The fight for true equality continues
YESTERDAY was another important date in the calendar as the world marked the latest International Women’s Day.
It was a day for celebrating women’s invaluable contribution to the world – a contribution that is alltoo-often overlooked.
Yet from women making the unsung daily efforts that society still takes for granted, to women running businesses and massive multi-million-pound organisations and making their indelible mark on the world, there are now nearly four billion reasons to highlight March 8 in the calendar.
There are countless strong role models who have defied the odds and showed remarkable fortitude in the most devastating of circumstances; women such as Anna-Louise Bates who, as we recount today, founded organ donation awareness charity Believe and continues to rebuild her life after her son and husband were killed in a crash as they walked home.
Also featured today is the story of the Muslim schoolgirls taking their future into their own hands, and breaking down stereotypes, after creating an important femaleonly space in their home city of Cardiff. From women going about their daily lives, to women reshaping the world they live in, there is plenty of cause for celebration and optimism.
But there is another, more sobering side to International Women’s Day – a message heralding the need for change. When it comes to equality, there is so much work yet to be done. From shocking intransigence on equal pay, to the horrors of FGM, there are plenty of injustices to overcome.
Against this backdrop, the bravery of women such as Swansea mum-offour Laura Madden cannot be applauded enough. At no small personal cost, she was among the first to reveal she was assaulted by movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
She made sure her voice was heard and set in motion a process that finally ended in last month’s conviction of the disgraced mogul.
It’s a conviction that should mark a watershed moment for the #metoo movement, but it’s work that will remain only half-done until the society finally stops turning a blind eye to abuses by powerful people, stops victim-shaming and addresses persistently low sexual offence conviction rates.
So, 24 hours on from International Women’s Day let’s continue, every day, to celebrate the contribution of half the world in our actions and words – and lead the charge towards a bright future of true equality.