Christine Stunder
“Women and men united to end violence against women and girls” is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), which will be celebrated Sunday around the world.
International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time in 1911, fueled by the women’s movement at the start of the 20th century.
“The great thing about International Women’s Day [is that] it’s not only for celebration, but it focuses attention,” James Dawson, professor of political science, said. “It’s a way of encouraging women and encouraging people to keep these thoughts foremost in their mind, and not just think that the problems have been solved.”
Some people do not think these problems can ever be solved.
“Just like racism will never stop, [violence against women and discrimination] will never stop. That’s just how things are,” said Shanek Johnson, child development major.
Even though people take this day to celebrate some of women’s achievements and women in general, creating awareness about women’s issues is one of the main reasons the day exists. While some people relate to this day, others think it is not necessary at all.
“I think it’s just an excuse to party, have fun and celebrate something that really… serves no purpose,” Pierce College student Erik Fresquez said.
In spite of the skepticism surrounding the day’s inten¬tions, there are numerous international women’s-rights issues to be addressed.
According to the United Nations, some of the biggest problems facing women today are female genital mutilation/cutting, killings in the name of “honor” and forced early marriage of young girls or adolescents.
“Women in many parts of the worlds are subject to more violence than men, and that’s really a terrible condition,” Dawson said. “In many countries, women are still subject to violence even by their families, honor killings and things like that. (Those things) still exist.”
Violence toward and abuse of women is dominant in developing countries because women are less independent than in industrialized nations.
“Any society that keeps its women down, it’s destined to stay poor because they’re wasting half of their population resource,” said Sheila Williams, professor of history and faculty adviser of the women’s studies department. “If you look at the parts of the world that treat women the worst, they are the poorest parts of the world.”
Education might be the most important thing to fight the problem. Women need to be educated in order to obtain more independence, which is one of the biggest accomplishments of Western societies.
“In the past, women had to have higher GPAs in order to go to pub¬lic post secondary schools and that was because society didn’t want to waste its money educating women that were just going to get married and have babies,” Williams said.
Another way society can attack the problem is by making sure there are enough laws that protect women against any kind of abuse.
“Law making is very important, and the enforcement of the laws. We need to make sure that our laws address the problem,” Dawson said. “We need to make sure that our laws are not gender biased, that there’s fair enforcement of the laws.”
Undoubtedly, awareness plays a crucial role fighting the issues and that is why days such as IWD and the events surrounding it need to be of international concern.
“Women have to make the first steps,” Pierce student Maricela Perez said. “I think we are doing it by going to school, taking the challenges and going through tough careers.”
There are organizations such as the American Association of University Women that promote equality and education for all women and girls by developing strategies and working with lawmakers to make sure all women have a fair chance.
According to the IWD Web site, more than one million women and men attended the first IWD meeting with rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.
This year, there are 731 IWD events in 49 countries on Sunday and throughout March. United Kingdom has the most with 216 events, followed by the United States with 146 events.
Pierce has no scheduled events to observe IWD.
———
stunder_roundupnews@yahoo.com
Full time students and mothers Yamileth Alvarez and Sonia Medrano study for a math test on the Los Angeles Pierce College mall February 26, 2009. (Aisha Ahal / Roundup)
