International Women’s Day

By: Asma Shums,
Since 1911, International Women’s Day has been celebrated around the world highlighting achievements by women in all walks of life and industries. It’s generally a call to action for gender equality and the celebration of accomplishments by women in social, economic, and political platforms. This year’s theme is aptly labeled as Choose to Challenge. The idea is that change can only come through challenges and this theme is a reminder that major changes need to happen to make our world more equal. Many things have changed and made things more inclusive but have been done because of strong women speaking out and having both men and women supporting the cause. Instead of liking photographs on social media and beyond speaking with our friends, there are many situations where women are still facing challenges.
Positions of Power and Gender Equality
Women still hold disproportionally smaller positions of power. From office boardrooms, courts, political platforms, or professional designations, there are fewer women making decisions. We need inclusive voices making decisions in homes, corporate offices, or on large-scale platforms dealing with issues such as labour laws, humanitarian crisis’, or policies relating to medical practices. The sooner we understand the impact the lack of female voices have on our society, the faster we can implement policies or create a community where no one group feels unrepresented.
Access to Education and Employment Opportunities
It is a common phrase heard by most women that women earn only $0.77 for every $1.00 earned by women. In reality, global pay scale gaps are even wider. Women earn significantly less than men and are expected to share their entire income for the family whereas men aren’t held to the same expectations. All of us might know families who tend to marry the girls in their family prior to them finishing post-secondary education. Women are more likely to not pursue higher education and many don’t even have opportunities to finish their primary education. This restricts them find sufficient employment, have finances, or have any opportunity to escape dangerous domestic situations which further perpetuates a cycle of dependence.
So in a world where 95% of the world leaders are men, it’s clear that half of the world population do not have adequate representation for their rights and needs. Although great progress has been made, we must look for these major issues that have yet to be solved. It might seem demoralizing seeing these issues continue to plague our society, so what can you do?
Raise your voice. Support the women around you by accepting them and listening to them. Share the responsibility of creating an equal world. Get involved with commitments to change policies that affect women’s rights. Educate your children and family. Know your rights and sincerely know that many women don’t feel like they have the same rights and opportunities. Give to the cause such as organizations that do the heavy lifting in fixing these urgent issues. The list is endless and not comprehensive. Do the things you know will make a change for the next generation of women we are raising.
Email info at: asmashums@gmail.com