reclaiming rights on international women's day centennial

[niyad]

Reclaiming Rights on International Women’s Day Centennial
by Shiney Varghese

The year 2011 started with the news of food price hikes around the world pushing even more people, especially women, into hunger. But then along came images of women in Egypt in the forefront of a revolution to get rid of a government that has been in power for over 30 years! Victories such as the ones in Egypt are occasions for celebrating the strength and resilience of women even under the most oppressed circumstances, and their ability to defy prevalent stereotypes.

So, what will 2011, the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, bring for women?<1>

In the initial years, tragic events such as the "Triangle Fire" of 1911 (which killed more than 140 working women in New York City) became a focus of International Women's Day. Since its beginnings in Europe, International Women's Day has grown to become a day of recognition and celebration across the world. Drawing attention to the abject working conditions women faced, and to issues such as land rights and food security, domestic violence and trafficking in women, and at the same time expressing solidarity with sisters across cultures and regions, IWD has grown in strength and visibility.

Yet on this 100th anniversary, what is foremost in my mind are the continuing challenges that women and girls face. In least-developed countries, nearly twice as many women over age 15 are illiterate compared to men.<2> Girls account for two-thirds of children denied primary education, and 75 percent of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults are women.<3> And women and girls make up over 70 percent of the 1.3 billion people living on less than a dollar a day. They form the majority of the water poor and food insecure. Given that 75 percent of the poor live in rural areas, and that there is a gender dimension to rural-to-urban migration, it is safe to say that most of these women, living on less than a dollar a day, are in rural areas. It is their responsibility to eke out a living from their surrounding environment for themselves and any other family members dependent on them.

A little over 10 years ago it was estimated that “women work two-thirds of the world's working hours, produce half of the world's food, and yet earn only 10 percent of the world's income and own less than 1 percent of the world's property.”<4> I have not been able to find a comparable figure for women’s involvement in food production systems in this decade, even though the trends in seasonal and annual male migrations away from rural areas likely have increased women’s share of work in food production.
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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/08-10

[musette_sf]

1. K&R

[niyad]

2. thank you--that is an amazing graphic, and I thank you for sharing it