- MD of Legal Guard emphasises women’s right to hold public office and right to equal treatment
- Amantle Montsho, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, Dr Gaositwe Chiepe singled out for special mention
Legal Guard celebrates International Women’s Month by recognising the women in its midst and pledging to make the company more equitable, the Managing Director of Legal Guard, Kgomotso Ratlhaga, has said.
The International Women’s Day signifies the exploits and achievements of women such as shedding light on women’s working rights, their voting rights and women’s right to hold public office, among others, she added. “We appreciate and celebrate the origins of such a necessary day because of everything it stands for,” Ratlhaga said.
“The challenges that women face include receiving equal pay in workplaces, low representation in the political landscape (where critical national decisions that impact thousands of women are made) and in the health and safety domain. Gender disparities are very much visible in the labour market.” She pointed out that in 2021, the gender wage gap was at 17 percent and it was even more significant in parastatals where the difference was as wide as 67 percent. One of the factors that was fighting these disparities was higher education, she added.
A study conducted by the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA), found that women who attained higher education had a competitive edge over men in terms of positions and benefits in the working environment. “We therefore urge women to learn and increase their mental capacities,” she said. “Our organisation takes great pride in diversity and inclusivity. One of our greatest pleasures is being able to provide our employees with all their requirements to reach their targets and perform at their optimum levels. “This speaks to providing sufficient training for new employees as well as providing policies that are inclusive of different people from different backgrounds possessing different abilities.”
As an organisation with a considerable number of women on the management team, Legal Guard has experienced the benefits and importance of equipping its employees and leaders with the resources necessary to reach organisational goals. With Embracing Equity the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, Ratlhaga said this is a mantra that slices beyond gender, race and beliefs because equity speaks about distributing requisite resources to meet desired outcomes. Even so, she noted that the complexities and intricacies of patriarchy are well-entrenched and well-known, saying equality and equity cannot therefore be achieved overnight.
Hundreds of campaigns and movements will have to be formed to raise awareness and educate the world on the importance of these terms and the benefits they carry for women and society at large. Ratlhaga singled out women like Amantle Montsho, Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba and Dr Gaositwe Chiepe for blazing the trail for women locally and internationally. She emphasised that these women and other like them did not permit circumstances and obstacles to limit or obstruct their visions and did not cower before societal constructs, thus permitting other women to shine.
