International Women’s Day 8.3.2010
Today is International Women’s Day. On this occasion, we celebrate the achievements that women have made in all sectors of society, and consider what the future holds for our daughters and granddaughters.
Indeed, we live in a very different world from that of 1911, when his holiday was first established. In these past 99 years, the people of Europe, and the world as a whole, have made tremendous strides in promoting gender equality and bringing women’s issues to light. Everywhere in society, from corporate boardrooms to national legislatures, women are becoming more visible and more influential.
This is certainly a cause for celebration! However, the joyfulness of this holiday is tempered by the knowledge that significant deficits remain in the area of women’s rights. The old system of patriarchy continues to influence the way in which women are viewed and treated, both in the professional and private sphere. Women continue to earn less than their male colleagues, and are represented in far fewer numbers in too many sectors of society.
Even here in the European Parliament, where women are present in proportionally greater numbers than in the majority of national legislatures (at 30%), there is a significant gender gap. And, in the European Council, the sight of German Chancellor Angela Merkel surrounded by exclusively male counterparts is a sad reminder of the fact that, even in our highly democratic union, there remain obvious social inequalities at the highest levels of government.
Equally telling is the fact that there has never been a female president of the European Commission.
Violence against women also persists in many forms from domestic and sexual violence to forced marriages and honour killings. These acts of violence present a terrible threat to human rights worldwide. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon once said, “violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable and never tolerable.” Yet it continues all the same.
It is important that Europeans continue to make women’s rights a priority in all levels of government and civil society, because there can never be true democracy until all citizens, male and female, are guaranteed the same opportunities and rights.
Anneli
