International Women’s Day coverage:
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- Parity push continues
- Women break conventions in male-dominated industries
- Dr Humsha Naidoo reflects on IWD 2017 theme
- Breakfast for a cause in Bendigo
- Never apologise for who you are, young leader says
- Bendigo women in the spotlight at 2017 Zonta IWD dinner
- Lou Bennett named in 2017 Victorian Honour Roll of Women
Today, we celebrate HERstory. The stories of women and girls – their strengths, diversity, adversity and resilience. And, we proudly celebrate their victories
Yet, we also reflect on some of those victories – and ask why indeed, should women have ever been in a position to fight for them. It is with respect and admiration we honour those women who fought for the right to vote; the freedom to use birth control; for women to be represented in parliament and acknowledged as decision makers.
We honour those women who fought for the right to have property in their name, and for those who campaigned that discrimination against a person because of their sex, marital status, or pregnancy should be illegal. We honour those women who saw the need for refuges and support for women and children fleeing violent homes. And we honour those women who each and every day continue to fight the inequality that comes with their gender.
Today is International Women’s Day – and the 2017 theme is Be Bold For Change.
It is as critical now as it was before, that we continue to challenge every day attitudes towards women.
We continue to live in a world where patriarchy, sexism and misogyny exists – where women are still unable to participate equally in society.
Women deserve equal pay, yet the gender pay gap is 23.1 per cent and a woman’s average superannuation balance at retirement is 52.8% less than a man’s.
Women should be able to walk alone, wherever they are – yet eight out of 10 women aged 18 to 24 were harassed on the street in the past year.
Women should feel safe, yet almost one woman a week is murdered by someone she has been intimate with or has known. Many others live in fear, daily.
Today is a day to celebrate all that women contribute to their families, friends, communities, workplaces and globally. A day to celebrate the achievements of women across all sectors. But it is also a day when women across the world stand united in a call to action for being bold for change.
We need to create a culture where women and men feel equally valued, included and able to contribute based on their skill sets, free of gender-based judgement and discrimination – and start taking action to achieve this.
Nicole Ferrie, editor