Today is the 99th anniversary, therefore the 100th observance of International Women’s Day.
Without question women in developed countries have made tremendous strides in Canada and other industrialized societies. Legislation prohibits overt discrimination, and few today would question our right to equal access to education, to public services and to opportunities. By and large, we no longer suffer open subjugation to men. But that doesn’t mean that we have achieved full equality.
While we make up more than 50% of the workforce, there is a persistent, and widening, pay gap between men and women. Occupations that are predominantly female – think clerical, early childhood educators – still pay, on average, a fraction of male dominated occupations. Female headed households typically have lower incomes, divorced and senior women are, on average, more likely to live in poverty than their male counterparts. Alberta has the dubious distinction of having the greatest disparity between men’s and women’s incomes in Canada.
We are more than 50% of post-secondary students, but are still under-represented in positions of power, including all levels of government.
We are four times as likely as men to be subjected to domestic and sexual violence, and still shoulder a disproportionate share of home work and child care, whether we participate in the workforce or not.
Some argue that these statistics reflect the choices that women make. For example, Naomi Lakritz, of the Calgary Herald writes that “Men are not preventing women from running for office; the women themselves are choosing not to”. While that may be technically correct, it ignores the reality that there are still considerable barriers, both financial and social, that hinder the full participation of women. Whether it is childcare, eldercare, finances or pervasive social norms, these barriers exist, whether or not Ms. Lakritz is aware of them.
Last week I was privileged to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women’s 54th annual meeting, where governments reported on the progress they have made toward gender equality. In one session I attended, I heard eight speakers, representing groups of countries with well over half the population of the world. Seven of the eight were men. They were not all from the developing world.
We no longer have to prove that women are ‘persons’. (In 1928 Canadian women did have to go to the Privy Council in England to be recognized as such) We no longer have to quit our jobs when we get pregnant. We can, indeed, participate in the political process, and some women have attained positions of considerable authority. The chief justice of Canada is a woman. We have had (very briefly) a female Prime Minister. “Hurricane” Hazel McCallion has been the mayor of Mississauga for over 30 years.
In my opinion, we will have achieved equality when a woman leader is no longer a notable anomaly; when pay equity is a reality everywhere, and our governments stop arguing that they cannot afford it; when high quality, affordable childcare allows every woman who chooses to participate in the workforce; when domestic and sexual violence is a rare aberration, and when we can be judged to be capable or incapable without reference to our gender.
Good for us - both men and women – that we have made tremendous progress toward equality. We are all enriched because of it. But we still have work to do, at home and in other parts of the world.
