International Women’s Day, over a century highlighting women’s issues

The world celebrated the 115th year of International Women’s Day on Sunday 8, just two days ago. Certainly, there would have been many special lunches and events to mark the day. Given the formality one attaches to the celebration of this important day in our country it would have been easy, especially since it fell on a Sunday, to mistake it for Mother’s Day.

But the celebration of this day in many countries around the world still brings with it much anxiety and protests over several issues. This is so even though we have advanced much from the 1900s when women protested for better and equal pay for the same work, for equal hours of work, and even for the right to vote. This grew into a global movement for gender equality, for reproductive rights and for recognizing achievements and women’s rights generally. It was only in 1977 that the United Nations formally recognized March 8 as International Women’s Day.

There was a time in our nation when a single woman who became pregnant had to leave the teaching profession. But the militant St Vincent Union of Teachers addressed that issue and ensured there was no unequal treatment of our single mothers over issues of pregnancy.

However, even today, a female is still frowned upon when they enter some government offices wearing a sleeveless dress. We still therefore have a ways to go.

This important day was celebrated around the world this year in many ways under the theme “Give to Gain,” focusing on community, collaboration, and supporting women-focused charities. Events included global marches against violence, corporate panel discussions on neuro-diversity, African Union initiatives on equality, and social media campaigns using the #GiveToGain hashtag.

There was advocacy as the International Press Centre (IPC) used the day to call for greater inclusion of women in media leadership and political decision-making. Those are areas where in SVG we have made considerable progress. Indeed since the 70s an outstanding Journalist Nora Peacock, functioned as Editor of The Vincentian newspaper, the lone weekly at the time.

This media house’s first editor was the late educator Norma Keizer.

In the area of politics we had since the early 1960s Ivy Joshua becoming the First Lady elected to our Parliament. Since then, although not in the numbers we would prefer, we have had women elected to our Parliament, serving as Speaker of the House of Assembly, and nominated as senators. In fact our current Parliament is served by a female speaker, two elected members, and three nominated female senators.

The celebrations around the world took on different forms, and ranged in their areas of focus.

In Mexico, the focus of their strong feminist movement was protests against violence and femicide. On that day women wore purple and green scarves signifying feminism and reproductive rights.

Activists gathered at Zorro Ranch in the US town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is alleged to have sexually abused and trafficked under-aged women. Back across the Atlantic, Spanish women in support of their governments refusal to permit US bases to be used in the war against Iran protested the war.

In Brazil, the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana neighbourhood provoked protests.

In some nations where violence and war are raging, women are literally fighting for their lives, and remembrance of their needs must be kept in focus by others with the means to do do.

We at home do have our share of violence against women and statutory rape of minors, and we do have to keep a stern hand on these issues even as we celebrate the advances we have made in education and the workplace where women outnumber men. Sadly, we have noticed that feminine activism has been reduced almost to that of support of one or the other of our political parties.

We ask the question, is it possible for a revival of that strong civic and social consciousness when females were very active in community, church and other groups and organisations such as those that collectively fell under the umbrella of the National Youth Council.

Then female activism was bipartisan and more a unifying force within our society. Our young women stand a gain a lot more holistically in that sort of environment. We hope that all women enjoyed a peaceful International Women’s Day and take this spirit into this week and the remainder of this year.