King's College London

The latest episode of the 'WORLD: we got this' podcast explores how gender inequalities are having an impact on different societies across the globe and hears what could be done to create a more equal world.

In the episode, Dr Ye Liu, Professor Cathy McIlwaine and Dr Aleida Borges, who all work in the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy, share research on what lies behind gender inequalities, some of the effects this has on society and their ideas for bringing about change.

Professor Cathy McIlwaine, of the Department of Geography, talks about the gendered nature of urban violence and how this affects women living in Brazil’s favelas. She also highlights how migrant woman in the UK are facing violence, which they are afraid to report for fear of deportation and not being believed.

She shares examples of activism in countries across Latin America from women demanding change, which have been picked up across the world and remind us that these experiences are universal albeit in intersectional ways.

To help tackle the issue, she calls for more funding for organisations helping women, further legislative changes, and greater use of international conventions to protect women and girls against violence.

Dr Ye Liu, of the Department of International Development and the Lau China Institute, discusses the ways in which gender bias in China is affecting women’s lives and has combined with population policies to create significant demographic pressures for the country.

This includes a higher ratio of men to women resulting from the one child policy and discriminatory workplace practices that are affecting women’s decisions on whether to have children.

She outlines steps the Chinese Communist Party could take to make society more gender progressive including putting more women in leadership roles, better childcare provision, ending workplace discrimination and greater recognition of the growing “she economy” in China.

Dr Aleida Borges shares details of a recent Global Institute for Women’s Leadership report she co-authored. It explores progress on the gender pay gap in six different countries. and revealed how in some countries, such as the UK and Australia, little progress is being made because organisations are only required to report on the issue and no action is required.

To help address the gender pay gap, she suggests requiring employers of all sizes to produce action plans, and calls for governments to improve parental leave, consider better how inequalities intersect and she wants to see more women in leadership positions. She believes this would benefit the whole of society.

This season of the WORLD: we got this podcast is a partnership between the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy and the School of Global Affairs and will feature both themed and ‘In Conversation’ episodes.

• If you are interested in hearing more about the issue of violence against women in Latin America, you might like to take a listen to a new three part podcast series 'Women resisting violence' launched last week by Professor McIlwaine, Professor Jelke Boesten also from King’s and a team at the Latin America Bureau.