja said. "In some countries in the Pacific, a girl is more likely to die from childbirth than to finish school."

Eliminating violence against women and girls

"One in three women have been beaten, coerced into sex, assaulted," Stott Despoja said. "There is a link between gender inequality and violence against women."There are people I have met and things I've seen in the last few years that have shaken me. I have seen the best and worst of humanity in this job. I knew a lot of the statistics, but in this job I have had to put names and faces to the research."

Increasing the participation of women in leadership and decision making roles

"I love this finding, that there is a proven connection between women in leadership and changing perceptions and aspirations for young girls. When they see women in decision-making positions, young girls will spend less time doing the dishes and are more likely to follow leadership positions," Stott Despoja said.

Is Jessinta Franklin a bad feminist? Post continues below.

One solution?

Quotas. At the moment, there are five countries in the world that have no female political representation - two of these countries are in the Pacific. In the same region, women make up just 6.1 per cent of parliamentarians, which is the lowest rate in the world. The global average is around 22.6 per cent.

"We need to support countries that have a quota for women in parliament, or who are considering implementing one. It is not acceptable to deal with countries where there are no women in parliament," Stott Despoja said. "If I hear the world 'merit' again... These women are there, they're talented, they're ready. They don't need training - they're already trained. We need to send a message to men running these countries - get women in there. They are ready."

As well as women in leadership, Stott Despoja says sports is a great way to promote equality or "an equal playing field" particularly in school-age children. During her last trip to Vanuatu, the Ambassador channelled a certain former Prime Minister of Australia ("some things you can't un-see") and played cricket with girls and women of all ages. "The power of sport is huge," she said.

If Stott Despoja has learnt one thing during her time as Ambassador, it's that "eternal vigilance is required". Her 2002 proposal for paid parental leave was unsuccessful, as was the 2007 bill she tabled for the same cause. Today, it is estimated around 85 per cent of working women are eligible for the current Government Paid Parental Leave.

"Gender equality is the answer to a number of problems leaders identify - for example, economic growth. We can't address poverty, without addressing women," Stott Despoja said. "The best thing both men and women can do, is to lead by example. I know we should travel hopefully, but may we arrive soon. Surely there is no better example where the destination is more desirable than the journey than in the case of gender equality."

Featured image via Facebook.