International Women’s Day Week: Priorities for Gender Equality in 2026…

 

This week…

This week we’ve talked about allyship, the dangers of the digital world for women and girls, the uneven allocation of caring responsibilities.

We also talked about the fact that, because of fear and trying to gatekeep power, equality protections are being threatened.

Individually, these may seem like separate issues but they are threads in the same story.

And the story is this: Equality is not self-sustaining.

Allyship and Power

We began the week with five practical steps to build better male allyship and stronger workplace inclusion.

Because equality isn’t achieved through slogans.

Allyship in 2026 is about loudly sharing power, not just supporting from the sidelines.

The Digital Reality

We explored the dangers of social media for women and girls.

Digital spaces shape confidence, safety and opportunity.

Quite simply, if women and girls cannot exist safely online, their freedom is restricted. 

Equality in 2026 includes digital equality.

The Caring Load

We examined the parenting and caring load.

Women perform significantly more unpaid care than men and that labour underpins the economy — yet it remains invisible.

The problem isn’t motherhood, it’s that care is unequally assigned and economically undervalued.

Until care is shared, workplace equality will always be partial.

The call to action for International Women’s Day 2026

A certain political party is promising to remove equality legislation and EDI protections. 

The real reason? When progress begins to work, and shift power, it can trigger pushback. Because some people don’t like to share. 

Dismantling safeguards doesn’t create neutrality. It removes accountability.

Let’s be clear: Equality protections exist because inequality still exists

Make no mistake, the imbalance is still enormous. 

Please act, in whatever ways you can, to defend the progress we have made so far.


🔔 coming up on The Work Edit:

Next week, we’re moving into neurodiversity and with the popularity of our content on difficult conversations we’ll be looking at the confluence between difficult conversations, neurodivergence and gender.


coming up on Cultural Calendar Club

12 Months of live, inspiring, entertaining talks events, made financially accessible for all organisations

Not yet a member of Cultural Calendar Club? Join today or Contact Us.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week

Neurodiverse by Design: Creating High-Trust Teams Where Every Mind Performs.

The foundation of performance is trust, built through clear expectations, shared accountability, and a culture where differences are safe and valued. Yet most workplaces still assume a single “standard” brain.

In this 60-minute event, we’ll explore how to apply three high-trust anchors. Clarity, Autonomy and Belonging, to design work for neurodivergent minds, and why that design benefits everyone.

Participants will:

See how ambiguity and unspoken rules erode trust and performance.

Learn practical ways to flex control and create psychological safety while maintaining results.

Practise small, high-impact adjustments to meetings, feedback, and collaboration that enable a wider range of thinking and working styles.

You’ll leave with a simple “high trust for all brains” playbook and reflection prompts to start redesigning your own team environment the next day.

 

Want to feel more confident talking about topics like this at work?

 

the 2026 Diversity Ambassador certification is now open for booking! 🎉

Six classes held via Teams | Every Thursday | from 12 - 1:30pm | From May 7th - June 11th

When are the Classes?

Thursday 7 May, 12-1:30 - Examining Beliefs - Foundations of EDI Thursday 14 May, 12-1:30 - Today's Sex & Equality Landscape

Thursday 21 May, 12-1:30 - Flags, Pronouns & Human Rights Thursday 28 May, 12-1:30 - Talkin' 'Bout my Generation

Thursday 4 Jun, 12-1:30 - Anti-ableist. Neuro inclusive. Access for all Thursday 11 Jun, 12-1:30 - Talking About Race Today

Click here to book your place! (please be aware the cohorts fill up quickly)

You can find out more here or Get in touch for a chat

 
Next
Next

When Progress Feels Threatening: Why Equality Protections Are Under Fire in 2026