On Friday the 8th of March 2019, women all around the world will be celebrating international women's day. It's a day that celebrates the social, cultural, economic and political achievments of women. The campaign theme for this year is #balanceforBetter and the aim is to build a gender-balanced world.
Throughout history these types of achievments would not have been possible as women suffered discrimination both at home and at work. Women had no legal rights of today and there was a long road ahead to fight for the priveldges awarded to men.
The turn of the century saw the womens movements fighting for rights to vote, these groups where called the suffragettes. They took to the streets to raise awareness and fight for women right, some women were jailed and some even died in the process. By the end of the 19th century many countries had granted the right to vote to women over 21. After the great war in 1918 women over the age of 30 where allowed to vote and in 1928 women gained the right to vote at 19.
So how has things changed for women in the last century? Gender equality is still an important issue that is being highlighted throughout the world today and we still have a long way to go until we can say men and women are equally balanced and represented, especially in the work place. The glass ceiling index is a chart that illustrates the best and worst places for women to work and highlightes the disparities of men and women in top flight positions. In 2017 Britain ranked 25th which was under the OECD (Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development) average.
How can Britain improve? 10 years ago Norway introduced compulsory quotas to organisations to reserve 40% of their boardroom seats to women or face fines, dissolved or banned from paying existing directors. Other countries to follow where France and Italy however Britain only provided "guidelines". (Economist, 2018) The global goals is a set of 17 goals set by the United Nations Assembly to tackle global issues such as poverty, hunger and gender equality by 2030.
Can education help? Traditionally women would be encouraged to stay at home to look ater the family home and in some countries they would be completely restricted from gaining an education. There are over 781 million illiterate adults worldwide and over two thirds of these are women, this has a devastating impact on their human rights and ability to make choices about their health and well being.
Social media has created solidarity in the past few years with campaigns such as #metoo #HeForShe #timesup. Women are being actively excluded from managerial and boardroom positions and we need to remain visible to be taken seriously. We have a long way to go until men and women are equal in Britain, we need to break down barriers and mindsets and prove that we are just as capable in the boardroom as men.