Women’s Day goes beyond #MeToo
Demonstrations held around world to express pride, ramp up pressure
IROME n the era of #MeToo and Time’s Up, International Women’s Day arrived Thursday with a renewed sense of urgency.
For many women, there was a keen awareness of a major shift in the firmament when it came to gender parity, the treatment of women in the workplace and sexual dynamics.
But others — scratching out lives in developing countries in Africa, toiling away at jobs with little pay in Latin America or scrambling to raise children without help in the Middle East — most likely had little time left over to reflect on the day designated to celebrate “the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women,” and as a call to action, according to the website.
Nonetheless, Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner, said on Twitter: “There is a lot to fight for: Engage! Women and men alike. We need power to make equality a reality.”
Farida Nabourema, a rights advocate from the West African nation of Togo, tweeted: “Today I celebrate all the female activists that are being abusively detained by dictatorial governments all over the world and in #Africa more particularly. Your courage, dedication and empathy shall not be forgotten, and we will keep fighting with you and for you.”
Some women, fueled by impatience over the longrunning fight for equality and the sense that the glacial pace of change would just not do, found large and small ways to protest — with pots and pans, raised fists and howls of rage.
Strikes throughout Europe
To highlight gender inequality, feminist groups in Spain asked women to spend no money and to ignore chores for the day — to go on a “domestic” strike.
The newspaper El País posted a video explaining why it was not fully staffed: The women were away.
Hundreds of women gathered at midnight in Puerta del Sol, in the heart of Madrid, to kick off a day of protests across the country, with about 120 demonstrations scheduled later Thursday. Women banged pots and pans and shouted slogans during the protests.
The call for a strike went out in England, too, where a group called the Women’s Strike Assembly UK posted on social media: “Today #WeStrike! Wear red, bring an umbrella & join us.” And in France, where the pay gap is 25 percent, according to one paper, Libération, the day’s edition was sold with two prices: 2 euros for women, and 2.50 euros for men.
In Italy, marches were held in dozens of cities and women were also encouraged to strike. The Italian post office issued four stamps dedicated to the “Italian female genius.”
Defying Duterte in Manila
In the Philippine capital, women took to the streets and denounced President Rodrigo Duterte as among the worst violators of women’s rights in Asia.
Hundreds of activists sang and danced in a boisterous rally in Plaza Miranda, in central Manila, while handing red and white roses to the mothers, sisters and widows of those suspected of drug offenses who have been slain under Duterte’s brutal crackdown.
In India, where the gang rape of women and sexual assaults on young girls have brought anguish and soul searching, students, teachers and workers in the sex industry marched toward Parliament, demanding action against domestic violence, sexual attacks and discrimination in jobs and wages.
‘A revolution afoot’ in South Korea
More than 500 women’s rights leaders gathered in Seoul, vowing to keep up a #MeToo campaign that has gained steam in South Korea. Political leaders raced to join them to voice their support before elections scheduled for June to select mayors and provincial governors.
In central Seoul, feminist activists handed out white roses as a symbol of support for the movement. Nearby, hundreds of labor activists rallied and waved #MeToo signs.
Another group of female workers held a rally holding signs that said, “Stop at 3 p.m.” The wage gap between men and women was so wide in South Korea that women should stop working at that time to break even, they said.
Marching, despite the Taliban
When the Taliban ruled parts of Afghanistan, many women were too afraid to leave their homes. But on
Thursday, hundreds marched in Kabul, the capital, to remind their leaders that much work needed to be done to give Afghan women a voice, ensure their education and protect them from often brutal violence and an oppressive patriarchic system.
‘People are waking up’
For the second year in a row in Argentina, social activists called on women to mark the day with a strike — or at least to make some noise (dubbed ruidazo) in their workplaces at 11 a.m.
Cintia González, 35, joined about three dozen colleagues outside the Science Ministry to take part in what was effectively the warmup to a march that as expected to draw hundreds of thousands to downtown Buenos Aires.
“This isn’t a day to celebrate; we’re taking to the streets to demand equality and justice,” said González, a translator at the CONICET, the country’s leading scientific funding and research body.
The marches came days after a bill was presented in Congress that would legalize abortion. The centerright president, Mauricio Macri, surprised many by greenlighting the abortion debate in Congress even though he has expressed opposition to legalization.
In Mexico City, the Center for Digital Culture and Wikipedia Mexico summoned volunteers for an editing marathon to work on Wikipedia entries dedicated to extraordinary Mexican women in the fields of science, literature, music, sports, journalism and the arts.
More work to be done
A report released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute showed that when it came to wages, American women with graduate degrees made less money than men with only college degrees.
In Denmark, women spent far more time than male partners on household chores, according to a study by the Danish Employers’ Association for the Financial Sector.
And in Central African Republic, women were still fighting for their daughters to get a good education and to start businesses in a country with the world’s second-highest rate of child marriage.