FemLink Pacific’s Executive Director Fay Volatabu is stressing the critical role that gender equity plays in boosting women’s empowerment.

Volatabu emphasizes that views of women as property have changed over time but she further stresses that obstacles still need to be overcome before there is full gender equality.

She highlights that it is important to confront deeply rooted biases that assign women to subordinate positions.

“Then times have evolved, but sometimes the definition of women, or we are then relegated to the last person that eats during meals, when there’s a workshop, we have to ensure that everything at home is done before we turn up at the workshop.”

The Executive Director stresses that to achieve gender equity, aggressive steps must be taken to consider women’s opinions in all planning and decision-making processes.

Volatabu believes organizations and communities may create the conditions for greater empowerment and equality for all by identifying and removing the structural barriers preventing women from participating in and advancing in society.