Celebrating International Women's Day: No Woman Left Behind

Today is International Women's Day, and we celebrate the remarkable contributions of women to our society. We honor and recognize women's sacrifices, challenges, and resilience to achieve equality and justice. We recognize the importance of empowering women and girls, not for the sole reason of promoting their well-being but also to promote progress and prosperity in our world. Recognizing women's perspectives and opinions is vital to creating a peaceful world.

We are in 2023, but women locally and worldwide are still on the margins of our society. We must continue working to break down the barriers preventing women from reaching their full potential. There are many ways we can do to promote women's empowerment.

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No Women Left Behind

Reports ?have shown that women are still significantly underrepresented at senior leadership levels. At the entry level, the representation of men and women is equal. However, as the position or level increases, women's representation decreases, with the CEO position 86% represented by men and 14% by women.

We can improve this by providing equal opportunities to women in all positions through inclusive practices. We should promote equitable opportunities and access to resources for both men and women while accentuating efforts to address gender inequality within the C-suite position. Unfortunately, women still experience some level of microaggression. For instance, at the VP level, women are five times more likely than men to need to prove their abilities and skills and three times more likely to hear demeaning remarks made about themselves. This is further accentuated when the C-suite position is held by a racialized woman who is constantly questioned about their competency, decision and expertise level…. these debilitating societal attitudes must STOP.

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Promote Health Equity

While promoting equal opportunities to all, we should also address health equities.?Findings ?show that significant health inequalities were observed among Indigenous people, LGBTQ2S+ and racial minorities and people with disabilities and different socioeconomic statuses of people. All do not equally enjoy the benefits of good health because social determinants play a vital role in the accessibility to opportunities for health and well-being. By providing equal access or implementing healthcare to all, we lift up social determinants of health for all. Additionally, applying the "Health in All Policies" framework as we encourage responsive and meaningful cross-sectoral collaborations to reduce structure violence and systemic oppression for marginalized populations.

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Promote access to education

Providing access to meaningful education is important to level the playing field. We can do so by removing unnecessary structural discrimination of E-credit courses for newcomer students in Manitoba K-12 classrooms. These routine practices create and perpetuate poverty and systemic racism as these students cannot pursue further post-secondary education with the E-credit after high school graduation.?

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Eradicate pay gaps or pay inequity

?After accounting for other professional and personal factors,?study ?shows that women working in health policy research earn an average of 4.8% less than men. The salaries of health policy researchers were 21.1% lower than those of their counterparts in the heavily male-dominated economics policy field. Due to unexplained factors, women's earnings generally averaged 3.2% less than men's. According to statistics in Canada, women earn 89 cents for every dollar men earn. The promise of equal pay for equal work still needs to be improved. This issue must be addressed to eradicate pay inequity.

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Support through intersectional analysis and practices

?All of us can use our privileges to support and advance other women through intersectional analysis and practices. We can identify and address the different oppressive and discriminatory practices that intersect to produce experiences of marginalization and disadvantage. We must challenge damaging narratives and stereotypes that support gender-based violence and discrimination.

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Individually and collectively, we have a duty to create inclusive and equitable spaces for all the women who are still lagging. Whether through education, access to healthcare, political representation, or economic opportunities, we must all commit to looking after one another. Today and every day, let us commit to building a world where all women can thrive and live free from violence, discrimination, and oppression. Together we can and will move mountains, but alone it will take years and years to address inequities and the subtle act of exclusion!