CHOGM 2015: 'Equality also includes sexual expression' - Helena Dalli

Equality applies not only between men and women but also between individuals with different sexual expression.

Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affaris and Civili Liberties, Helen Dalli said this during her introductory address at the CHOGM Youth Forum.

She referred to the law passed in April, about the gender identity act, and said that often people associate gender equility to men and women. However, as the minister explained, gender equality also refers to one’s sexual expression.

40 people have changed their documents since the new gender identity law passed earlier this year.

Dalli also referred to the maternity leave fund as one of the policies that the government introduced to help in gender equality.

In her speech, the minister said that young people are the main agents of change in the effort of equal participation of men and women in society. She mentioned the free child care initiative which encourages female participation in employment.

The Commonwealth Youth Forum discussed Article 12 of the Commonwealth Charter this morning, which refers to gender equality.

A youth activist from Tanzania explained how in his country, girls as young as 16 are marrying men who are much older. He called on all the youths to promote gender equality through education, not a legal framework.

Leon Ward, from Trustee of Plan UK, said that in the Britain, girls tend to do better at school than male classmates but this trend is reversed once they enter the employment sector, a fact that is at the centre of an ongoing debate.

The panel was challenged by a young man from Ghana, who insisted that the way forward does not revolve simply around empowering women but by fostering support between both men and women, in order to reach their goals.