'LOVE IN LOCKDOWN' EPISODE 15: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

                                                             

International Women's Day (IWD) is a day that’s celebrated globally on the 8^th March, honouring the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. A time to commemorate women's achievements, raise awareness about women's equality, speak out for gender parity and fundraise for female-focused charities.

Purple, green and white are the colours that mark the day. Purple signifies justice and dignity. Green symbolizes hope. White represents purity, albeit a controversial concept. The colours originated from the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the UK in 1908.

Covid-19 has changed or stopped many things this year, but International Women’s Day continues to be remembered. Usually, the day is marked around the globe with performances, talks, rallies, networking, conferences and marches. While these things may not be able to go ahead, there are other ways to ensure it’s not forgotten about and continues to be recognised. The pandemic has bought its own difficulties for women, including job losses, a rise in domestic abuse and the pressures of home-schooling, making this year’s IWD all the more pressing.

Let’s start at the very beginning…

This year marks the 110th International Women’s Day, after the first official event was held in 1911. In 1909 a Ukraine-born suffragist named Clara Lemlich, demanded better pay, shorter working hours and improved working conditions for 15,000 garment workers who went on strike in New York. In 1910, The Socialist Party of America announced the first National Women’s Day in honour of these workers, Lemlich tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She proposed that every country should celebrate women on one day every year to push for their demands.

The United Nations made the day official in 1975, and the first theme to be adopted as part of the celebrations came in 1996 when the organisers chose “Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future”. By 2000, there was little activity occurring for International Women's Day in many countries, feminism wasn't a widely discussed topic. So in 2001, the internationalwomensday.com platform was launched with the specific purpose of re-igniting the day, celebrating and making visible the achievements of women while continuing the call for accelerating gender parity. 

Why is it still going? 

We’re still not there. Full gender equality for women the world – has not yet been reached. There is still a gender pay gap, a lack of female leaders, discrimination in workplaces, a continuation of violence against women and girls, and women still fall behind men in terms of education and healthcare. The pandemic has only heightened these inequalities further. Data released by UN women suggests there could be a gender equality regression of 25 years, as a result of increased domestic work and family care at home, and enforcement on the release of gender pay gap data has been set back for another six months.

But lack of equality hasn’t just appeared as a result of the pandemic, it was evident beforehand to. In October 2020, The World Ranking of the Inter-Parliamentary Union found that only 14 of the 193 United Nations’ have a women in the highest position of executive power. Gender based discrimination and sexual harassment is still prevalent in today’s society and amongst workplaces. A Journal of Hospital Medicine study found that this was evidently the case for female doctors, and a gender having an impact or career opportunities remains present across a range of occupations. Here in 2021 it’s still common for women to be fired for taking time off for childcare or _­­­­maternity resulting in facing setbacks when returning. These pregnancy related inequalities have also been found to link to depression and mental health struggles.

 Of course, we have come a long way since the suffragettes, but it isn’t enough to celebrate gender equality for just one day. It’s not a day to celebrate and then be forgotten about. It’s about a continuation, persistence and an ongoing awareness to ensure policies are put in place to achieve justice and impartiality. It’s not just about those who identify as female coming together, but conversation and outrage from all, no matter what we wish to identify ourselves as. It’s something that effects society as a whole and requires collective address, awareness and lack of silence. Equality is something we should all desire to achieve and that takes everyone speaking up and calling out changes in society, while supporting those with less opportunities. In doing so we can step away from a generalised approach and truly work towards equilibrium.

In light of recent events…

I also want to highlight after recent heart-breaking news surrounding the Sarah Everard case, how important it is that we continue to look out for and support each other. Checking up on friends and continuing communication is so important, it’s vital that we speak up and have what may be uncomfortable conversations in order to work towards change. We need to call out what may seem small and insignificant behaviour when it happens, we cannot afford to become complacent despite the progress we’ve made over the years.

A UN Women study reported that 97% of women aged 18-24 in the UK said they’ve been sexually harassed. It’s safe to say most women reading recent events felt ‘that could’ve been me.’ I’ve realised how conditioned women are to modify behaviour to protect themselves because as a society we don’t question it until something terrible occurs. We shouldn’t have to have a safety check list just to walk home. We shouldn’t have a list of engrained behaviours that have now become autopilot because we’re so used to being hyper-conscious of our safety. We shouldn’t have to live in fear.

We’re not born with this fear, it’s learnt through lessons and exposure to the world not being safe. This requires action, education and change from all parties to actively work to end violence towards women, women are too often not the problem. Our work comes with speaking up, sharing how men can make us feel safer, their job is to listen and learn. It’s not all men of course and men are victims to street violence to, but too often it comes down to male violence and not female behaviour. It’s not all men but it’s enough. Not all sharks are deadly, but we’re still taught to be wary of them. Collectively we have to stand up for systematic changes in order to really change the narrative.

This year… 2021

The official theme for IWD 2021 is "Choose to Challenge", recognising the need to call out gender bias and inequality.

‘We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. From challenge, comes change’ – The International Women’s Day Website.

In the UK there will be an array of concerts, inspirational talks and virtual events to help people mark the occasion safely. Although the 8^th March is the titled day, the work continues all year round. It’s an everyday fight.

Getting Involved…

Despite the pandemic, there are still many ways to help out and get involved.

With ‘Choose the challenge’ being this year’s theme,  IWD organisers are asking people to strike the Choose To Challenge pose - with your hands held high - and share it on social media to encourage and raise awareness around standing up, campaigning and supporting an inclusive world. You could also fundraise for a female-focused charity. There’s more about IWD charities on their website. You could run your own digital or hybrid event within your local community, network or organisation, there’s more guidance and ideas on how to do this on the IWD Website. All events are also on the website: IWD Events.

As the day passes, ‘getting involved’ requires continued awareness, conversation and openness to change in order to progress. Standing up for money being placed into changing work and treatment for women all year round rather than just on marketing for an annual event. Of course the day is important in initiating conversation and highlighting the importance of working towards equality, but we also have to ensure it’s not just about the one day or the achievements of women. As empowering as that is, it’s also about discussing what is to be addressed and not forgetting it takes more than a day to keep moving towards that.

"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights." – Gloria Steinem.