Every year on 8 March International Women’s Day comes around and every man everywhere wants to know “why don’t we have an international men’s day?” or “why do you still need Feminism?" I think every feminist has a fight or flight moment in that case, do you stay and argue or do you walk away? Often I shamefully do the latter otherwise I think I would spend half of my life explaining why women still need feminism. Being a woman myself and involved in politics at the moment is incredibly difficult, I’m talked over, patronised and abused online on a daily basis, nevertheless I persist because I know that seeing women at the top will encourage more women to aim for the top. If I could only achieve one thing in politics it would be to encourage other young women to aim for positions of power where they can get their voices heard. International Women’s Day should be a day of celebration of all of the fantastic achievements by our sisters but also I think it is an important time to reflect on the reason why we need it in the first place. 10 reasons why the struggle continues... 1 – The gender pay gap is at 13.9% for full time workers. Meaning every year men earn more than women. Women therefore effectively work for free from 9 November every year. The gender pay gap exists due to discrimination (some men are paid more than women for the same work), unequal caring responsibilities, a divided labour market and men occupying the majority of top roles. 2 – More men called ‘John’ are CEOs of big companies than ALL women. It is estimated it will take around 70 years before we start seeing equality in number of women directors. 3 – In February 2017 domestic violence was partially decriminalised in Russia (as long as you don’t break any bones) giving men free reign to beat their wives and children. 4 – A woman had never polled above a man in the Labour Party leadership elections. Progress has been made to push women into leadership positions within the Labour Party through all woman shortlists and leadership programmes but we still have a long way to go. 5 – Women who choose to express their sexuality are called sluts and catcalled on our streets. 90% of British women have experienced being shouted at in the street because of how they look, what they’re wearing or simply because they are a woman. Statistics also show most women experience their first street harassment between the ages of 11-17. 6 – Men still believe that being asked to dress smartly for work is the equivalent of being forced to wear heels and lipstick as part of a sexist dress code. 150,000 signed a petition when a woman was sent home from work for refusing to wear heels in 2016. Wearing heels can cause foot pain, bunions, skin lesions, lower limb pathology and other related discomforts for the heel-wearer… but being asked to wear a tie is just as bad apparently. 7 – The wardrobe of women politicians is still the focus of media rather than their intelligence or political views. 8 – Approximately 85,000 women are raped in England and Wales every year. Although this figure is likely to be much higher as it is estimated only 15% of women experiencing sexual violence report this to the police. Leading on from that only around 8% of reports to police result in conviction, the woman in question is often then portrayed as a liar rather than looking at the failings in the criminal justice system. 9 – 2016 was the deadliest year on record in terms of trans-women being murdered with trans-women of colour being the target far more than any other category. Such statistics show the importance of intersectionality in the Feminist movement. 10 – 2 women in England and Wales are killed every week by a current or former partner. 1 in 4 women are abused by a male partner during their lifetime whilst 1 in 9 are severely abused every single year. Refuge charity is so important in supporting women who have suffered domestic violence. Let’s turn anger into action and if you can afford it consider giving them a small donation: http://www.refuge.org.uk. And our brilliant Young Labour women are walking for Refuge today too: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=YoungLabourWomen I want to spend today inspiring other women to champion feminism and celebrate the fantastic achievements of women around the world.
We sadly still have a long way to go before we can finally share equality with men.
1 Comment
Dots
3/8/2017 04:21:32 am
Laughable that International Women's Day now celebrates men who 'identify' as women, too.
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AuthorJasmin Beckett Archives
June 2017
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