Rights – Equality – Empowerment – Social Justice Bermuda Statement on International Women’s Day 2025

For Social Justice Bermuda, International Women’s Day is more than a celebration—it’s a call to action. In Bermuda, women and girls continue to face deep, systemic inequalities that shape their everyday lives. Yet, sexism, like all systems of oppression, thrives on silence. To dismantle it, we must be willing to name it, confront it, and change the structures that allow it to persist.

This year’s IWD theme, #AccelerateAction, reminds us that progress cannot wait. We cannot speak about gender equity without also addressing how sexism intersects with race, class, and sexual orientation. Real, sustainable change requires an intersectional approach that leaves no one behind.

The key areas we are focusing on this year are:

• Improving abortion rights and access for all.

• Achieving pay equity and salary transparency.

• Recognising and redistributing emotional and invisible labour.

• Ending gender-based violence through legal reform and resources.

Abortion Rights & Access

Reproductive justice is social justice. SJB welcomes the PLP’s commitment to removing abortion from the criminal code and modernising legislation. But legislation alone is not enough—we must ensure that abortion access is truly equitable. This means:

• Expanding insurance coverage to ensure affordable abortion services for all women, regardless of economic class.

• Ensuring timely access to abortion care without unnecessary delays or bureaucratic barriers.

• Including abortion access in universal healthcare discussions—because reproductive healthcare must not be a privilege.

Abortion rights are about more than just choice; they are about economic, racial, and social justice. We urge policymakers to act boldly and swiftly.

Pay Equity & Salary Transparency

SJB calls for the Government to go beyond promises and take concrete action to enforce pay equity and salary transparency in Bermuda. Specifically, we call for:

• Mandatory salary transparency laws, requiring all employers to publish pay bands for advertised roles.

• Public audits on gender and racial pay disparities in Bermuda’s workforce.

• Penalties for companies that fail to address unjustified pay gaps.

Keeping wages secret allows discrimination to flourish—transparency is a necessary step toward gender and racial justice in Bermuda.

Sharing Emotional & Invisible labour

Sexism means that women—not men—are overwhelmingly expected to take on the burden of emotional labour. This unpaid, invisible work happens in both the home and workplace.

• At home, women are expected to manage household logistics, caregiving, and emotional support, often at the expense of their own wellbeing.

• At work, women take on 'office housework'—organising events, mentoring colleagues, and maintaining harmony—all without recognition or compensation.

Black women in particular face the double burden of managing not only gendered expectations but also the added emotional labour of navigating racism in predominantly white spaces.

Justice requires more than just 'thanking' women for their work—it demands a redistribution of these responsibilities. This IWD, we call on employers, schools, and community leaders to:

• Acknowledge and compensate the hidden work that women do.

• Interrupt gendered socialisation—stop teaching girls to be 'people pleasers' while encouraging boys to lead.

• Promote emotional intelligence for all genders—compassion, empathy, and care should not be 'women’s work'.

Gender-Based Violence & Legal Reform

Gender-based violence continues to plague Bermuda. While we commend the police for improving their handling of domestic violence cases, more must be done.

• Law enforcement must undergo sustained, trauma-informed training to ensure cases are handled with sensitivity and urgency.

• Bermuda must introduce stronger legal protections for survivors, including:

  • Expedited protection orders with simplified legal processes.

  • Specialist Domestic Violence Courts to ensure survivor-centred justice.

  • Stronger penalties for perpetrators of gender-based violence and harassment.

• Increased government funding and community support for safe housing—no survivor should be forced to stay with an abuser due to lack of shelter.

It is important to note that gender-based violence includes physical, verbal, written, and emotional violence, including sexual harassment and bullying within organisations. Workplace and institutional cultures must be held accountable for tolerating abuse, and clear, enforceable policies must be put in place to protect victims and prevent harm.

Gender-based violence is not just a women’s issue—it is a societal failure. It’s time to treat it like the crisis it is.

On this International Women’s Day, Social Justice Bermuda calls on the Government, employers, and the wider community to commit to real action. The time for empty promises is over—we demand bold, structural changes to ensure a future where gender equity is not just a goal, but a reality.

This work requires all of us. Let’s #AccelerateAction—because justice can’t wait.

Download Statement as a PDF