International Women’s Day March 8th 2016

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International Womena��s DayA�

celebrates female achievement across the globe.

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Activists around the world are rallying to lobby for womena��s causes, from equal pay to domestic violence and access to birth control.

International Women’s Day recognises women’s achievements and highlights the continued struggle for equal rights and equality for women. As the birthplace of women’s suffrage in the UK, Manchester has always been at the heart of the women’s movement. We’ve been celebrating International Women’s Day for more than 25 years.

 

The 2016 theme for International Womena��s Day is

a�?Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equalitya�?.

 

SomeA�of the things they would like to changeA�are:

  • By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes.
  • By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood developmentA�so that they are ready for primary education.
  • End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
  • Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
  • Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

A young persons view on why we celebrate International Women’s Day:A�

http://www.smrt.bristol.sch.uk/index.php/bbc-school-report-2014/1056-what-is-international-women-s-day-and-why-do-we-celebrate-it

“On the 8th March every year, people all over the world celebrate International Womena��s Day and have done ever since 1991. It is a day when we celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women all over the globe. It is important to do this as in the past women have been seen as inferior to men and have not been given significant jobs, as they were treated as property of their husband and expected to just work around the house. This means that lots of womena��s accomplishments that would have been greatly celebrated if they were done by a man were overlooked, because women were not supposed to have jobs in areas such as parliament, science and law.

In the past women have not always be treated as equally as they are now. Women in Britain were not given the right to vote until 1918! Lots of very strong women stood up to gender stereotypes for example, people like the suffragettes who fought for womena��s right to vote. On International Womena��s Day we say thank you to all the women in the past that fought for what we have now. Although we have come a long way we still have a long way to go for people to accept that we should all be equal.

Although in the UK lots of womena��s fights are already won, in other parts of the world, like Africa, women do not have the same rights or laws protecting them. Young girls are subject to early marriage and sexual abuse, and it is seen as ok in their society. International Womena��s Day supports charities that help women in less fortunate countries speak out about their situations and have a voice.

The world in constantly evolving, but some of our views of women have stayed the same, as well as the way they are treated. Women are treated differently to men and are valued less in lots of aspects of life. One place where this happens is in parliament. There are 28.5 million women in the UK compared to only 27.6 men . However there are only 148 women MPa��s out of 650 seats . This shows that women are not taken as seriously in parliament as men are. A statistic shows on average, full-time working women earn just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns . So on average women are valued less at work.

Men and womena��s view of women’s rights and status influence how women see themselves in society. But another thing that is very influential is how the media shows women. In magazines like vogue women are shown as very thin and flawless. This can affect womena��s body image as well as how they value themselves. For example 80% of women who answered a People magazine survey responded that images of women on television and in the movies make them feel insecure . Another thing that the media do that negatively influences the way women value themselves, is how media portrays womena��s characteristics. In TV programmes and films women are predominantly shown to have passive roles that use stereotypes of women. Also in lots of TV programmes and films the female characters are show as victims with the male character as their saviours. This can be bad for men as it could make them feel as though they have to be tough and cannot show their sensitive sides. Also this can influence young girls to think that they cannot stand up to men, which may increase their chances of getting into abusive relationships.

International Womena��s Day is a very important and positive day as it celebrates womanhood and womena��s achievements. In many countries it is a day where men show that they are thankful for the women in their lives. International Womena��s Day should be celebrated by all, as everybody should learn to think of everyone as equal and not let gender stereotypes influence their views. International Womena��s Day should be about celebrating how far we have come and what women in the past have achieved. Furthermore it is about promoting strong female role models so that young girls value themselves more. Finally it should be about motivating us to strive for gender equality all over the world”.

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3 ways to get involved on International Womena��s Day:

-Attend an event: several organisations are hosting events and activities for IWD http://www.internationalwomensday.com/events

-Share content online and join the hashtags #IWD2016A�A�A�http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

-Donate to a local womena��s charityA�http://www.manchesterwomensaid.org/

 

 

 

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