The Time is Now!

International Women’s Day 2018:
The Time is Now!
March 8, 2018 is International Women’s Day.
In 1908, woken workers marched through the streets of New York City raising their demands for voting rights, better pay and shorter working hours.
In 1910, Clara Zetkin leader of the women’s office of the German Social-Democratic Party proposed that ever country celebrate International Women’s Day to push for the demands of women.
In 1911, more than one million women, celebrated International Women’s Day on March 19 in several European countries and Australia. Their banner: Forward to Female Suffrage!”.
In 1913, International Women’s Day was moved to March 8, the date was recognized by the United Nations and is celebrated worldwide since 1975.
This year the UN’s Theme for International Women’s Day is The Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”. This is a celebration of the rural and urban activists who have transformed the lives of women around the world whether in local grassroots campaigns or global movements for the Rights of Women and a more equal future.
Where are we 110 Years after New York
When the women took to the streets of New York their demands were for:

• The Right to Vote
• Better Pay
• Shorter Working Hours.

Women’s Suffrage
More than a century later, we mark the centenary of Women’s Suffrage in the UK though with property limits, women’s right to vote was introduced in the People’s Representation Act of February 6, 1918.
Today, there are still a few countries in which women still have to demand “universal female suffrage without qualifications” as was raised in 1907 at an International Conference of Socialist Women in 1907.
The Right to Vote and to participate in governance as candidates and representatives is still to be universally achieved.
The Issue of Pay
The demand of women, not just for better, but equal pay with men for the same job is still yet to be achieved in most of the world’s countries.
The World Economic Forum estimated in 2017 it could still take another 100 years before pay inequality disappears. It was analysed that women work “for free” for at least 51 days a year because of the pay gap.
At the start of this year, a new law making it illegal to pay women less than men came into effect.
But too many countries are still lagging and paying women substandard pay and denying pay equality.
Shorter Working Hours
The demand for shorter working hours was taken up by workers, women and men, all over the world and the standard of the 40-hour work week and 8-hour day was won almost everywhere.
There are ongoing battles as employers, including Governments, have been pushing measures to extend working hours using various subterfuges.
In all these 3 demands, in 2018, the Time Is Now for them to be met.
THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY AND AGAINST VIOLENCE
The fight of activists to transform women’s lives has been broader then the initial demands of 1908.
The Fight for Equality and Against Gender-based Violence is an important part of the global movement for women’s rights, equality and justice.
Much has been said about women taking up leadership roles, about ‘breaking the glass ceiling” and the like. However, on a global scale only a relative few countries are led by women. In business, in the US for example, it is estimated that women hold only 14% of executive leadership positions.
In many trade unions, right here in T&T, where the workplaces represented have a majority of women workers, the union leaderships still don’t reflect the membership in the number of women leaders.
The myths about leaders (men) being born and the ‘newness’ of leadership for women are part of the ideological apparatus of women’s oppression and supporting inequality.
Leadership is skill and art. There is no genetic proclivity to either skill or art in my view. So, leadership being natural to either males or females is itself a myth. Things might get more complex but no les mythical if we apply current definitions of "gender" based on sexual orientation or preference. This "more natural leader" fallacy is part of the outlook and argument in support of male chauvinism and oppression of women.
In 2018, the Time Is Now to debunk all this gender stereotyping and stop the denial of leadership roles for women in every aspect of social activity.
Much worse, the cycle of violence against women, of abuse that is violent, criminal, psychological, financial or otherwise continues.
It is only in our murder statistics that women are occupying space resembling parity. This is not an achievement. It is a stain on the quality of our society that we continue, and increasingly so, to unleash the most savage violence against women.
The Time Is Now to step up our activism and put a halt to violence against women and girls.
CELEBRATE, BUT ORGANISE
On this International Women’s Day, while we celebrate women.
We must also Step Up the Fight for equality and justice for women. We must all Press for Progress in giving a guarantee to the Rights of Women – economic, social, political and all other rights.
This is part of the fight to establish a social and political order that guarantees the rights of all.
Just last Sunday, on one radio station, from morning to evening, the talk shows all focused on the reflections of the rapid degeneration in our social order reflected in the violence unleashed against our women and children.
This decay must be stopped and now.
We must all stand up and demand changes in our social order to guarantee the safety and security of every member of society, particularly the most vulnerable.
As one psychologist pointed out on Sunday we can trace the beginnings of the criminal culture and the failure to provide our young people with the support and protection they need in the way things have been done or not done over the last few decades.
At its core, the cause of the social and moral decay, of the continuing inequality and injustice for women is the cause of the general crisis in our society.
It is to be found in the very structure of the economic arrangements and in the governance arrangements including the political and electoral processes which deny the majority of members of our society from any real decision-making power and puts everything in the service of the interest of a small and diminishing minority.
The Time Is Now to get to the root cause of the destruction of our natural and social environments.
Everyone, every member of society, must become real activists for analyzing the situation and making Analysis with Action,
Whether it is empowering our women, in the towns or countryside, giving guarantee to women’s rights, equality and justice, we cannot leave things up to others. We must become activists for the Rights of All and for a Society that Guarantees the Rights of All its Members.
For International Women’s Day 2018 the Time Is Now to Get Up, Stand Up and Get Involved in the Fight for the Future We Desire.
 
Clyde Weatherhead
March 7, 2018