MARCH 8 marks International Women’s Day. The day celebrates the achievements of women in different areas of life, coupled with serious conversations around critical topics that affect women of all backgrounds. In recent months, we have seen several incidents of sexual and other kinds of gendered violence against women. Furthermore, women are still discriminated against in employment, education and politics. We need to ditch the mindset that women are worthy of protection because they are our mothers, sisters, wives or daughters and shift towards respecting women as equal and autonomous individuals.
This day has a historical significance dating back to 28 February, 1909 when more than 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York demanding better salaries, voting rights and shorter working days. This day also needs to be remembered every time until things improve for women globally. The younger women are now emerging as major agents of change and doing productive movements to solve the issues but some liberals have destroyed the real concept of Women’s Day and their genuine rights.
We cannot simply wait for the government to fix gender inequality; we must seize the initiative as citizens. Call your representative and ask for increased federal funding for women, start a conversation with your friends and learn about and discuss the problems women of different backgrounds face. We must begin by bringing together like-minded individuals who want to make a difference. Meet with each other, collaborate and do what you can to solve the problem. This is our country, our rights and our fight. Let’s create a better future for women today.
For many people, the role of a woman is limited to household chores only. However, this needs to change as women deserve equal freedom and opportunities in everything like men. We need to empower women so that they are able to make their decisions on their own. A strong woman stands up for herself and the stronger woman can stand up for every other woman.
Social change in our society is much needed to make women strong enough to change their mindset and to make the world a more equal place because half the population of the world consists of women.
International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike.
The growing international women’s movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.
International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on the progress made, to call for a change and to celebrate the acts of courage and determination by ordinary women, who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.The world has made unprecedented advances, but no country has achieved gender equality. Fifty years ago, we landed on the moon; in the last decade, we discovered new human ancestors and photographed a black hole for first time.
In the meantime, legal restrictions have kept 2.7 billion women from accessing the same choice of jobs as men. Less than 25 per cent of parliamentarians were women, as of 2019. The bottom line of celebrating women’s day is due to the widespread differences in various fields — the pay difference of 14.9% between men and women, only 21.4% of seats for women in parliament around the world, lack of awareness for women education and many more.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Mumbai, India
Email: jubeldcruz@yahoo.com
views expressed are writer’s own.
