Empowering women is about equipping and allowing women to be resilient, independent, and have the power to make life-determining decisions while also being able to act on them.

Women are a crucial part of social and economic development as well as cultural transmission. The most straightforward example would be looking at how mothers influence the transmission and continuation of languages ("mother tongue", we call it) or various traditional artisanal techniques.

Women also contribute significantly to the economy directly through their jobs and/or, if they chose to be stay-at-home mothers, through helping to raise the next generation of thinkers.

It is no question that by empowering women to become influential players in our society, we improve living conditions and the economy for everyone. At the same time, we also have a greater chance to safeguard culture and heritage.

Why empower women in the cultural sector?

Many women, especially those living in indigenous or vulnerable remote communities, kept traditional cooking or artisanal skills that otherwise were on the brink of collapse. In an interview with Desiree Arnold from MayaBags (a social enterprise working with Maya women from the Toledo District to create modern bags from hand-woven textiles), she raised concerns that "without a market and an ability to pay the artisans for their skills, traditional hand skills will be lost, at one point, forever."

Desiree mentioned that when they started MayaBags, the skills associated with creating handspun yarn and dying already had been lost. They also observed that traditional crafts' quality continues to go down in villages where they are not working. In contrast, in the nine villages where MayaBags works, the traditional skills are alive and well.

Therefore, it is essential to develop sustainable livelihoods and business models that encourage traditional skills and support women.

Guide to empowering women in the cultural sector

Adopting new business models that empower women is not an easy or small task to do! To help businesses start the journey, we created a short guide to start.

Teaching business skills

You can have your business advocate for a cause. Besides building something that provides income to you and your employees, you have the power to impact people's lives, entire communities and the country as a whole.

You can do this by teaching business skills to women and encourage them to embark on their own entrepreneurial journey. At MayaBags, for example, in San Miguel, one of the embroiderers who formerly worked with MayaBags observed and learned entrepreneurial skills from the company. She has now opened her own chocolate-making operation, professionally packaged for tourists who pass through the village. Her success can bring income into her family and ultimately to the whole village, indirectly including MayaBags. Not to mention, she safeguards traditional chocolate-making skills.

2. Raising awareness of social issues

Have team meetings to talk about social and personal issues women have to deal with. You can find out a lot and make sure that your employees are healthy, happy and work better.

When MayaBags have team meetings, they talk about issues Maya women have to deal with, such as understanding the women's medications and their effects on their bodies (they call it the little pink pill syndrome). Sometimes women even talk about being beaten by their husbands. MayaBags employers talk to the women that it is against the law for a husband to strike or beat a wife. They've even had a couple of instances where a woman who works with them has reported her husband to the police, and they have been arrested.

Some topics, such as mental health, women's health or domestic violence, might seem inappropriate to talk about. Still, as employers, you have the power to create support groups and ensure your employees mental and physical wellbeing.

3. Hire and work with women

There is nothing more peaceful than a work environment with intelligent and powerful women who know their worth. Make sure that you hire women and that you allow women to progress to higher positions with time. This comes back to actively investing in training and teaching skills that are required for these higher positions. You also have to pay attention to the family environment and understand one's obligations at home. (Applies to all people in truth.)

4. Pay a fair salary

No doubt that the Arts and artisanship are among the most respected cultural fields, yet they are not even close to being decently paid. On top of that, it is not uncommon for men to get a raise in salary when they become fathers to support the family. However, when a woman gives birth, her salary somehow stays the same or decreases significantly, despite her same obligations to also support the family.

With this in mind, make sure to pay a fair salary to women in the art and cultural sectors, especially paying attention to providing opportunities for women with children.

5. Improve and promote avenues of communication

Encourage co-workers to bring their feelings up directly. You can do this in the context of a Board or employee meeting. Talk about how dangerous and damaging miscommunication can be. You can also role-play good versus bad communication scenarios.

6. LISTEN

Listen to any complaints or ideas women may have and either make changes or slowly explain why you do what you do. As long as you have conversations, you might even find better solutions to your old problems.

7. Take sexual offence allegations seriously and take steps to solve them

Start with training your staff about appropriate work behaviour. That will allow women to identify when someone's behaviour is NOT appropriate. Know that if a woman decides to tell you about inappropriate behaviour, it is likely true. Even if you do not think it was wrong, if someone felt uncomfortable, it probably was. Do not accuse someone of lying or tell someone that "it is not that big of a deal" before looking into the allegations. Make sure to bring all parties in for a conversation and resolve the issue as well as you possibly can.

Creating a safe environment for all employees allows everyone to thrive and do a better job.

8. Provide financial counselling for women

Help women learn how to manage their family finances. Many artisan women who know traditional techniques live in remote areas with limited access to information (especially financial information). You must encourage women to start bank or credit union accounts and to start saving money. By doing this, you are ensuring the economic, social and educational development of small villages.

9. Prioritise Women’s Voices

Allow women to become stakeholders of their own culture. Ensure that artisans and women in the cultural sector are involved and raise awareness of their story, skills, and culture.

More tourists and customers are looking to buy authentic and cultural products that impact women's lives or vulnerable communities. Who better to involve than actual women and vulnerable communities?

These tips are just as applicable to any employee to create a more harmonious environment. As long as you pay attention to these points, you are on the right track to make cultural and creative businesses, education and social development more inclusive of women.

A Guide to Empowering Women in the Cultural Sector