Today is International Women’s Day. There will be a fair number of people posting “Happy Women’s Day”. I won’t do that. Because, is it happy? There will be those that question “wHy Do wE nEeD a DaY fOr WoMeN? wHeRe’S mEn’S dAy?” I hope those people take the time to read this.

Women have, historically and in the present, faced severe discrimination.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was denied a clerkship due to her gender. In 1960.

Until the 60s, American women weren’t allowed to open their own bank account. British women didn’t have this privilege until 1975.

Until 1978 women could be fired because they got pregnant.

Until 1993 Senate doorkeepers enforced a code that didn’t allow women to wear pants in the Senate.

I encourage you to look up further barriers women face even in the developed world. These statistics simply get worse as you move from the developed world to the developing world. Female infanticide, rape, murder, denying access to education. These are things that still happen around the world. In 2022.

This Women’s Day, I hope you will take time to meditate on these issues and how you can make a positive difference.
#iwd202

Aakash Desai, Deputy Mayor of Grey Hghlands