As the world celebrates International Women’s Day tomorrow, 113 years after the first global commemoration, which was held on a different day (March 19), it remains more than a little concerning to note that gender parity – the term given to the statistical measurement of relative equality between men and women, including access to resources – is still some 130 years away. Worse yet, the gender gap in public life is even wider. It is estimated by the UN that global equality in leadership and power is 285 years off. Despite all of the progress made, it is unlikely that anyone alive today will see either of these goals met unless there are enormous investments beginning right now, as well as a complete upturn in the status quo.
In the midst of that dour contemplation, there was refreshing news from Versailles on Monday. France began the week of International Women’s Day by enshrining the right to abortion in its constitution with a yes vote by 780 of the 925 members of parliament and senators who were eligible to do so. It was also reported that 72 members voted nay; the other 73 either abstained or were absent.
The special joint vote of France’s two houses of Parliament was obviously timed to coincide with the significance of this week and tomorrow President Emmanuel Macron is expected to attend a ceremony to finalise the constitutional amendment; making for a true cause célèbre. The country has had a termination of pregnancy law in place since 1974, which, though criticised back then, has since been widely accepted. For this reason, though she voted yes, Opposition Leader Marine Le Pen dismissed Monday’s vote as a political stunt, which served no purpose. This is perhaps a peculiar reaction by a woman to a move that benefits women, but politics has proven to bring out the worst in people.
While in truth there was no outspoken challenge to France’s long-standing abortion law about 30 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, a significant number of whom are anti-abortion. Yes, the risk of what happened in the United States in 2022 – the overturning of Roe v Wade and elimination of women’s right to an abortion, that was in place for almost 50 years – was slim. But why take the chance? Who knows just how the world will turn in the next decade or two or ten?
The erosion of women’s rights and indeed the depreciation in democracy in the US between 2016 and 2020 was fortuitous, to put it mildly, as well as swift. Once that sequence of events began, it was impossible to halt the impetus. The domino effect created is ongoing even now. Any country that puts itself ahead of having to deal with such a mess can only be doing the right thing for all of its citizens, now and for posterity.
France’s move therefore is a mark of leadership that others should seek to emulate. This is particularly so, considering that just across the pond in Britain, a recent survey found that attitudes towards gender equality are polarised. The annual survey, undertaken by Ipsos, revealed that nearly half the population (47%) believe that “things have gone far enough” with regard to women having equal rights with men. This has risen from the 38 percent of people who held that same view in 2023.
While the outcome might be disheartening, and one wonders what might result from a similar survey in one’s own country, these studies are necessary as they reveal where the work needs to be done and just how uphill the task might be. The celebrations of ‘first woman to …’ are obviously necessary, but they can prove distracting. The fact is that there are millions more women standing in line behind that one, waiting to be second and third and so on until there is no longer any need to count. Spaces are being made for them only grudgingly and after much struggle. This should not be.
The famous quote ‘women hold up half the sky’, often attributed to the late founder of the People’s Republic of China Mao Zedong, is inherently true. There would be no world without women and vice versa. Why it will take another 200-plus years to acknowledge this fact in terms of economic participation and opportunity, financial well-being, political empowerment, educational attainment and access to health and human rights is a travesty. The theme for tomorrow’s celebration calls for the world to “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress”. It’s more than just a slogan at this point. It’s the honourable thing to do.
