I am not my sister's keeper, I am My Sister (part 1)
Rosie Chabva, Lean In Energy
Dear Reader, (Part 1)
Working-age women make up 50% of the world population[1], yet unfortunately, our female face represents the unpleasant side of an industry that is supposed to enable progress.
Women are underrepresented and underpaid in the energy industry[2][3]. As energy consumers, women in the global south are caught in the gender-poverty-energy nexus, where women are more likely to suffer the consequences of inefficient and hazardous energy[4].
Older women living alone are more likely to suffer energy poverty due to low income and high energy costs in the global north. With this gloomy reality in mind, the challenge of women and energy can appear overwhelming. So, what can we do about this seemingly insurmountable task?
Organisations like Lean In Energy thus have one mission: to “empower women to achieve their ambitions”. This ties in with the definition of energy as the “ability to do work” - a fundamental requirement for women across every intersectionality to realise their ambitions.
Enabling and empowering women to work creates ripple effects that yield benefits for their communities[5]. We therefore need to provide women with the right kind of energy to enable them to thrive.
“Ok?” you ask; “how can my energy transform into an enabler for fellow women and allies?”
My light bulb moment came when I discovered the statement, “I am not my sister’s keeper. I am my sister!” In our efforts to enable and empower women to work, I started to wonder what if we embraced this energy of empathy, “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another”?
Studies have shown that going beyond sympathy, “an observation and acceptance that someone else is going through a challenging situation” to empathy is much more likely to result in action[6].
Being a keeper separates us, but the “I am because you are” approach inspires urgency of action because our success becomes incumbent on one another. This paves the way for sustainable, impactful actions as each individual effort combines in the sisterhood to create change for all of us.
Following the Lean In Energy mission, we can transform our energy to positive outcomes for women through “mentoring, community, public awareness and education”.
Ike bu nke anyi; Simba nderedu; Le pouvoir est en nous; Makten er var; Amandla ngawethu,
THE POWER IS OURS!
[1] The World Bank (2020). Population Data
[2] IEA (2020). Gender diversity in energy: what we know and what we don’t know
[3] Pinsent Masons (2021). Bonus pay gap in energy sector significant, gender pay gap reporting shows
[4] Batchelor, S., Clancy J.S. and Skutsch, M. (2013). The Gender-Energy-Poverty Nexus
[5] UN Women (no date). Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment
[6] Kramer, B (2018). The Critical Difference Between Sympathy and Empathy
