International Women's Day

International Women's Day started in 1911 with women and men campaigning for women's right to work, to vote, to be considered equal. It became officially recognised in 1977 by the United Nations but what has it become today? Have we lost the real meaning behind it and allowed governments and corporations to gloss over the inequalities that women face?

If we take a step back and look at the harsh reality of recent laws, it shows how little society has respected women in the past and even with an International Day for over 100 years, women are still fighting for equality. In the UK, it wasn't until 1991 that marital rape was considered a crime; that is a mere 33 years ago. In 2022 in the US, the landmark decision of Roe Vs Wade was overturned, removing a women's right to choose what happens with her own body. I found an article by World Health Organization in 2021 that advised that:

across their lifetime, 1 in 3 women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner – a number that has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.

And frighteningly, it starts early with 1 in 4 young women (aged 15 - 24) experiencing violence. This goes against what IWD is meant to focus on - gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. With rights being stripped, have we really made enough headway to protect women globally or are we taking a step back? Shouldn't we all be acknowledging the overall disparity between the sexes and making an effort to change it? We should be roaring out the names of Emily Pankhurst, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Margaret Sanger, Rosalind Franklin, Maya Angelou and Malala Yousafzai to name but a few women that changed the course of history. Their legacies should be taught, honoured and remembered every day, not just once a year; should their photos be the ones we share for IWD? Could we argue that it has become little more than a marketing ploy, a pat on the back for the UN to encourage celebrating a day that doesn't do enough to highlight the daily struggles faced by women across the World?

What can we do to ensure that our daughters, sisters, mothers, aunties and friends don't have to be afraid when walking alone, don't have to cover their drinks on a night out, don't have to fear that they will be judged on their clothes or make-up? Rape Crisis England & Wales details key statistics that are a very sombre read:

Rape, sexual assault and child sexual abuse statistics | Rape Crisis England & Wales

How can we ensure that companies understand individual struggles, promote women's health and safety, educate each other to reduce the gender pay gap? How we can help to raise more awareness and encourage governments to do more with the data that they collect? Gender pay gap is complex and although headway has been made, it's an incredibly slow process with no steadfast plans on how to improve it. An 18 year old woman entering the workforce today will not see pay equality in her lifetime, this is something we should all be talking about and working on to make drastic and much needed changes for the future generations.

So on this important, global day, let's make sure that we are all the voices of the future and we use whatever platform we have to not only celebrate women but honour those who fought for the rights we have and not let them be stripped away.