This year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Since 1911 many advances in the position and rights of women have been accomplished by the hard work of both women and men. A hundred years ago women could only vote in a handful of countries. Now the position is reversed. Similarly dramatic improvements have been made in educational opportunities – women now outnumber men in worldwide university enrolments and graduation rates. (Although this hasn’t, so far, translated into wealth.)
Advances in professional and political opportunities for women are sometimes thought of as a preoccupation for western feminists alone. But that view might not be shared by the many women who have achieved high office in India’s banking sector, or by the women who now comprise the majority of MPs in Rwanda’s parliament.
But it is certainly true that it is generally outside the West where women encounter most hardship and discrimination. In Saudi Arabia women cannot drive or vote. In Liberia, even though its President is a woman, there are no laws against FGM. In Afghanistan only 6 per cent of over 25s have had any formal education. But that doesn’t stop some aiming high.
Finally – here’s a link to a thought-provoking interview about Arab feminism from the F-Word.
