Today 8th March is International Women’s Day, it will mark 100 years of campaigning for equality amongst the sexes. I wanted to write about this on the blog as I come from a line of strong, inspiring women and I know that my fellow Custard Creams are also successful independent women therefore this is something that we should be celebrating and also discussing.
I am proud to say that I am a feminist – despite popular belief (or according to The Sun) this does not mean I am a butch lesbian or that I hate men, also I have never burnt a bra (well once but that was on a cold morning when I was trying to warm up my bra on a fan heater –oops) in fact it means that as a woman I expect the same treatment as a man ie pay, respect and equality.It shocks me when women say they arent (presumably that means that they don't vote, take the pill, expect equal pay, or to be protected by law from domestic violence).
Quite rightly we take for granted the fact that we can choose to vote, if we go to University or become a doctor, control our reproductive system and wear what the hell we like - but it hasn’t always been this way and still isn’t for many women around the world.
In 100 years you would think that society has come along way and we have as undoubtedly millions of women’s lives have been improved and saved thanks to the dedication and sacrifice of women like Emily Davison; a suffragette who once hid in the houses of parliament and who died after stepping out in front of the Kings horse while campaigning for women’s rights in 1913. Unfortunately there are still inequalities in the UK and globally with women still underrepresented in boardrooms and parliament – currently in Westminster there are more MP’s called Nick or Dave than there are women?! How is that possible....
Despite the UK being a westernised country with equal rights legislations there is still a huge gap between men and women. If you’re at work look around and do a quick bit of maths – are there more women or men and who out of the genders earns more? It’s glaringly obvious in my office (currently out of about 30 people 26 are men with 2 of the women either having admin/secretarial roles) as I’m sure it is in most.
Women are still behind in pay and positions with women earning on average 16% less than men and making up only 12% of the UK boardrooms. The workplace is not the only place were women are suffering, 90% of victims of domestic violence are women and the UK conviction rate of rape is just 6.5%.
Why do men still think its ok to shout obscenities to women in broad daylight or randomly grope them on a night out? Is it ok that schoolgirls get pestered by men during their commute to school? Where does it end...?
“Women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the food, but earn 10% of the income and own 1% of the property.” (Unicef)
In the UK there seems to be a rise in women who are happy to play dumb to please a man or who have a life ambition to be a WAG (here’s an idea get your own life...) which kind of sets us back in the fight for feminism. If you look to the lesser developed world and to countries in Africa like Darfur, Chad and Mozambique women face a daily battle for basic human rights let alone women’s rights through simple tasks such as trying to avoid being raped when collecting water, as well as violence, murder and genital mutilation.
Worldwide 10 million more girls are out of school than boys, One out of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused, 1 in 5 women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape, and if that’s not enough violence against women causes more deaths and disabilities among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war.
Today I think its important to recognise the achievements and progress that has been made through history and realise that our current lifestyles would have been very different 100 or even as little as 30 years ago. There are some charity links below that details ways to get involved and help improve women’s rights around the world.
So in the UK we are lucky to be in a country where women’s rights are recognised and equality is set out in the legal system, but remember that it is us women that got us here and we have to fight if we want it to stay that way – support International Women’s Day!
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
There are a range of events going on in Brum to mark the Centenary of International Women’s Day see the full list here; http://www.internationalwomensday.com/search.asp
If you want to read more there is a great article here (this is what inspired me to write this article);
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/06/feminism-global-challenge-one-voice
Get involved and read more about how women in Africa are fighting for equality and justice at http://www.thegreatinitiative.com/
Another amazing Charity http://www.womankind.org.uk/what-you-can-do.html
Ellephant
xx
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