International Women's Day: Celebrating women as they continue to march forward

A century ago, the world began to recognise the contribution of women to society. The International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated each year on 8 March in their honour. It is a major day of global celebration whereby women are acknowledged for their achievements regardless of divisions such as nationality, ethnicity, linguistic, culture, economic status or political leanings.

Numerous events are lined up not just on this day but throughout the month of March to celebrate women and appreciate their contributions to society all these years. Besides serving as an occasion to recall past hardships and triumphs, it also gives us the chance to look forward to the untapped potentials and opportunities that await the future generations of women.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, with the global theme selected by United Nations as “Equal Access to Education, Training and Science and Technology: Pathway to Decent Work for Women.”

For women across the globe, the symbolism of IWD holds a deeper meaning in their hearts. It offers them a chance to look back and see how far they’ve come in their never-ending struggle for equality, peace and development. Not only that, it also serves as a platform to unite, network and mobilise meaningful change.

Here in Malaysia, IWD has been celebrated by fighting violence against women. Seminars, exhibitions, and campaigns are among the few initiatives that have been carried out to raise awareness and to allow women to express their dissatisfactions against gender violence. Consequently, two noteworthy legal achievements have been made: one, the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act in 1996- Malaysia being the first country in South East Asia to legally recognize domestic violence as a crime; and two, the reforming of laws with regards to rape.

One of the events held this year in conjunction with IWD was the Stop Motion Project. Running by the tagline, “When does the violence begin?”, the project aims to end violence against women. This KL-based project also sees the participation of Michelle Tam, 22, a final year student of Communication and Media Management (CMM) at Taylor’s University. She mentioned that she’s always felt strongly about violence against women and is glad to finally be able to contribute towards ending, or at least reducing the severity of the problem.

“I want to challenge people to be more concerned with “When does the violence begin?” instead of picking up the pieces in the aftermath of abuse. Prevention is cure,” she stated.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant shift in both women’s and society’s perception regarding equal opportunity for women. Women nowadays have their own opinions and are eager to speak their minds, demanding to be heard. They want to be at the forefront, together with men, striving for more success and leading their nations to be more progressive.

But the sad truth is that women aren’t treated as their male counterparts in many parts of the world; they are not equally represented in business or politics, and internationally, women’s education and health are of poorer quality than that of men. The continued violence against them still has not seen an end to it.

Nonetheless, improvements have taken place. We now have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls being accepted into universities, women securing better job positions while having a family, and many more.

Even if the situation seems to be getting better, there is still much more that needs to be done to uplift women’s standard in society. Each individual out there has to play his or her respective role in ensuring that the future for women is bright, equal and safe.

(By Marie Erin)