International Women’s Day 2023

Why celebrate IWD?

IWD is a time to celebrate women’s achievements across the globe and also to remind ourselves and others of the work still to be done to achieve gender equality.

You may think we have achieved gender equality in the UK as women have the right to vote, work, marry who they like and receive an education, which is certainly not the case in all countries.

However, women in the UK are still experiencing discrimination daily for example:

• Only 8 of the UK’s top 100 companies are led by women
• UK women aged between 50-59 are paid on average 20.8% less than men of the same age
• 92% of young girls aged 13-16 experience sexist name calling ‘sometimes’ or ‘a lot’ in school

We still face regular gender stereotyping in the UK where women are expected to look, dress and act a certain way to be considered ‘feminine’. You might have experienced this yourself or have been told that you can’t or shouldn’t do certain things because of your gender. Phrases like ‘man up’ or ‘boys don’t cry’ or ‘you throw like a girl’ are examples of stereotyping which you can challenge or educate others on why phrases like this can be harmful.

Everyone can be athletic, strong, emotional or caring and pursue any hobby or career regardless of their gender and it is important to carry on calling out gender inequality and stereotypical behaviour.

How can we celebrate this year’s theme #EmbraceEquity?

Gender equity is all about how we can address the inequalities that limit women’s opportunities to access things like better health care, education and successful careers. Programmes and charities that focus on gender equity aim to level the playing field between men and women which will in turn lead us to gender equality. For example, there is a charity in the UK called ‘Elect Her’ which is designed to help women access and enter politics to help boost our female representation in places like the House of Commons, where two-thirds of MPs are currently men.

There are many things we can do to celebrate this year’s theme; you could do any or all of the following:

• Research and promote gender equity programmes to engage more girls and women
• Post a picture of yourself on social media with #EmbraceEquity
• Wear purple to show your support for women’s rights
• Read a book written by a female author
• Get your school involved by picking activities from this link here
• Share this article with someone!