3 issues you should advocate for on international women’s day that the future generation will thank you for.
Although we’ve come a long way from the labor movement to become an annual event recognized by the world. Nowadays, the day focuses more on celebrating the rights and how far women have come. While the foundation of the day means protests and campaigns organized to raise awareness of continued inequality, stereotypes, and discriminated treatments.
Hence, We continue to face daily problems, compromising all the hard work put into the walk we are taking, and no new solutions are being implemented. So in this day and age, what should women’s day be really about?
The day is celebrated differently in each country. However, certain factors remain the same. The day’s focal point doesn’t pivot around enforcing our rights, education about us and our lifestyles, and how it affects us living in this society. So, here are three main issues to advocate for on women’s day to change that.
- The integration of self-defense classes and programs in schools
Globally, an estimated 736 million women — almost one in three — have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30% of women aged 15 and older).
The UNwomen organization also reports that 81,000 women and girls were killed in 2020. Around 47,000 of them (58 %) died at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member, which equals to a woman or girl being killed every 11 minutes in their home.
Nothing says your rights more than the right to protect yourself. Ensuring the integration of self-defense classes and knowledge in our school systems is one of many ways to decrease the number of females dying from sexual violence, abduction for sex trafficking purposes, and more.
Will there be downsides? Yes, there will be, just like any system put into place. However, these numbers are outrageous and prove that the efforts and hard work into these issues are either ineffective or working against the goal.
2. Creating accessible campaigns or programs educating young women about sex, body positivity, and their rights.
While admiring the efforts of many schools and different programs that educate young and older women about sex. Additionally, these initiatives must provide this education with knowledge on body positivity and dive into the depths of the term “consent”.
The national organization for women has reported that 53% of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies” at age thirteen. This data grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen. Also, Studies at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts found that 70% of college women say they feel worse about their looks after reading women’s magazines.
Body positivity is one of the most common issues women struggle with, primarily rooted in a lack of education about their bodies. That results in young girls firmly believing in all types of stereotypes rather than educated facts.
Furthermore, the NSVRC shows forty percent of rapes and sexual assaults had been disclosed to the police in 2017. Yet, in 2018, only about 25% were. The numbers continue to decrease at a fast rate.
Very few women are aware of their rights and how to use these rights or take advantage of them in ways that would serve them justice. At a young age, women should know what the law asks of them in order to ask what is needed of the law. Because not knowing your rights is similar to not having any.
3. The availability of sanitary products for women at no cost.
As I mentioned earlier, enforcing knowledge about our lifestyles and how it affects us in society is prominent. A Female’s menstrual cycle is natural. It comes with the body we are born with, whether we want it or not.
One study in Obstetrics & Gynecology demonstrated that 64% of women worry about having difficulty affording menstrual products, such as pads, tampons, or reusable products like menstrual cups. And 21% reported that they could not afford these products every month.
Research shows that some 18 million adults said their household didn’t get enough to eat sometimes, data from late March 2021 show. Hardship by this measure skyrocketed with the onset of COVID-19 and its economic effects in spring 2020.
So if even today, so many families are struggling for basic necessities, why are women paying for sanitary products? Do we think these families need to not only worry about the lack of food or shelter but how to afford the luxury of items for human needs? Sanitary products shouldn’t be a luxury. No woman should have to worry about being unable to afford them.
International women’s day is indeed a day that reminds us of our progress as a society. Nonetheless, the correct way to celebrate it would be to ponder on the issues that we are facing nowadays and come as one to raise awareness on them. Once upon a time, a group of women stood up to patriarchy so we could enjoy the freedom we cherish today. To honor their courage and strength, we can only continue the fight. What are you advocating for today that the future generation will thank you for?
