Prioritise plans to eradicate inhibitors to women’s progress
Saturday was International Women’s Day (IWD), an event which has been celebrated in honour of women for over a century now.
The history of the annual event in itself depicts the struggles of women in terms of men had tried over the years to make women play second fiddle to them.
Its beginning is connected to National Women’s Day which was first celebrated in February 1909 in the United States after which the Second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
At that conference, a women’s rights activist, Clara Zetkin, called for an international women’s day to give women greater voice to further their demands for equal rights.
Zetkin’s call was unanimously upheld and the day was first marked in March 1911 and the March 8 date fixed in 1913 to be marked annually, with the UN celebrating it for the first time in 1975.
Historically, all societies have been hostile to women and their progress at one time or another.
Women have been suffering bias, stereotypes and discrimination even untill today.
This state of affairs makes women find themselves suffering inequality which is attributed to their gender as females.
Women always imagine a gender-equal world, and so they are calling for that world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination, a world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive and one where difference is valued and celebrated.
Therefore, IWD is meant to celebrate women’s achievement; raise awareness about the discrimination against them and call for action to ensure gender parity.
It is a day to reflect on how to clear all inhibitors against women and their forward march.
Various events are organised in individual countries to mark the day, all in the name of calling attention to the need to end all manner of discrimination against women.
As it has been our culture for sometime now, our editorial today is dedicated to the cause of women and one calling on governments across the globe to pay particular attention to the women’s demands or issues because their fulfilment can enhance the wellbeing and welfare of women, with the impact being beneficial to families and the societies.
Unless society wants to ignore the reality, there should be no dispute that the survival of every society depends on women.
Besides being vessels that bring young humans into the earth for generations to come after others, they are home keepers and care-givers.
The roles played by women to make life meaningful and enjoyable for others are significant.
However, for their nature as the weaker vessels, males especially take them for granted to the extent that in a misogynistic or male-chauvinist society, they suffer hatred, contempt or prejudice, which usually stops them from achieving their potential and so continue to play second fiddle to men for survival to a very large extent.
We don’t dispute the argument that there have been progress with some women becoming presidents and vice presidents of nations and others holding enviable positions but more needs to be done.
That is to say that if females are given the opportunity, they can become giants in many fields of endeavour and bring numerous benefits not only for their personal development but also that of their families, communities and the country as a whole.
As the air of this year’s International Women’s Day is yet to fizzle out, (because the whole of March is a month for women’s issues), we wish women everywhere Happy International Women’s Day celebration.
