Our Pledge for Parity
International Women’s Day (IWD) was held last week on Tuesday 8 March. Whether you watched a quick news story on the event or celebrated IWD yourself with friends and family, the day proved to be a perfect opportunity to recognise the achievements of women around the world and consider some key issues affecting women’s rights.
History of International Women’s Day
A concern for rights was the original impetus behind the establishment of IWD. The event has its roots in the early 20th century. Following the Industrial Revolution, the working class was steadily integrated into the industry sector. Both men and women worked long hours in factories for little pay. Over time, trade unions supported men and eventually led to improvements in their working conditions. Unfortunately, women’s paid work did not share in these benefits (1). Women were segregated from men and confined to textile workshops, where conditions were extremely poor, and pay was equally pitiful (2). Moreover women’s attempts to better their working environments, such as the 1857 garment worker strike in New York City, were not seriously considered and ultimately failed. Women had limited voting rights, did not hold any positions of power in government, and thus struggled to initiate change, even at a grass roots level. These issues compounded until 1909 when socialist and feminist groups in the United States united to hold the first National Women’s Day on 28 February (3). Across America, supporters lobbied for suffrage rights, equal pay, and improved hours for women.
What began at a national level expanded into a global movement, as political groups in Western Europe gathered at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen (4). At the conference, Clara Zetkin, a prominent feminist and leader of the Women’s Office of the German Social Democratic Party, petitioned for an International Women’s Day to be held globally (4). In 1911, on 19 March, IWD was celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Over the years, IWD has gained considerable traction and has been used to initiate serious change, from providing a platform to push for women’s suffrage in England in 1913 (also the year that the date was officially changed to 8 March) to its celebration today, where we are still addressing issues of inequality, while also recognising the prominent and vibrant role played by women in society.
Celebrating International Women’s Day
Events such as the Women of the World festival pay tribute to talented female artists, creators and activists such as Malala Yousafzai, playwright Eve Ensler, and Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker (5). A similar event, the All About Women festival, was held in Sydney and attended by AIA NSW Legal Network researcher, Heather Wortes.
At the AIA NSW Legal Network, we decided to embrace Amnesty International’s roots in activism to celebrate IWD. Across several locations in the Sydney CBD, including Martin Place and the Queen Victoria Building, the AIA NSW Legal Network entered into dialogue with members of the public. We wanted to know what the people of Sydney thought about the major issues affecting women in society today.
So what did you think?
Overwhelmingly, domestic violence was the number one concern of almost everyone we talked to. The public had strong views on the potential causes of this threat to women’s wellbeing. Emma placed partial blame on the inability of women to feel secure when reporting incidents of domestic violence. She believed that improving police resources, particularly the availability of female officers and government sponsored support groups, will not only allow women to escape abusive partners, but also aid in their recovery after a period of emotional and physical abuse. Anthony* recognised that there is an unconscious bias in society, especially in terms of media coverage, that prevents domestic violence from being truly recognised as a problem. As a consequence, we do not understand the full extent of its seriousness.
Issues associated with the pay gap and women’s barriers to participation in the workforce were also of particular concern. Melanie suggested that a woman’s decision to have a child would often adversely affect her career. It was widely suggested that providing more flexible work options, and allowing women to embrace both motherhood and a career were important developments that had yet to take place. Tom and Michael took this a step further and discussed how employers often screen out women altogether during the application process, perhaps to avoid having to provide for maternity leave in the future. Tom studies law, and Michael studied business; both men have been troubled by the experiences of their female colleagues seeking employment after finishing university.
While the above issues are of particular significance in Australia, when prompted to consider global threats to women’s rights, issues of sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, and a cultural tendency towards sexism were widely discussed. One local woman took issue with the practise of forced marriages, especially between young girls and much older men. As a high school teacher, she taught young women who were pressured into these kinds of relationships, ultimately at a detriment to their self-esteem and educational prospects.
Over the course of IWD, we learnt a lot about what the everyday Australian considers are the greatest threats to women’s rights. We were thrilled that people took the time to tell us what they thought, and we are thankful for everyone that spoke to us on Tuesday afternoon. This article marks the end of a series of pieces discussing issues affecting women, which we produced to coincide with IWD. However, our research team will continue to focus on the issues raised by members of the public throughout our discrimination campaign.
References:
Munro, A 1999, Women, Work and Trade Unions, Mansel Publishing, London.
CWLU Herstory Archive 2016, accessed 10 March 2016 <https://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/CWLUArchive/interwomen.html>
University of Chicago 2016, accessed 10 March 2016 <https://iwd.uchicago.edu/page/international-womens-day-history>
International Women’s Day 2016, accessed 10 March 2016 <http://www.internationalwomensday.com/About>
International Women’s Day 2016, accessed 11 March 2016 <http://www.internationalwomensday.com/Activity/3626/WOW-Women-of-the-World-Festival-2016>
*Name changed for privacy reasons
