The legislation doesn’t just apply to statues. “Other works of art on city-owned property, public building names, and street names” will also have to abide by the 30% rule, says the ordinance. By October 2019, the city will have to list all streets, buildings and building rooms, parks, plaques, and public art named after or depicting historical figures, to help track the gender ratio as it changes thanks to the new art representing women.
In the 18 years since it was founded, Pardada Pardadi has dramatically transformed its community, changing lives and social values by first educating and empowering schoolgirls living below the poverty line, and then their older sisters, mothers, and neighbors. If a girl who does the program ends up going to college, she will certainly be the first person from her community to do so. And there is no doubt in her mind that she is destined for great things—not despite being a girl, but because of it.
From a distance, education looks pretty gender-equal. Yet a closer look at the numbers shows a different picture: Only in about half of the world’s countries is enrollment actually equal across genders. In fact, the overall appearance of equality hides two gaps: In some countries, boys still outnumber girls in secondary school enrollment, while in others, it’s the boys who are disadvantaged, dropping out of school while the girls continue to study.
Duckworth said she planned to take 12 weeks off and try and change Senate rules to allow her to work while on parental leave. But the rules didn’t change, and Duckworth will now have to choose between taking care of her newborn or her constituency. It’s a conundrum that only exists because the Senate is male-dominated, and so its members have never faced the same choice. There’s more: The Senate currently bars children from its floor, which means Duckworth won’t be allowed to breastfeed while sitting in session—an act that politicians elsewhere the world have been doing for a while now.