International Womens’ Day: More progress for our daughters?

Today marks the 100^th anniversary of the International Women’s Day.

Never heard of it? Well here’s a quick history of the day courtesy of The Associated Press:

“It was discrimination against women that brought over one million women and men from the socialist movement onto the streets for rallies in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on what was originally called International Working Women’s Day on March 19, 1911.”

“The day became popular in Eastern Europe, Russia and the former Soviet bloc, and eventually spread around the globe. In some regions, it lost its political flavor and became an occasion for men to express their love for women with candy and flowers while in other regions, women’s struggle for human rights and political and social equality remained the focus.”

“In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day. Two years later the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a day for women’s rights and international peace. This year, events are being held in many countries to mark the 100th anniversary.”

So how far have women come? Here is a quick summary from the same article:

” ‘The last century has seen an unprecedented expansion of women’s legal rights and entitlements,’  said Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, pointing to virtually universal voting rights for women, major inroads for women in professions from which they were banned, laws penalizing domestic violence in two-thirds of the world’s nations, and U.N. Security Council recognition of sexual violence as a deliberate tactic of war.”

“But Bachelet, who became the first executive director of UN Women in January, said that despite this progress, ‘the hopes of equality expressed on that first International Women’s Day are a long way from being realized.’ ”

“Girls are still less likely to be in school than boys, almost two-thirds of illiterate adults are women, and every 90 seconds a woman dies in pregnancy or due to childbirth-related complications despite the knowledge and resources to make births safe, she said, and women continue to earn less than men for the same work and have unequal inheritance rights and access to land.”

“Despite some high-profile advances, Bachelet said, only 28 women are heads of state or government and just 8 percent are peace negotiators. Last week, the Inter-Parliamentary reported that while the number of women in legislatures reached an all-time high of 19.1 percent in 2010, “the target of gender balance in politics is still a distant one.”

(The Huffington Post did a 20-page slide show with world and political leaders that are women and I was actually pretty impressed with how many there are. Here is the link to the slide show. The Huffington Post also has a slew on columns from women on the topic.)

“Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, said equal rights are advanced when girls can avoid child marriage and enjoy equal access to education, both men and women can plan their families, and pregnant women no longer fear losing their jobs.”

(I read that quote fast originally and I thought it said when girls can avoid marriage  — and I thought that was a little negative but now rereading I see “child” marriage. I get why that would be good.)

What progress for women have you seen in your lifetime? What else do you think needs to happen? What else needs to change for our daughters to be happy, healthy and successful? Is this battle even about women in the United States and other industrialized countries anymore or is this all about women in the third world?

(Sorry I was late getting a topic up today. Michael and Lilina’s shared birthday was yesterday so I was working on birthdays. My “baby” turned 4! Holy cow.)