Women's Day events highlight gaps in gender equality
From demands for constitutional rights in Islamabad to calls for economic equity in Manila and Paris, International Women's Day demonstrations in cities around the world Wednesday highlighted the unfinished work of providing equity for half of the planet's population.
While activists in some places celebrated political and legal advances, observances also pointed to repression in countries such as Afghanistan and Iran, and the large numbers of women and girls who experience sexual assaults and domestic violence globally.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted this week that women's rights were “abused, threatened and violated” around the world and gender equality won't be achieved for 300 years given the current pace of change.
Progress won over decades is vanishing because “the patriarchy is fighting back,” Guterres said.
Even in countries where women have considerable freedom, there have been recent setbacks. This was the first International Women's Day since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion last year and many states adopted restrictions on abortion.
The United Nations recognized International Women's Day in 1977, but the occasion has its roots in labor movements of the early 20th century. The day is commemorated in different ways and to varying degrees in different countries.
Women gathered in Pakistan's major cities to march amid tight security. Organizers said the demonstrations were aimed at seeking rights guaranteed by the constitution. Some conservative groups last year threatened to stop similar marches by force.
Women's rights activists in Japan held a small rally to renew their demand for the government to allow married couples to keep using different surnames. Under the 1898 civil code, a couple must adopt “the surname of the husband or wife” at the time of marriage.
The activists argued the law contributes to gender inequality because women experience strong pressure to take their husband's name. Surveys show majority support for both men and women keeping their own names.
In the Philippines, hundreds of protesters from various women's groups rallied in Manila for higher wages and decent jobs.
“We are seeing the widest gender pay gap,” protest leader Joms Salvador said. “We are seeing an unprecedented increase in the number of women workers who are in informal work without any protection.”
The United Nations identified Afghanistan as the most repressive country in the world for women and girls since the Taliban takeover in 2021. The U.N. mission said Afghanistan's new rulers were “imposing rules that leave most women and girls effectively trapped in their homes.”
They have banned girls' education beyond sixth grade and barred women from public spaces such as parks and gyms. Women must cover themselves from head to toe and are also barred from working at national and international nongovernmental organizations.
The first female leader of Tanzania, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, said during an International Women's Day rally organized by an opposition party that she has brought a new level of political tolerance to the East African nation.
Hassan has been accused of continuing her predecessor John Magufuli's antidemocratic policies, but she lifted a 6-year-old ban on opposition rallies in January.
“The opposition is lucky that it is a woman president in charge because if a misunderstanding occurs, I will stand for peace and make the men settle their egos,” the president said, adding that there was a “new culture of unity” between the opposition and her government.
In Europe, hundreds of ethnic Albanian women in Kosovo's capital protesting domestic violence threw black-and-red smoke bombs at the police headquarters. The protesters, who rallied under the slogan “We march, do not celebrate,” accused police, the prosecutor's office and the courts of gender discrimination.
In Russia, where International Women's Day is a national holiday, President Vladimir Putin presented state awards to several women during a Kremlin ceremony. He singled out a military paramedic and a journalist for fulfilling their duties during the war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin insists on calling “a special military operation.”