How do we keep going? It’s becoming increasingly difficult to deal with the traumas that we face each day on our planet. The viral disasters, the inhumane way in which some people treat others and the rampant inequalities across regions, religions and race seem never-ending. Personal problems aside for the moment, the public atrocities are just too much to take. One such atrocity is gender bias.

No matter which countries in the world you look at, women have faced gender inequality for millions of years. Why is this? We are, biologically, the bearers of children. We cannot procreate without some form of input from a man, whether through the more popular way of sexual intercourse or through some form of IVF, either using the sperm of our partner or sperm from a Cryobank. Equally, a man is beholden onto a woman in order to become a biological father. You’d think this, at the very least, would be enough incentive to respect and treat us accordingly! So, I ask again, why have we women faced gender inequality since the beginning of humanity?

Humanity – it’s a funny word, isn’t it? Its very definition means: 1. “Understanding and kindness towards other people”; 2. “The condition of being human”. You can read what the first definition says, right? You see the irony, yes?

I could get into all kinds of arguments about the way in which women have been treated, but this debate should be over by now. We ought not to be still fighting in 2022 for each one of us to be heard. Look at where gender inequality has gotten us! This is not sustainable. We cannot continue to ignore the value women are to society, humanity and the universe, frankly. I am quite certain that most of you men are shaking your heads right about now, saying something like, “Of course we value women. Women….” – followed by a long list of amazing things we have done. But what does gender equality really mean?

Do you think that the hundreds of political country leaders across the globe were voted into power with a mindset involving gender equality? Do you believe that Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Kim Jong Un, Robert Mugabe, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Jair Bolsonaro, Donald Trump, King Abdullah Aziz Al Saud, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Putin and the thousands more men who have ruled and dictated the unwanted outcomes throughout history, were picked through the sentiments of gender equality? Do you suppose that, through these political choices, we have created a sustainable environment in which it is possible for humanity to survive?

All the female artists, scientists, judges, teachers, doctors, bankers, general managers, CIOs, CTOs, CEOs, and the like, in the world do not eradicate gender bias. Policy makers do. Country and global policy makers have the power to transform the world and break biases. Women such as Mia Mottley and Jacinda Ardern are making a difference, but both Barbados and New Zealand are small countries. Larger, more globally influential countries need to make their move. If we want a sustainable tomorrow, which we do actually need, then we must change policies and, in the true sense of the phrase, #BreaktheBias.