WDC Director: Empowering women empowers the diamond industry

In a business where the overwhelming majority of end-consumers are female, women in the diamond sector are remarkably under-represented, not only at the executive and employee levels, but even in terms of the way in which the product traditionally has been marketed. The photo of the model wearing the ring, brooch or necklace is generally a woman, but, more often than not, the message is directed at her male partner, on whose generosity she must depend.

To be fair, in the developed markets and economies there has been a degree of progress, with self-purchaser campaigns more commonplace and some remarkably talented women making their way into boardrooms and the executive suites. But, with a few notable exceptions, it remains a male-dominated world, with real parity still an unrealized objective.

And the situation is less encouraging in the developing economies where diamonds predominantly are extracted and processed, and particularly in those places where artisanal mining takes place.

Concluding her blog, she says:

"This is not only a women's campaign. It belongs to all of us. In so many respects, it is the girl that is the diamond's best friend."

Read her blog here