Banknotes and Coins Need to Reflect More Gender Diversity

• In 2020, the Central Bank of Tunisia issued a new 10 Dinar note featuring Doctor Ben Cheikh, the first Tunisian and North African woman to practice medicine. After studying medicine in France, she opened her clinic in Tunisia in 1936, specializing in women’s health gynecology. She also headed campaigns around access to contraception and abortion. She passed away in 2010 at the age of 101. The new banknoteA banknote (or ‘bill’ as it is often referred to in the US) is a type of negotiable promissory note, issued by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. More also celebrates all the doctors, nurses, and caregivers for their tireless efforts at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• In 2022, the U.S. MintAn industrial facility manufacturing coins. More released the first pieces of U.S. currencyThe money used in a particular country at a particular time, like dollar, yen, euro, etc., consisting of banknotes and coins, that does not require endorsement as a medium of exchange. More to feature a Black woman and an Asian American icon. Writer and civil-rights activist Maya Angelou and Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Chinese American movie star, have been included in a new (25-cent) quarter coinA coin is a small, flat, round piece of metal alloy (or combination of metals) used primarily as legal tender. Issued by government, they are standardised in weight and composition and are produced at ‘mints’. More series featuring prominent American women.
• Queen Elizabeth II is the most featured woman on banknotes and coins worldwide. She is featured on 4.7 billion Bank of England notes and 27 billion coins. She has also appeared in the currencies of 33 different countries. Her passing away will result in a reduction in the number of notes featuring women.
• Beyond these examples, women are still consistently underrepresented on notes and coins. A study by Swedish loan company Advisa analyzed 1,006 current international banknotes and found that only 15% featured images of women.
• This remarkable graphic in Visual Capitalist by Ivett Kovács and Gabrielle Merite visualizes women on banknotes around the world, showing their main occupations and the value of the banknotes they’re featured on.

Source: Visual Capitalist

Women Are the First Victims of Financial Exclusion

Women are the first to suffer from financial exclusion. According to World Bank data, 74% of women own an account with a financial institution (2021) compared to 78% of men. Seventy-five economies still limit women’s rights to manage assets, says Nayda Almodóvar-Reteguis, Gender Legal Expert at the World Bank.

Women are more dependent on cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More at hand. According to the 2021 Global Findex report, “women and the poor are more likely than men and richer individuals to successfully raise emergency moneyFrom the Latin word moneta, nickname that was given by Romans to the goddess Juno because there was a minting workshop next to her temple. Money is any item that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular region, country or socio-economic context. Its onset dates back to the origins of humanity and its physical representation has taken on very varied forms until the appearance of metal coins. The banknote, a typical representati... More, and more likely to rely on friends and family—an unreliable source.”

Cash Protects the Civil Liberties of Women

The 2016 demonetization in India illustrates how financial hardship is gendered, as women bore the massively disproportionate brunt of its effects. In India, 83% of men and 77% of women have a bank account. But patriarchal norms suggest that finances should be handled exclusively by men. Many women save money in cash, often without anyone else knowing about it. It buys them food for their children and medicines when they fall ill. This is a safety net that was lost when the demonetization occurred.

In 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to abortion, state prosecutors could subpoena banks’ and fintechs’ paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More data to use as criminal evidence.

“In the states where abortion has been or will soon be banned, any pregnancy loss past an early cutoff can now potentially be investigated as a crbanks’earchfintechs’s, browsing histories, text messages, location data, payment data, information from period-tracking apps—prosecutors can examine all of it if they believe that the loss of a pregnancy may have been deliberate. Even if prosecutors fail to prove that an abortion took place, those who are investigated will be punished by the process, liable for whatever might be found,” wrote  Jia Tolentino in The New Yorker.

Cash Is a Lifeline for Victims of Domestic Abuse

For women who are victims of domestic abuse, cash provides a safety net, as it allows them to disclose savings from abusive husbands or family members. Lisa King, Director of Communications at Refuge, U.K.’s leading charity providing services to survivors of domestic violence and abuse, said:

“Having lack of access to cash is one of the ways in which women are financially controlled… it prevents a woman from leaving her perpetrator. It prevents her from being able to make choices she can because she hasn’t got access to funds… Cash is an essential kind of lifeline for women and children.”

In India, the 2016 demonetization increased domestic violence when men realized their wives were saving money without their knowledge. The One Stop Crisis Centre in Bhopal observed a sudden spike in instances of domestic violence over the next few weeks following the November 8 decision.

Most domestic violence survivors experience economic abuse, financial stress, and hardship and are at risk of increased unemployment and homelessness. Harm-doers leave survivors with little to no income, no access to cash or bank accounts, fraudulent or coerced debt in their name, and damaged financial profiles.

While cash assistanceThe term cash assistance refers to direct cash transfers to individuals, families and communities in need of humanitarian support in lieu of in-kind commodities or direct service delivery. The term can be used interchangeably with ‘cash-based interventions’ (CBI), ‘cash transfer programming’ (CTP), ‘cash and voucher assistance’ (CVA), and ‘cash-based programming (CBP)’. It does not include fund transfers from donors, payment of incentives to the staff of local authorities, paymen... More can help survivors build the stability they require, cash is most important for an individual to leave unhealthy relationships. A survivor should have an escape bag with clothes, cash, checkbooks, credit and debit cards, essential medications, and copies of important documents. If possible, survivors should also keep a cash stash somewhere safeSecure container for storing money and valuables, with high resistance to breaking and entering. More.

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