Looking back at Democracy Drinks The Hague: Investing in Women, Investing in Democracy
#DemocracyDrinks is a global event series that brings together advocates and defenders of democracy to participate in knowledge sharing and collaboration. Over 50 cities worldwide participate, with The Hague edition organised by The Hague Humanity Hub, The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, and The Netherlands Helsinki Committee.
Supporting Women and Supporting Democracy, One in the Same
Lieutenant Colonel Ella van den Heuvel and Ms. Sabra Bano joined us on stage at The Hague Humanity Hub on Thursday, the 7th of March, for an exciting and inspiring gathering in honour of International Women’s Day. In collaboration with Women in International Security The Netherlands, this session welcomed a wide range of democracy enthusiasts in the name of celebrating the power behind supporting women and democracy. Both women are gender experts in their field but come from very different professional backgrounds, adding value and perspective to their joint discussion tackling the theme of investing in women, and how important it is to do so across all sectors.
Investing in Women
The speakers jumped right into the discussion, examining how the topics of women and democracy are intrinsically connected. They began by answering a series of questions directed at the role that women play in building and upholding democracy, and how that relates to challenges based on inequality; when asked to define what “investing in women” meant to them, each speaker pondered their own careers alongside the larger role that women play in society.
Colonel van den Heuvel talked about her role and experience as a strong female leader in a male-dominated field. She expressed her belief in how the way to a better world relies on increased visibility of more women “at the top”, and how this often can start with shared mobilisation efforts to increase women’s representation across workplaces. An example of this is voicing this exact message to a male counterpart or male superior in one’s organisation.
Ms. Bano focused on the disparities within gender representation in resource allocation around the world, as well as female participation in politics. She placed emphasis on the latter, enlightening the audience about her belief in mobilising individuals towards collective impact and change for gender equality, as well as her explanation that political engagement is a key avenue for investing in women, giving them representation and power at an instrumental level.
Female Voices in all Rooms, in all Workplaces
The idea of participation and representation became an extremely interesting theme throughout the conversation: examining avenues for increasing the sheer quantity of female representation in each space, and how this can be used to generate strength in numbers. Ms. Bano is committed to investigating female political participation in connection to an examination of the pre-existing strength and resilience of women that many communities and institutions rely on, and she emphasised how these stories and voices aren’t amplified enough. Colonel van den Heuvel spoke of this theme in her reflection of the implementation of target numbers and goals as a means for furthering equality in the workplace, and how, although sometimes tedious, this represents an effective way of tracking change at an internal level.
Audience Engagement: Envisioning a More Equal and Equitable World
Ms. Bano and Colonel van den Heuvel were then asked to reflect on a series of questions from the audience. A stirring conversation developed from one audience member’s question about how to stay motivated to inspire political participation when, oftentimes, elections don’t yield the results perhaps promised by electoral manifestos or parties- when the effort to strengthen collective action in the name of gender equality happens, but its beneficiaries aren’t with results. To this, Ms. Bano responded by emphasising the importance of continued efforts, and the power that lies in sharing your stories with the public, referring to political engagement as “the key” and the sharing of stories as “the tool” for enacting long-lasting change.
And finally, perhaps the most motivating lesson of all, both Ms. Bano and Colonel van den Heuvel spoke passionately on the importance of women supporting women, and people of all genders supporting women and female-identifying individuals in the fight for equality. The sentiments of supporting one-another in the name of change was also demonstrated in the support shown by the attendees of this round of Democracy Drinks, who we give many thanks to, as they engaged thoughtfully in the sharing of knowledge and inspiration aimed towards a better future.
