Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, and unlike the American World Series, it’s actually an international event.
This year’s theme is “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030.” Work and access to economic opportunity remains a tremendous problem on planet earth, only 50% of working age women are represented in the labor force globally, compared to 76% of men. Many of those women are stuck working in the informal economy, without access to credit, education or property and other fundamental economic rights.
Fortune‘s Linda Kinstler has a look at how countries around the globe will mark International Women’s Day. Celebrations will vary wildly, from the political to the delightful. Women in Ireland will be striking in protest of the eighth amendment of the Irish Constitution, which bans abortion. In Italy, women will enjoy free access to museums and cultural institutions which have planned special exhibits designed to “celebrate the feminine world.” Where Russian men will be dashing about to plan extravagant celebrations for the women in their lives (I’ll let you make the Putin jokes,) in the Gaza strip, Hamas authorities have canceled plans to give students a day off even though the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has declared the day a public holiday.
Many Indian women have been using the days leading up to the holiday to share stories of the constant threats of rape, harassment, and abuse that are destroying their lives and their ability to work. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, a popular actress in the Tamil film industry, spoke publicly about being harassed at work and at public events, and the conditions that women film stars constantly face – groped and molested at film premieres and events, and in one high profile case, kidnapped and raped. Sarathkumar is using the holiday to kickstart a campaign to help protect women who work in film.
“You’re conditioned not to speak about these things. I think it’s time we start standing up for ourselves. When you hear about stories that keep happening to other women, it’s a bit too much, it’s getting worse these days. I think it’s about time we did something about it,” she said.
To capitalize on this year’s theme, tomorrow is also A Day Without A Woman, an effort organized by the same group that planned the wildly successful Women’s March on Washington. The rallying cry sounds simple: by removing themselves from the economy for one day – no paid or unpaid work or spending – the world will see the vital role women play.
But that effort has also been correctly critiqued as being a luxury that only a few can afford, a symbolic effort that dismisses the fraught lives of the truly vulnerable. The critique is reminiscent of the longstanding tension between white women and women of color when they attempt to organize together; women of color have often felt that the unique intersections of race and class are routinely misunderstood by white feminist organizers. But the work continues. As the organizers noted on their website, “Many women in our most vulnerable communities will not have the ability to join the strike, due to economic insecurity. We strike for them.” To accommodate those women who cannot exit the economy, people are encouraged to wear red.
What do you have planned? Please share your story with me or with my sister newsletter editor, the powerful Kristen Bellstrom at [email protected]. You can sign up for her always excellent Broadsheet, here.