International Women's Day

“Women make up more than half of the world’s population and potential, so it is neither just nor practical for their voices, for our voices, to go unheard at the highest levels of decision-making.”- Meghan Markle. The world remains unsafe for women and girls. As the international community pauses to observe International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, 2023 we must remember those women whose lives have been taken away by a patriarchal system which remains intact in every society. One name which we should never forget is that of Mahsa Amini. The 22 year old Miss Amini was killed in September of 2022 while in custody by the morality police of Iran. Iran's so-called morality police have been documented to have used threats of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and how they behave in public. Interestingly, men in Iran are not policed by any morality police. One can logically argue that morality then is only an issue women face in Iran. Additionally, there was also the recent poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran. News entities reported that the poisoning began in November in the holy Shi’ite Muslim city of Qom and spread to 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces, prompting some parents to take children out of school and protest. It must be noted that for the first time since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 schoolgirls have joined the protests after the death of Amini. Some activists have accused the Iranian government of the poisoning in revenge. Iran is a Middle Eastern country which has a theocracy as a form of government. Gender discrimination and misogyny continue all across the globe. The country has a Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The voices of women are muted in many societies. International Women’s Day takes on a different atmosphere in societies where women are invincible. Here in Jamaica we recall with horror the rape and murder of 9 year old Nikita 'Jojo' Noel who was found dead in Kew district, Lucea in the parish of Hanover. International Women’s Day is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contribution of women. The United Nations (UN) theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. This theme is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67), “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. Cybercrime As the international community tries to bridge the digital divide as this relates to women we must be conscious that women are most vulnerable regarding certain aspects of cybercrime. The Council of Europe states that cyber violence is an increasing problem worldwide especially since the Covid-19 pandemic and is often gender-based and targeting women and girls. Cyber violence limits the full realization of gender equality and violates women’s rights. Violence against women including in an online environment can take many forms: cyber harassment, revenge porn, threats of rape, and can go as far as sexual assault or murder. Cyber violence affects women disproportionately, not only causing them psychological harm and suffering but also deterring them from digital participation in political, social and cultural life. Deepfakes use a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to create images of fake events. People viewing explicit images of you without your consent whether those images are real or fake is a form of sexual violence, said Kristen Zaleski, director of forensic mental health at Keck Human Rights Clinic at the University of Southern California. The United Nations states that the observance of IWD recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. IWD 2023 will explore the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. The event will also spotlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces and address online and information and communications technology (ICT) facilitated gender-based violence. The UN argues that by bringing women and other marginalized groups into technology this results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality. Women’s lack of inclusion, by contrast, comes with massive costs. Women’s exclusion from the digital world has shaved $1 trillion from the gross domestic product of low- and middle-income countries in the last decade a loss that will grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025 without action. Reversing this trend will require tackling the problem of online violence, which a study of 51 countries revealed 38 per cent of women had personally experienced. Genesis of International Women’s Day International Women's Day, also known as IWD for short, grew out of the labour movement to become a recognized annual event by the United Nations (UN). The seeds of it were planted in 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman's Day. The idea to make the day international came from a woman called Clara Zetkin, communist activist and advocate for women's rights. She suggested the idea in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, Denmark. There were 100 women there, from 17 countries, and they agreed on her suggestion unanimously. It was first celebrated in 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The centenary was celebrated in 2011, so this year we're technically celebrating the 111th International Women's Day. Things were made official in 1975 when the United Nations started celebrating the day. The first theme adopted by the UN (in 1996) was "Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future". International Women's Day has become a date to celebrate how far women have come in society, in politics and in economics, while the political roots of the day mean strikes and protests are organized to raise awareness of continued inequality. Gender Responsive Approach Needed A gender-responsive approach to innovation, technology and digital education can increase the awareness of women and girls regarding their rights and civic engagement. Advancements in digital technology offer immense opportunities to address development and humanitarian challenges, and to achieve the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals. Unfortunately, the opportunities of the digital revolution also present a risk of perpetuating existing patterns of gender inequality. Growing inequalities are becoming increasingly evident in the context of digital skills and access to technologies, with women being left behind as the result of this digital gender divide. The need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education is therefore crucial for a sustainable future. Gender Mainstreaming As the international community observes International Women’s Day we must continue to show solidarity to the women of Afghanistan who have been barred from accessing an education by an all-male government. The international community must continue to engage and pressure the Taliban regime in order for the government to reverse this order which prevents girls from age 12 from attending school. Achieving gender equality requires deliberate work. It is ludicrous to believe that a country can attain sustainable development by constructing obstacles to their empowerment and achievements. Gender mainstreaming has been embraced globally as a strategy towards realizing gender equality. It involves the integration of a gender perspective into the preparation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures and spending programmes, with a view to promoting equality between women and men, and combating discrimination. Gender mainstreaming requires both integrating a gender perspective to the content of the different policies, and addressing the issue of representation of women and men in the given policy area. Gender equality cannot be achieved by excluding men from the process and narrative concerning gender relations. A meeting of the minds of both sexes is required in order to foster a culture of gender equality and provide the necessary legislative framework to safeguard women. Let us be reminded that progressive governments are those that pursue policies and programmes in which gender equality is at the core of such development. On this International Women’s Day let us stand in solidarity with our women. In the words of Maya Angelou, each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #IWD #InternationalWomensDay #genderequality #Jamaica #embraceequity