The past decades the world has become a better place for women, thanks to many activists/feminists. However, today in 2024, we’re far from living in an equal world when it comes to rights for all different genders. Unfortunately, not everyone is aware of this fact. Now that women in The Netherlands can work and vote, some people think all is settled and we’ll live happily ever after. I wish that were true, but it’s not. In this article I’ll tell you about 23 reasons why we still need feminism in 2024.
Below I list all the reasons that I personally know of for why we still need feminism today. The list won’t be complete, I must say. I am an able-bodied, white, hetero cis-woman. I will therefore probably miss certain aspects of intersectional feminism. Please do tell me about this. Also, this list is written in a certain order. This is a random order. The problem listed first is not more important the last one. They’re all important. For each subject listed below, I will give a short explanation of the situation globally ánd the situation in The Netherlands (where I live) in 2024 (or most recent data I can find).
1 | Femicide
Femicide is the phenomenon in which a woman is killed for the fact that she is a women. It’s usually the partner or ex-partner who commits femicide. According to the UN, in 2022, 8900 women were killed globally in femicide. That’s 24 women every day. In The Netherlands alone 48 women were killed due to femicide in 2022. That’s one women every 8 days. The actual numbers are probably higher, since death causes are often not registered correctly.
2 | Pay gap
There’s still a pay gap between women and men. Globally, according to the International Labor Organization, women earn 20% less than men do. That number is from 2019. In The Netherlands, they pay gap is 6% (number by Women INC.). And mind you, this is corrected for the fact that women usually work less. The number of 20% accounts for the same exact work. That’s an entire day a week that’s unpaid.
3 | Division of unpaid work
Globally, women spend two and a half more time doing unpaid work. In developing countries, women spend 4 hours and 11 minutes on unpaid work every single day. Men in developing countries spend 1 hour and 31 minutes. In developed countries, women spend 3 hours and 30 minutes on unpaid work. Men in developed countries spend 1 hour and 54 minutes on unpaid work. In The Netherlands women spend 26 hours a week on unpaid work, men spend 17,5 hours (numbers by De Correspondent). And when we combine unpaid and paid work, women around the entire globe work more than men do.
4 | Sexual violence
1 in 8 girls globally experience rape or other sexual assault before the age of 18. That’s 370 million children. When we include online or verbal assault, the number grows to 1 in 5 children (numbers by Unicef). If we look at all ages, 35% of all women around the globe experience sexual violence. That’s more than 1 in 3. In the Netherlands this number is extremely high, 53% of women here have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, this was measured in 2023. That’s more than 1 in 2 (number by Rutgers).
5 | Domestic violence
According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 women experiences domestic violence globally. That is the latest number from 2024. In The Netherlands 9% of women experience domestic violence. Home is the unsafest place for women to be when we look at the numbers.
6 | Orgasm gap
The orgasm gap describes the phenomenon where men have more frequent orgasms during sex than women do. In heterosexual sexual encounters, men have an orgasm 98% of the time, for women this number is 65%. Only 1 in 5 five women experience an orgasm from penetration alone.
7 | Lack of representation in medical research
Women are underrepresented in medical research. I could not find any specific numbers on this issue, but I can recommend the book Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez to you about this subject. She describes the issue in detail. Women are usually excluded in all kinds of research, resulting in medicines having more negative effects on women or cars being unsafer for women because the dummies used are men. Women are mostly excluded in research because of their menstrual cycle.
8 | The child penalty
Women are ‘fined’ for having a baby, because their income makes a huge dip after they’ve had a baby. On average, women lose 45% of their income after having their first child, for men this number is only 6%. Women tend to change working hours and wage rates. In The Netherlands this number is higher, the child penalty is 46% here. For men in The Netherlands it’s 0% (Numbers from CPB).
9 | Catcalling
Women are not always safe at home, like I mentioned before. But away from home it’s not always safe either. Catcalling is when people scream, call, whistle or hiss at you on the street. In The Netherlands, every 2 in 3 women has experienced some form of catcalling. Globally the numbers vary, but it ranges from 60-80% in studies.
10 | Lack of representation in certain sectors
The number of employed women in certain sectors is awfully low. Globally, about 33% of all researchers, 3,4% of all music producers and 0,5% of ship deck crews identify as female. Those are just a few random sectors or jobs. But the problem is way bigger. Women work a lot more in the lowest-paying industries and are underrepresented in many others.
11 | Representation in politics
Women are underrepresented in politics. In 2019, 24,5% of all national politicians identify as women. Only 8% is a national leader and 2% has a presidential post. There are some countries where the division is getting close to being equal (around 50%), but they’re very few. In the Netherlands 30% of all politicians identify as a woman.
12 | Lack or late correct diagnoses
There is a list of conditions which are diagnosed extremely late or not at all in women. Autism in women for example, is four times less likely to be diagnosed. Another example is endometriose. This disease only shows in people with a womb. Endometriosis is on average diagnosed after 7 years. Heart attacks are a problem too, because the symptoms are different in men and women. Women have a 50% higher change of getting the wrong diagnosis in the case of a heart attack (number from British Heart Foundation).
13 | Lack of acces to abortion
Many women worldwide still don’t have access to a safe abortion in 2024. When we ban abortion, the numbers don’t decrease. Women just do it unsafely and that can cause death. Only 67 out of all 195 countries worldwide have safe access to abortion. About 68000 women die each year from unsafe abortions. That’s 68000 deaths that could have been prevented. Luckily, in The Netherlands in 2024, women have access to safe abortion.
14 | Lack of power in business
As we saw before, women have too little influence in politics. The same account for business. In 2024, only 5.6% of CEO’s identify as women. In The Netherlands, in 2023, there were an equal amount of CEO’s named Peter than those who identify as women. If that doesn’t say enough, I don’t know what will. In The Netherlands only 8% of all CEO’s identifies as female.
15 | Violence against trans or non-binary people
I speak in quite binary terms in this article and I’m sorry for that. Most numbers that I wanted to list force me to split between men and women. Of course we should never forget trans people or non-binary people. Their issues are feminist issues. In 2023, 321 trans and gender diverse people were murdered worldwide. Let alone say anything about the harassment they face.
16 | Online hate
Online hate is a problem for all people in society. However, women suffer more from this problem. It’s not supported by exact numbers, but official sources like the European Union state that the biggest share of online hate is online hate against women. In The Netherlands this is a serious problem as well, one very important politician, Sigrid Kaag, spoke out about this in 2023.
17 | Social norms
The social norms for women are hard to capture in numbers. I will list a few things that makes you think about it. When it comes to looks, women are expected to shave their armpits and legs, while men are not. Women are expected to wear make-up (and when you don’t, you’ll be asked whether you’re sick), while men are not. When it comes to children, women are expected to work less once they have children, while men are not. They’re also expected to be present at certain school events, while men are not. The list of social norms is so long that I will not list everything here.
18 | Pink Tax
Products that are marketed for women are on average more expensive than products marketed for men, this is what we call a pink tax. The whole men and women marketing is one big nonsense, but the pink tax is nevertheless a problem today. The pink tax varies in different product groups, but to name an example, it is estimated that the pink tax is 13% in personal hygiene products like shampoo.
19 | Victim blaming
As you’ve seen above, women are very likely to be the victim of sexual or domestic violence in their lifetime. That on its own is horrible. But it gets worse, as people who identify as female are often victim blamed. When someone is victim blaming, it is usually quite subtle. Saying that women should never go home with someone they barely know for example, or get drunk at all. Instead of blaming the person committing the crime, we blame the victim.
20 | Diet culture
I know that fat-shaming is an issue that also affects men. But I dare to say that it’s worse for women. I see this reflected in media, where in films females are usually the ones bashed for being fat or magazines which always write about losing weight. But we also see it in marketing for diet products, which are usually targeted at people who identify as female. The majority of people who suffer from an eating disorder identifies as female.
21 | Abuse during childbirth
Women are not safe when they’re giving birth. The National Institution of Health states that 4 in 10 women experience physical or verbal abuse, or stigma and discrimination mistreatment at health facilities-based birth. That’s 2 in 5. The numbers vary per continent, in some regions the numbers are higher. In The Netherlands 36% of women say they experienced something disturbing during labor. 9% even identify their childbirth as traumatic.
22 | Pregnancy discrimination
As we’ve already seen, women pay a child penalty after having their firstborn. That on is own is disturbing. But it gets worse, as people with a womb also endure pregnancy discrimination. That’s usually in the form of a contract at an employer not being prolonged. I could only find national numbers for pregnancy discrimination. 20% of pregnant people in the United States experience pregnancy discrimination. In The Netherlands the number is 43% (number by Women INC.).
23 | Lack of public bathrooms
There’s a lack of public bathrooms for people without a penis. In the streets, on festivals, at work, everywhere. It’s been researched and noted that people without a penis need twice as much time in the bathroom, whether that’s because of bladder problems, periods or clothing. Still, there are not enough public bathrooms.
All numbers are higher
I believe all the numbers that I listed are actually higher, because these are the reported numbers. Many forms of misogamy or inequality go unnoticed or unreported. In the Netherlands for example, the police actively discourages women to file charges for sexual assault because it’s hard to prove. The problems I listed above are massive and sad, but I think the situation is even worse than we know.
These were only 23 reasons why we still need feminism today.
Yours sincerely,
Romee