To mark International Women’s Day on Friday the 8th, and World Consumer Rights Day a week later on 15 March, Consumer International’s Raquel Baetz brought together women leaders from the consumer rights movement to talk about inspiration, leadership and the fight for consumer justice.
Globally, women hold only one in five senior management roles and barely one in 10 businesses can boast a female CEO. This may be the case in a lot of professions, but the international consumer rights movement bucks this trend in a big way.
At Consumers International, the world federation of consumer rights groups, 50% of the executive board are women, four of the nine senior management positions are held by women (including the director general), and since its inception more than 50 years ago, almost half of its presidents have been women.
It is perhaps not surprising that women are drawn to the consumer rights movement, having traditionally held a pivotal role in family health, safety and finances. Indeed, women control 70% of consumer spending worldwide.
From local shopping groups run by housewives’ and mothers, to individuals like Rhoda Karpatkin, former head of Consumers Union in the US; to Ruby Hutchinson, co-founder of CHOICE in Australia; to Sheila McKechnie, former head of Which? in the UK, women have been instrumental in building the consumer rights movement.
What draws women to the fight for consumer justice?
For our panel, the answer is unanimously personal experience and empathy for the plight of women.
“Women make most of the purchasing decisions on behalf of the family and are the most affected if the family does not have access to basic needs such as food, clean water, and energy,” says Helen McCallum, who, as director general of Consumers International, represents more than 240 consumer groups worldwide. “With the approach of both International Women’s Day and World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD), we are reminded of the interconnectedness of the consumer and women’s movements.”
Sadie Homer, who has spent more than 15 years advocating consumer safety and product standards, agrees: “Many consumer organisations have their roots in the women’s movement as, historically, consumer issues were thought of as primarily to do with the home. Women gathered together to share solutions to make their homes safe and to select best value products. They have been embedded in the consumer movement from its start and so naturally have become its leaders.”
Marilena Lazzarini, former president of CI and founder of Brazilian consumer rights organisation Idec, believes there is traditionally a deep connection: “Women are more sensitive to consumer issues because, for many women, they are closer to the tasks of taking care of the house, health, nutrition and safety of children and family. Also, they are responsible for the family’s financial health.”
Helen McCallum explains how women are at the coalface of the movement: “Women are often in prime position to spot the effects of unsafe products and insufficient access to basic services. If they have a voice or somewhere to take their concerns, they act as the early warning system that something is badly wrong. Effective consumer protection can empower women by offering them a route to getting problems sorted before they become a threat to the whole population.”
What kind of influence do women have over consumer rights issues?
Business and governments have long understood that it is women who hold the family’s purse strings. And it’s proving to be true in emerging economies too. As women’s position as the key consumer grows, there is a pressing need for legislators to ensure they are protected.
According to Onica Makwakwa, who ran UNITY, a national race relations charity in the US, before returning to South Africa to head up CI’s work across the continent: “Women are the buyers and consumers of almost 80% of household goods, and in Africa this number is rising. As women’s interaction with the markets increases, outpacing that of men, it is only natural that they will also seek to grow their voice in asserting their consumer rights.”
The trend may mean that it is women consumers dictating terms to business and governments in future. “Women are breaking barriers and pushing governments to improve the position of women in society,” says Indrani Thuraisingham, a lawyer by trade, who leads CI’s activities in Asia and the Middle East.
Helen McCallum agrees: “Fired by a concern to do their best for their families, women are increasingly taking action to tackle misselling and bad practice and demand that their governments act to protect them.”
“As the socio-political status of women improves in most countries, we will continue to see women collectively demand better value for their purchasing power and eventually voting with their pockets and feet,” says Onica Makwakwa.
What does the future hold for consumer protection?
Women’s leadership has been instrumental in the success of the consumer rights movement, but there is more to be done says the panel.
“Women’s leadership has shaped the movement in parallel with the real needs of consumers: food, health, breastfeeding, safety of products, etc. My expectation is that, continuing in this way, women will continue to be sensitive to emerging concerns and steer the movement in that direction, whether it be social, environmental or cultural aspects related with the over-consumption (or under-consumption) habits that are spreading all over the world,” says Marilena Lazzarini.
“Women represent 50% of the population but lack the representation in key decision making processes,” says Sadie Homer. “The need for the consumer movement to be engaged in decision making, in areas such as consumer protection legislation, development of international treaties and norms and in implementing effective market surveillance is growing. National and international processes need to recognise the importance and relevance of representation by the groups that these decisions impact.”
“We need a commitment towards developing women as leaders and ensuring a comprehensive rather than piecemeal approach towards the development of consumer protection laws and redress mechanisms,” says Onica Makwakwa.
Sadie Homer believes good consumer protection is, by its nature, good for women: “Women are often the people who are making the choice at the point of purchase, the ones queuing to collect water or pay utilities’ bills. They are also often the ones feeding, clothing and educating children and managing their resources to best effect.
“However, they are not always able to influence decisions through roles in government or industry. Legislation that protects all consumers, empowers women. It can create an even playing field for access to safety, finance, education, information and redress, allowing women to have the same rights and possibilities as men.”
Helen McCallum agrees: “It’s true that consumer protection must involve all consumers, and it must be relevant to people’s needs as they change. That’s why the theme for World Consumer Rights Day on 15 March is Consumer Justice Now!. Together with our member and supporter organisations, we want to bring consumer justice and protection to all – and women will always play a central role in this mission.”
Original article from Consumers International here