International Women’s Day

It was International Women’s Day on Sunday. Declared in 1910 by the German socialist leader Clara Zetkin and officially recognized by the United Nations in 1975, the day marks a solidarity in the fight of women for equal rights.

Gender inequalities have been on the agenda for more than 30 years, but still statistics paint a depressing picture. Women in the UK still earn 17% less than men, make up only 11% of directors in companies, hold only 20% of Parliamentary seats. 21% of girls experience child sexual abuse, and 23% of women experience sexual assault. The conviction rate for rape is less than 6%.

Globally the picture is also atrocious with violence against women endemic. In Pakistan, 90% of women are physically assaulted by their husbands, in Bangladesh 50% of women murdered are killed by their husbands. Women in Iran are killed for not wearing the prescribed hijab and women in the Congo raped and mutilated in a war rife with sexual terrorism.

International Women’s Day inspires not only contemplations of injustice and the misery of many women’s lives, but also galvanizes plans of action, whether in a macro or micro way. Amnesty, as ever are running many laudable campaigns including Women in Conflict Zones, No Recourse to Public Funds and Rights for Iranian women.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk.
For more info on International Women’s Day and campaigns of interest click on: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
And here’s a nice article by Neil Durkin
:http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/neil_durkin/blog/2009/03/08/are_we_not_men_why_male_feminism_rocks

~ by colley on March 10, 2009.