Today the message is the same, yet the demands for global women’s equality and issues around women’s autonomy over their bodies and lives are more central. This year’s centenary marks the changes the movement has achieved and looks forward to the continuing campaign to advance the position of women worldwide.
IWD is an opportunity for all women to recognise what joins us together and how we can support our sisters globally. Across the world, women continue to die unnecessarily in childbirth, are subjected to rape as a tactic of war, face violence from within their families, are paid less, and are under-represented in governments and legal systems. Seventy per cent of the world’s poorest people are women. Despite doing more than two-thirds of the world’s work, women only receive 10 per cent of the world’s income and own less than 1 per cent of the world’s property.
Closer to home, we are seeing women bear the brunt of the Conservative-led Government’s cuts. It seems David Cameron and his ministers are determined to hit women hardest. We’ve already seen very big cuts in support paid to mothers – including cuts to childcare, tax credits, child benefit and other support – which will make it harder for women to work. Women’s jobs are being more heavily hit, with more than 300,000 likely to be made redundant in the public sector alone.
The plan to change the pension age is the latest in a long line of measures which give women a raw deal. And to hit women harder, when they still have lower earnings, much lower savings and inferior pensions than men, is unjust. Ministers are showing how out of touch they are. Their failure to understand the reality of women’s lives means their plans – from cuts to public services and family support, and unfair pension changes – harm women’s independence and the choices they can make.
Tuesday March 8 offers the opportunity to join all thise will be building bridges of peace and calling for an end to violence against women in areas of conflict, as part of the exciting, global “Join Me on the Bridge” campaign. Last year, events were held 21 countries, including Australia, Congo, South Africa, Britain and the United States. The 2011 campaign focuses on the peace negotiations taking place in Afghanistan, where time is running out for women.
Thanks to our mothers and grandmothers, successive generations of women have enjoyed more opportunities and greater equality than the last. But this can all be rolled back, so we must stand shoulder to shoulder and challenge inequality wherever we find it.
Cat Smith is vice-chair and women’s officer of London Young Labour
