March 8, International Women’s Day is just around the corner, and unfortunately, it isn’t a day to celebrate, it’s a date to reflect and keep fighting. Problems such as gender violence, labor inequality, insecurity and lack of opportunities are constantly faced by women around the world.
That’s why this week at Calza Fino we decided to dedicate it to women because there is a lot to talk about and change as a society. We hope you can join us in the different articles that we will have for you, as well as we invite you to give your opinion about it.
Today, we will talk about the current context of women: how this fight for better living conditions begins and what problems we face in modernity. This will serve as a basis for you to have a clear idea of what’s going on. Keep reading to find out more:
The beginnings
International Women's Day was institutionalized by the UN in 1975, more than 40 years ago. The main objective of its commemoration is the search for equality and non-discrimination against women, however, it all started as a fight that continues nowadays...
On March 8, 1912, many women with the slogan "Bread and Roses" protested in the streets of New York against job insecurity and demanded a cut in working hours and an end to child exploitation. This was just one of several protests.
In the following video you will understand better how the events evolved:
In general, the demands of these protests encompassed the right to vote for women, better working conditions, the opportunity to hold a public office and study, and non-discrimination.
The current fight
In modern times, thanks to the efforts of our ancestors, women have been able to aspire to better living conditions. We already have a voice and vote in electoral decisions and we can study and work. But what about discrimination and inequality?
Summed up in two words: it continues.
Why keep fighting?
Here are just a few reasons:
A UN Women report shows that there are 4.4 million more women living in extreme poverty compared to men. Much of this inequality is explained by the disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic work faced by women.
Around a third of women worldwide have suffered physical and/or sexual violence from their partners, and 49 countries completely lack laws that protect women from domestic violence.
The global gender pay gap is 23%. The activity rate for women is 63%, while for men is 94%.
Women held only 28% of managerial positions globally in 2019, almost the same proportion as in 1995, and only 18% of companies surveyed had a female CEO in 2020.
Shocking statistics. And the worst of all is that everything's connected.
Because the situation in which you are born, the country where you live, the culture that surrounds you, have a negative influence, making it even more difficult to get out of an unfavorable situation.
Everything is a chain:
A girl who’s forced to marry at a young age, for example, is more likely to drop out of school, give birth too young and suffer domestic violence. A woman that doesn't know freedom, will never take the effort to search it. A woman that grows with the mindset that she's raised to take care and please, will never question herself. A woman that thinks violence is normal, resists until the end.
What's important?
Even in countries where laws exist to address problems of this type, they don’t always follow international standards and recommendations or are applied and enforced. Our idealized reality is actually unfair, everything has been tried: protests, peaceful marches, conferences and reforms that have not worked so far.
Acts of machismo and discrimination against women are normalized in society. Brave women who dare to speak out run the risk of being judged, isolated and violated. Most of the time, complaints to the competent authorities are not validated due to a lack of information and witnesses. The peaceful protests end in scenes of force exercised by the authorities.
And these are just cases at a very superficial level that represent 1% of what is actually happening. But there are deeper problems. That’s why empathy and solidarity are essential to the movement for change.
The important thing to remember is that the fight doesn't end until no woman experiences the aforementioned problems in her day-to-day life. And never forget: you have the power to give 100% and do your best for a change.
The fight continues, and we won't stop until we win. Every day we grow in numbers and our strength only increases.
What measures do you think we should implement as a society to promote change and gender equality? We invite you to follow us so you don’t miss the content that we will be publishing this week, where several of the problems mentioned in this blog will be discussed more deeply.
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