LAMDA Grade 5 Public Speaking

Gender Equality

Imagined Audience: Global citizens of all ages

Length: 4 minutes

Speech: 2 (Free Choice)

Hello my fellow global citizens of all ages! As I am standing before you, what do you see? Do
you see a person who will earn 25% less wages compared to others due to an assumed
gender inferiority? Do you see someone who will shoulder billions of unpaid housework and
childcare? Do you see someone who has 1 in a 4 chance of being abused when I grow older?
It is the bitter reality.

All women are taken for granted. When we look around the world, for example in Iran, we
know that discrimination is literally legal, and laws are easily favoriting men. Police
themselves morally detain women. Their free will is snatched. How would you feel in this
scenario? In Afghanistan, women are excluded from the public office and judiciary. They can’t
work in NGOs and they can’t amuse themselves by going to the theme park or gym as
examples. How dare you think gender equality is achieved despite knowing what is
happening in Iran and Afghanistan?

Now, I’d like to talk about something I am rather passionate about. 63 million girls are yet to
go to school. Think about the impacts that can lead to. This would make girls more likely to
fall into poverty traps. That is absolutely unfair. Furthermore, girls are more likely to become
activists, so as a fact, $10 spent towards a girls education is proven to be preventing a tonne
of CO2 from being emitted in the future.

If not for Emily Pankhurst and Malala Yousafzai, the world would be like it was during the
Elizabethan Era. Women were only allowed one job then, to be a fishwife and sell fish. Their
job would include being loud to advertise their fish and if they were loud, they would have to
wear the scold’s bridle or brank. As you can see in my example, women had no rights and
were discriminated against. Still, where we’ve come is not something to be proud of.
Shouldn’t it just be done anyways?

We must all unite to ensure such a matter of despair is a word lost in the past. We all know
that discrimination is wrong, in all its forms, so we must utilise our voices for those who are
intentionally silenced and avert anyone from being treated iniquitously. Let’s fulfill this just
mission. Equality for all! Thank you!