We need to stop blaming religion, conservatism and patriarchal company leaders for Mauritius’ crappy performance when it comes to gender equality. It’s the obsession with marrying for money that really stops Mauritian women from progressing.

Aspiring to marry for wealth is so widely accepted here that young girls aren’t even ashamed to admit it openly. Teenagers who say that a prospective partner has to have money are considered mature, not gold-diggers. And they cannot be dismissed with a carefree “just wait until they fall in love for the first time, they’ll change”. No, Sir – ask the same question to a 25-year-old and she’ll tell you the same thing. Mauritian women care about men’s bank accounts, period. Their sisters in other countries agree. In fact, we are witnessing a shocking anti-equality trend right now.

More women are on a mission to marry rich men in 2017 than was the case in the 1940s, according to research from the London School of Economics. Women are more determined now than ever before to tie the knot to improve their financial situation, according to the study. In fact, the majority (64%) of respondents admitted that they consider it a life goal to marry a wealthy man.

How can we expect women to reach positions of power if their Plan A is to find a Mr. Cash, who will provide for them, à la the 1920s? We cannot – and the time to have a serious discussion about this is now, before International Women’s Day comes along and cliché-filled speeches take the focus away from the real issue. Frankly, Mauritius’ performance on the gender equality front is rubbish. We ranked 113 in the most recent Global Gender Gap Index, behind low-performers like Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Madagascar.

Granted, in certain aspects the country fails women as much as we let ourselves down. The problem is partly structural. Take our joke of a parental leave system. Mauritius expects women to juggle careers while breast-feeding three-month-olds, and it expect fathers to just ignore their kids like cavemen since paternal leave doesn’t exist (three days do not count!). There is that, but the wealthy marriage syndrome is just as damaging.

Basing relationships on financial strategy is not merely a serious threat to women’s empowerment. The trend also adds an unhealthy dose of cynicism to our society. Although it only requires common sense, not research, to figure out that people who don’t marry for money report higher levels of wellbeing, there are studies that confirm it. Couples who don’t consider money an important factor self-reportedly have happier and more stable relationships, according to research from Brigham Young University.

Let’s not kid ourselves. No society that treats human affection as a business transaction can aspire to care about equality. If we are serious about women’s empowerment, we cannot stand and watch as another generation of girls treats men as mere commodities, as alternatives to a career.

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