International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day is not only a day of celebration, but also a time to think and reflect on the journey that is still ahead of us in the pursuit of national and global equality.
It would be easy, comforting even, to put our feet up and pat ourselves on the back for what we have already accomplished in the fight for gender equality. But to do so would be an injustice to the 496 million illiterate women around the world, to the 12 million girls under the age of 18 are married off and to the 137 women who will be killed today alone by someone in their family or by their partner.
We are very lucky in the UK to have access to the quality education that we have, however this isn’t the case around the world, as a huge number of girls involuntarily drop out of school before even reaching secondary school.
As you can imagine, this has an impact on their lives. Girls who do not complete school are more likely to live a life of extreme poverty; they miss out on vital knowledge that affects all areas of their life - from how to protect their sexual health to how to defend their human rights.
One study found that non-literate women were four times more likely to believe that HIV could not be prevented. Without an education, any girl would struggle to protect herself and fully take control of her life. It is easy to claim that as individuals we cannot make a difference to those astounding statistics, but our education is a weapon that we can and should use to change the world.
We should be fighting for those who have no fight left in them, for those who have never been taught that they are worth fighting for. Our hearts should hurt for the women around the globe who have never had anyone tell them that they are valuable and priceless.
The theme for International Women's Day 2023 is #EmbraceEquity. This theme focuses on creating an equitable and inclusive world that is free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. It asks that people worldwide join together to build equitable communities.
The 2023 theme embraces the idea that the world can celebrate diversity and value women through inclusive action.
Be sure to check out mystudentlife.co.uk/IWD to find out more about this event and any campus based events for this day.