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International Women’s Day

Posted March 8th, 2016 at 3:09 pm (UTC-4)

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U.S. first lady Michelle Obama poses with young female students in front of the White House before an event to mark International Women’s Day, as part of the first lady’s Let Girls Learn initiative, in Washington, D.C., March 8, 2016.

With roots in the United States more than 100 years ago, International Women’s Day is is being celebrated around the world by acknowledging the many remarkable achievements by women and recognizing the all too many challenges still ahead.

While slightly fewer in numbers population-wise, women face greater inequities in many walks of life.

The 2016 theme is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality,” taking steps toward achieving gender parity by the year 2030. To that end, hashtags such as #PledgeForParity, #OneDayIWill, #SheInspiresMe and #LetGirlsLearn are trending on social media.

And the stories from women, prominent and anonymous, are inspiring the next generation to achieve the equality goal.

A Hidden Reality: Violence Against Women in Politics

Madeleine Albright – CNN

In Bolivia, Councilwoman Juana Quispe was pressured to resign after helping female colleagues file complaints of harassment. When she refused, other council members blocked her from attending sessions and suspended her from office. She was reinstated after a legal battle, but one month later her body was found dumped near a river in La Paz. She had been strangled.

The terrible reality is that one in three women will experience violence in their lives. Of those affected, an alarming but uncounted number of women are specifically targeted because they are engaged in public life. It is a pervasive but often overlooked barrier that prevents women across the world from having their voices heard. On International Women’s Day, we must call attention to this problem.

Of course, attacking anyone — male or female — for political reasons is abhorrent. But eliminating gender-based persecution is important because women in government can be counted on to raise issues that others overlook, to support ideas that others oppose, and to seek an end to abuses that others accept. And perhaps because of their growing ranks in politics, women across the world have experienced a backlash in person and online.

How Afghanistan Women Are Helping the Country Move Forward

Laura Bush – The Washington Post

Friba Hameed, 30, an Afghan police officer, poses for a photograph in front of a mural of herself, painted by an independent artist, outside the main gate of a police precinct to mark International Women’s Day in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 8, 2016.

Fifteen years ago, if you were a woman in Afghanistan, you could be beaten for laughing in public or if your shoes made noise. You could be beaten or killed for going out alone, unaccompanied by a male guardian. Covered by burqas, women became strangers. Waiting in bread lines in Kabul, they learned to recognize each other from the sound of their voices and the faces of male children with them. Today, one of those women, Nasima Rahmani, is a leading lawyer and educator, working toward her PhD.

And she is not alone. Women in Afghanistan are changing their lives and their nation. Fifteen years ago, barely 5,000 girls were enrolled in primary school. Soon that number will exceed 3 million. Thirty-six percent of teachers are women. Afghanistan’s first lady, Rula Ghani, has launched a project to establish a female-only university, run by women. In government, women hold 69 seats in parliament. There are four female government ministers and two female provincial governors. Thousands of women have started their own businesses.