Soziale Nachhaltigkeit braucht Gleichberechtigung

Social sustainability requires equality

Team BRACENET: Our team has a good female quota of 80% - but unfortunately that is not the rule. In 2018, ⅔ of all founders were male. In 2019, this trend declined slightly and instead of an average of two, there were only just under 1.7 founders per female founder. Let's take a closer look!

Team Bracenet - this is us.

Our founding team with 50% female power: Madeleine and Benjamin

2018 ⅔ of all founders were male. 2019 This trend has declined slightly, and instead of an average of two, there are now just 1.7 founders per female founder. This means that women are still underrepresented in the startup scene, although their contributions are just as significant and important as those of their male colleagues – and this is not sustainable. Since women often choose to start-up with a social or ecological focus their ideas and their participation are of great importance, especially in the current sustainability debate.

But let’s start again from the beginning: What is sustainability actually?

Sustainability has many faces. As the 17 Sustainable Development Goals As we have already pointed out, this is about more than just saving CO2 emissions and plastic. While we usually focus on protecting life under water ( Goal number 14 ), we would like to use this article to address the development goals that have a social focus (including No Poverty , Gender Equality or Reduced Inequalities ).

The three-pillar model

The general definition is based on a Three-pillar model , which illustrates the ecological, economic and social dimensions.

While the ecological pillar, for example, shows that high meat consumption and the associated mass livestock farming are problematic for sustainable development because they drive climate change, the economic pillar deals with the relationship between the economy and the environment. Among other things, it is about using (existing) resources responsibly and extending the life cycles of products. The third pillar is the one that is least publicly communicated, which is why it often fades into the background. The social perspective is just as essential for sustainable development as the ecological and economic perspective. The general goal is to give everyone the same opportunities as possible, but in any case to give them a dignified life. Since our current economic system is largely supported by people who live under very questionable working conditions and work for little pay, it becomes clear that social sustainability is hardly taken into account.

It is time to take social responsibility.

Social Sustainability - the Theory

Social Sustainability encompasses many different aspects. One key factor that has been underestimated to date is gender equality. Equality is essential for fulfilling fundamental rights, but also for achieving sustainable economic growth based on social and ecological development. Since women make up about half of the world's population, they also have half of this potential. Many studies show that women often look at problems from different perspectives than men and make important contributions to the well-being of society. Particularly in the area of ​​social entrepreneurship, but also in sustainable entrepreneurship, as mentioned at the beginning, female representatives are found much more often than in profit-motivated company start-ups.

Social Sustainability - the Practice

The theory is nice, but in practice there is unfortunately nothing to sugarcoat. Gender pay gaps, domestic violence, unequal division of household and family, and even male-dominated leadership positions – unfortunately, all of this is still Reality . Despite many improvements The goal of equality is still far from being achieved. As mentioned at the beginning, women are significantly less represented in start-up activities or in management positions. One of the reasons why the German government introduced a women's quota was introduced. Since gender-specific behavior is often deeply rooted in society, it is completely normal in many countries that women can hardly find a decent job and are generally disadvantaged in their careers. Furthermore, girls and women, especially in developing and emerging countries, often suffer from the fact that access to education or medical care is made difficult or prohibited. They are more often victims of violence and discrimination worldwide and are underrepresented in political and economic decision-making processes.

What Covid-19 has taught us about gender equality

The current Covid-19 pandemic also shows the shortcomings of the current system in this regard. In many countries and cities, the lockdown led to the rate of domestic violence increasing by up to 30% – for example in Berlin . It also became clearer than ever before how fundamental both the social and economic participation of women as they make up a large proportion of the care workers, public education work and other social work. In addition to this paid care work, women spend three times as much time as men - but this remains completely ignored in the economic system. Very contradictory, because this unpaid work, which is mainly carried out by women, largely supports and enables the current system, which places such great value on productive, paid work.

Women Empowerment

Our goal is sustainability. In our view, this not only includes an equal society, but rather requires it. A world that exploits the disadvantaged and weak cannot, by definition, be sustainable.

In order to achieve a long-term viable and therefore sustainable economic system, rich countries must not continue to live at the expense of poorer countries, where women in particular do work for very little money. In addition to this economic exploitation, domestic violence, but also child marriage and FGM (female genital mutilation) unfortunately still exist on an alarming scale. It is important to us to draw attention to these grievances and to take action against these social inequalities. Let us act together in a socially responsible manner.

What you can do

There are many ways to support equal opportunities and promote equality. In keeping with the motto “Your shopping list is your ballot”, it helps to start with your own consumer behavior. We have listed a few options for you to get you started.

Support female-led businesses


As mentioned at the beginning, women start up significantly fewer businesses than men. In order to promote equality and economic activity among women, we can specifically support companies founded (or run) by women. The positive side effect of this is that these companies often already include another point

Support fair working conditions

A well-known example of undignified working conditions is the textile industry: Fast fashion is comfortable and cheap? Unfortunately, not for everyone. Workers and the environment suffer from this industry and every purchasing decision we make is a vote for or against this type of business. We can easily empower women (and people in general) by paying them fairly for their work - after all, that's what you want too. It is therefore ideal to support fair companies founded by women. Because the world needs more female entrepreneurs and social responsibility in production! At the same time, these entrepreneurs can encourage others to realize their potential.


Female (co-)managed companies with socially and ecologically sustainable commitment

Support the fight against social injustice

Of course, it is not only women who are committed to a fairer world. Women's empowerment also means human empowerment. We would therefore like to point out that more and more companies are based on business concepts that create social added value. They pursue a wide variety of missions and yet all have the same goal: to enable (disadvantaged) people to have a better life. Some of our favorites are:

Of course there are many more !

Be attentive!

However, in order to take on social responsibility, we don't have to start consuming like crazy. Our everyday lives contain dozens of situations in which we can stand up for equal opportunities. It is especially important not to look away in moments that seem questionable to you. This does not mean getting involved in every little argument, but putting in a word or getting help if people are disadvantaged because of their origin, disability or gender, for example. It can also help to pay attention to certain hand signals. Domestic violence has increased significantly in the wake of the corona pandemic, so the " Signal For Help " offers those affected the opportunity to silently call for help. Empowerment also includes removing taboos. Many women who are affected by domestic violence suffer in silence and do not confide their worries to anyone out of fear. In order to solve the problem, however, people have to talk about it and seek help. So if you are worried about a good friend, dare to carefully express your fears and offer her (or him) a listening ear. Better to ask too many questions than too few!

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