Women have made extraordinary contirbutions to society
throughout history- some well known and other less so, but all trailblazers
just the same. Women should be celebrated every day, however let's use this day
especially to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political
achievements of women around the world and throughout history!
That said, I think it's also important to be aware that progress
has slowed in many places across the world and there is still so much work to
be done to achieve gender parity. Discrimination against women persists both directly and indirectly in many ways, including but not limited to laws and policies, gender based stereotypes and social norms and practices. Women are still paid less than a man in many parts of the world, including the U.S. 1 in 3 women worldwide experience sexual or physical abuse in their lifetime. 133 million women suffer female genital mutilation in 29 countries around the world. 26 countries have statutory inheritance laws (written laws passed by legislature) that differ for men and women.
UN Women has made the theme for International Women’s Day
2016 “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. "Planet 50-50
by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality" wants to see a world that has
achieved gender parity by 2030 and asks governments to make national
commitments to address the challenges that are holding women and girls back
from reaching their full potential. This could include passing new laws or
strengthening existing ones, creating programs to eradicate violence against
women, encouraging women's participation in decision making, promoting gender
equality in education and investing in policies for gender equality.
