
Today marks International Women's Day, a kick-off of sorts to Women's History Month (opens in new tab), and the world is taking time to focus on what matters: the frustrating, mind-boggling, devastating perpetuation of the global gender gap.
In a new report (opens in new tab) released today from the Clinton Foundation (opens in new tab)'s No Ceilings (opens in new tab) initiative—a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—we have astounding clarity on the real status of women around the world today. For the past year, No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project (opens in new tab) has gathered information about the progress (or lack thereof) that's been made for women and girls over the past 20 years. With 850,000 data points collected from 190 countries, it's a comprehensive reality check.
Launched with a campaign called "Not There (opens in new tab)," the report exposes some simultaneously shocking and not-at-all-surprising facts, like:
"We are taking a collective stand that full participation for women and girls anywhere and everywhere remains the unfinished business of the 21st century," Chelsea Clinton said of the project. And to illustrate the point—women's invisibility—Not There got literal with its awareness campaign:
There's also a video featuring the likes of Amy Poehler, Cameron Diaz, Jenny Slate, and Padma Lakshmi talking about how the world's just not there yet in terms of gender equality—you can hear their voices, but they're invisible:
Let's hope today is the day all that starts to change.
You should also check out:
Not a Single Country Has Achieved Gender Equality, Says the UN (opens in new tab)
Women with Disabilities Are Three Times More Likely to Be Raped (opens in new tab)
Fewer Women Run Large Companies Than There Are Dudes Named John (opens in new tab)
As the editor of Cosmopolitan, Jess oversees the editorial for all of Cosmo's efforts across print, digital, video, and emerging platforms. Previously she served as the digital director of Marie Claire, where she tripled the readership, and she's held print and hybrid posts at Glamour and Teen Vogue. In 2013 she launched an interactive e-commerce platform for a fashion-tech startup, and in a former life she was a ballet dancer and NYU film student. She lives in Manhattan with her scruffy dog George.
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