Ride-hailing apps have a gender problem. These women drivers are fighting back

States across India are providing free bus passes for women so they can afford to join the workforce and have more financial independence.

A group of women from a fishing village in southern Mexico are restoring mangroves on the Yucatán Peninsula. While the group, known as las chelemeras, is reviving the local ecosystem, the members also find personal empowerment from the work and the pay.

The nonprofit Marine Cultures is teaching single mothers and divorced women in Zanzibar, Tanzania, to farm sea sponges to increase their income and improve gender equality. Sea sponges are a better option than typical seaweed farming because they are more resilient to climate change impacts like increasing water temperatures.

A women’s cooperative in Malawi empowers women to diversify their incomes by selling a variety of produce instead of relying only on selling fish. The women in the collective split the proceeds and buy fish in groups to combat increasing sex-for-fish requests from fishermen.

Sweden's version of the #MeToo movements, #Teknisktfel, is focused on women that have experienced sexual harassment in the tech industry, and it's gaining attention from activist organizations. Nearly 2,000 people have signed a zero tolerance petition that since the launch of the movement, but the goal is not to just call out inappropriate behavior, but also to "address the stubborn structures in Swedish society that create difficult workplace environments for women in the first place."

ACCESS Development Services trains women to drive electric auto rickshaws, providing them with marketable skills that help them earn a living independently. The all-women Pink City Rickshaw Company employs the women to provide tours throughout the city and has since trained over 200 women.

Targeted plumbing training programs are providing women with life-changing skills, independence, and career opportunities. Led by initiatives such as the German government aid agency GIZ and the Wise Women Plumbers Cooperative, hundreds of women have become licensed plumbers, overcoming societal stigma to gain economic empowerment, improve local water management, and shift perceptions around women's roles.

About 10,000 women from rural areas in India are training to be agricultural drone pilots as a part of the government-run Drone Didi program. The job provides them with financial independence and greater respect from their communities.

Mutindo Women aims to increase representation in the construction and real estate industries by connecting women to networking and job opportunities. Mutindo Women has built over 15 houses across the country since forming in 2019, and has even collaborated on projects with men in the field.

The Women Radio Centre (WRC) works to empower the next generation of female investigative journalists, training them on reporting tactics to prevent gender disparities and promote reporting on women’s rights, as women are often underrepresented in investigative journalism. WRC also aims to equip young, female journalists with adequate training and connect them with job, networking and story opportunities. In WRC’s second year, 40 journalists have been trained and completed the program.