Why we are both a feminist travel company and advocates in the fight to end Violence Against Women.
“ Women are the changemakers. If you’re on the ground, women are the peacemakers, women are the mediators, women are the hope. I come to this work with joy, and that joy comes from having seen women across the globe change the world for everybody.”
— Theo Sowa, Co-Chair, Equality Fund, Former CEO, Africa Women’s Development Fund
Feminist travel companies prioritize the empowerment and safety of women and girls in their operations, and also have a focus on promoting gender equality and women’s rights in the places they visit. They often design trips and experiences that are specifically tailored to the needs and interests of their women-identifying travellers, and frequently embrace responsible tourism practices and support for local communities. At Sororal, we’re here for all of it and layer in a commitment to feminist leadership that uses all available resources, power and skills in an inclusive and non-oppressive manner to bring others together toward a collective goal.
Why is it meaningful for Sororal to identify as a feminist travel company? In doing so, we hope to:
Address the gender disparities in the travel industry: Tourism, travel, and hospitality is an economy already employing more women worldwide than the global average, and features twice as many women employers as other sectors. As in all industries, there is opportunity to improve the quality and security of the work women are doing in this sector; women are over-represented in lower-paying roles and also tend to take on the majority of unpaid work in family tourism businesses. The UN World Tourism Organization has reported that the travel & tourism sector provides women with more opportunity for empowerment than other sectors, and we’re here to support it.
Foster inclusivity and diversity within safe spaces: Women’s only trips provide a safe, comfortable and fun atmosphere for anyone who self-identifies as a woman. Our trips are offered to women, women-identifying individuals, and non-binary and gender non-conforming people who are comfortable in a space that centres around the experiences of women. Sororal recognizes and acknowledges the diversity of gender identities and it is our hope that we can provide programming that is inclusive and accessible.
Support women’s economic security: Central to our company’s mission is a commitment to supporting women-led businesses and projects within the communities in which they operate. We aim to leverage the opportunity in this industry to bring predictable income, sustainable growth and leadership opportunities to woman-led hospitality and tourism enterprises worldwide.
Honour the values of our socially-conscious clients: We hear you, sisters! So many members of our community have reached out to us in support of travelling outside your comfort zones but inside your integrity. We can’t wait to travel the world with you in the best kind of way: values-aligned.
Violence against women and girls remains a human rights issue all over the world, reaching pandemic proportions. UN Women reports that 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner, and that worldwide, almost 3 in 5 women killed were killed by their partners or family. We also know that intimate partner and family violence is not a someone-else, somewhere-else issue: approximately every 6 days, a woman in Canada is killed by her partner. Last year, there were 52 femicides in 52 weeks in the province of Ontario alone.
Having served together as directors at an anti-violence agency, we feel called to use Sororal as a tool for advocacy in the fight to end violence against women, by shining a light on the magnitude of the issue and using our collective travel dollars to support the grassroots organizations working tirelessly to effect change in their own communities. Indeed, some evidence suggests that feminist movements - even more than political parties, participation of women in government or economic factors - have had the most lasting impact on policy responses to violence against women.
For us, the connection between identifying as a feminist company and as advocates in the fight to end violence against women is clear - we can, and must, be both. We look forward to supporting women and putting some social good out into the world with you, one trip at a time.
Join us and #TravelLikeASister!
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We’re a community of women obsessed with supporting one another, whether through commerce or charitable endeavours. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date on upcoming travel itineraries or to learn more about our community partners and the women we support, globally.