Venus Williams says sexism isn’t a women's issue any more than racism is a Black issue.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion has penned an emotive letter in Vogue on the subject of global pay equality.
In 2007, Williams became the first Wimbledon Ladies Singles champion to be paid the same prize money as the Men's Singles champion.
In her letter, the elder Williams sister writes, "I firmly believe that sport mirrors life and life mirrors sport.
"The lack of equality and equal opportunities in tennis is a symptom of the obstacles women face around the world.
"While Nordic countries such as Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland demonstrate some of the lowest disparities in pay between men and women, Turkey, Bahrain and Nigeria are some of the highest.
"In the US, women made 82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019."
Williams has been inspired to launch the #PrivilegeTax campaign which will see 19 cents of sales involving participating brands donated to girls' charities.
Sexism isn’t a women's issue any more than racism is a Black issue. Men need to understand gender equality is about equal opportunities for women rather than men relinquishing power.
She continued, "Closing the economic gender gap requires action at a national and international level as well as corporate.
"A 2019 World Economic Forum study found that it would take approximately 257 years to close and the pandemic, which has disproportionately affected women, is at risk of impeding our progress further.
"We owe it to our daughters and granddaughters to ensure closing the gap doesn’t take that long.
Williams added, "Some fixes can be implemented more quickly than others.
"For a start, while women are often underrepresented in senior positions in firms, they are overrepresented in low-paying jobs so increasing the minimum wage is a priority.
"Then there’s the urgent need for transparency; if women don’t know they aren’t being paid fairly, how can they do anything about it?
"Childcare and medical leave also need to be expanded to create equal opportunities for women as they are more likely to take time off work to look after their family."
Williams says it's not just up to women to campaign for equality, adding, "None of these things are possible without men being part of the solution.
"Sexism isn’t a women's issue any more than racism is a Black issue. Men need to understand gender equality is about equal opportunities for women rather than men relinquishing power.
The six-time Wimbledon singles champion added, "When women are doing well, the family does well and so does the economy — we all win. Studies prove that the gender pay gap hits women of colour hardest.
"As an African-American woman, to know how hard we have to fight to show we're human beings with a heart that beats just like everybody else; to know what it’s like to face biases based on gender and race is why I’m so passionate about campaigning for equality across the board."
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