BLOGGING THE VIEW: 5 things you should know this International Women’s Day

While South Africa celebrates women for a full month in August, International Women’s Day on 8 March is well worth acknowledgement, particularly when South Africa is dealing with some of the highest GBV, teen pregnancy and childhood illiteracy rates in the world.

Supporting gender equality is supporting human rights! Here’s what you need to know.

1. International Women’s Day origins

National Women’s Day was first held in the United States back in February 1909. The following year, at the second International Conference of Working Women in Denmark, Clara Zetkin proposed a global celebration demanding equal rights. Attended by women from 17 countries, the first International Women’s Day was held in March 1911 with 8 March set in 1913.

2. It was adopted by the United Nations in 1975

1975, which was dubbed International Women’s Year, was when the United Nations became a primary sponsor for the annual event, encouraging countries around the world to adopt the holiday and celebrate ‘acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities’. This year’s theme is ‘Inspire Inclusion’.

3. No country has gender equality

This is not to say countries aren’t getting better, but no country can claim 100% gender equality since signing the United Nations’ Sustainable Global Goals in 2015. South Sudan is among the worst, with high rates of forced marriage and maternal mortality. Chad has widespread child marriage while in Yemen, women cannot marry or get healthcare without a man’s permission. In Afghanistan, it’s believed 20 years of progress were decimated with the Taliban’s takeover in 2023.

4. Countries on the right track

Fortunately, there is progress being made in closing that gender gap. As mentioned, no country achieved complete gender parity but the top 9 countries have closed the gender gap to at least 80%, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Global Gender Gap report in 2023. These are Iceland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Nicaragua, Namibia and Lithuania.

5. Biggest threats to women today

There are many threats women face every day, all of which continue to create a divide in gender equality.

· Unsafe abortions are one of the leading yet preventable causes of maternal mortality, with around 25 million unsafe abortions a year leading to 13.2% of maternal deaths globally.

· Child marriages, where girls under 18 are married to men, with around 12 million underage girls married off every year. This happens worldwide, with Bangladesh, Syria, Myanmar and America cited as areas where child marriage victimisation takes place.

· Teenage pregnancy is another major threat, with South Africa having one of the highest rates globally – nearly one in four girls falling pregnant before turning 20 years old.

· Gender-based violence (GBV), prevalent in South Africa, is also a global threat with one female killed by a family member every 11 minutes around the world, and 1 in 10 women aged 15 to 49 subjected to sexual abuse or violence by a partner in 2021.

· Conflict and climate change have also led to girls and women being forcibly displaced, with some 44 million displaced by the end of 2021.

· A lack of access to education is another major concern, with 130 million girls out of school worldwide.

Let’s do what we can this International Women’s Day to further the cause of gender equality and aim to achieve the goal of true equality by 2030!

Sources:
www.weforum.org
www.mentalfloss.com
www.globalcitizen.org
www.news24.com

HAVE YOUR SAY