As Women’s International Day celebrates its silver anniversary after 25 years, we look at what’s changed for women in this space of time. How much more needs to be done?
There’s no doubt that feminist movements such as the suffragette movement, perhaps the most famous of all, have substantially improved the lives of women in the Western world. Let’s remember that a mere century ago, women were unable to vote. In terms of laws, women have continued to break free from the shackles of oppressive regulation for over a century. There is the Gender Equality Act 2010, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and The Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005 to name a few. But why are we still fighting for equality?
The Equal Pay Act was introduced in 1970 to combat the imbalance in women and men’s salaries - but 45 years later, the pay gap remains. It was highlighted that from 4 November 2014, women effectively worked for free for the rest of the year because of unequal pay; this amounted to 57 days – 3 more than in 2013. On average, women earn £2.53 less than men.
The Everyday Sexism project was set up by Laura Bates in 2012, initially on Twitter followed by regular columns in The Guardian and a book, to highlight both the overt and covert sexism women receive on a daily basis. The social media account boasts more than 40,000 tweets from women sharing their experiences of harassment and sexism.
Currently, only 22% of national parliament members are women, double the figure in 1995. While it’s clear the situation has improved and more women have been able to progress into leadership roles, there’s still a huge imbalance in powerful roles worldwide.
Gender equality campaigns and movements continue worldwide today in 2015; UN ambassador and renowned actress Emma Watson used her position as not only a role model but an international personality to launch the #HeForShe campaign, encouraging men to support the feminist movement. Recently, Afghan men have donned burqas to support a women’s rights march in Kabul. Today, a campaign was launched to end rampant sexism in football.
At NCFE we firmly believe in gender equality; our workforce is not only balanced, but we have a number of women in management roles. Gender equality should be embedded from an early age and children should not be inhibited from following their dreams, no matter how masculine or feminine they are perceived to be. Barriers placed in front of children due to their gender need to be eliminated, and we hope one day soon to see a society where both women and men thrive equally.
We believe women should have the same educational options as men; there are more career options for women than hairdressing or beauty therapies. The STEM sector is rapidly growing, and this could be an opportunity for women to really cement their place in a role not necessarily equated with femininity. It’s about breaking down barriers and stereotypes. If you’re looking to embed this in your curriculum, we offer Equality and Diversity qualifications that not only educate learners on gender equality, but also include race, sexuality and a number of other areas in which discrimination can be evidenced.
