How Women’s Equity Can Make Democracy Stronger
A Day Without Women is a call to action for gender parity
Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a segregated Montgomery, Alabama bus in protest. She was tired of giving in to discrimination. Her actions inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott which, through financial and legal actions, propelled the civil rights movement forward.
Today, in over 30 countries including the United States, women are striking. In years past, March 8 (International Women’s Day) has been a day of global celebration and awareness for gender parity (social, economic, cultural, and political). The strike is an extension of this day that international organizers are describing as “a day of action organized by and for women who have been marginalized.” A stronger, more reflective democracy is only achieved when women are part of the equation.
A stronger, more reflective democracy is only achieved when women are part of the equation.
Women around the world are tired of being marginalized. Despite making up 51% of the world’s population, women struggle to reach parity in their community, workplace, and in politics. Issues like public safety, education, national security, and health care are issues where women should have a strong voice at the decision-making tables but systemic barriers keep them on the sidelines.
As the nation recovered from the economic recession in 2008, more women entered the workforce to support their families. According to the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, 57% of women are in the labor workforce. Six in 10 women (62.4%) occupy the part-time labor workforce, which often means they have limited access to benefits and likely receive lower wages.
Women occupy a majority of many “traditional” fields. Women represent an overwhelming majority in occupations like nursing (90%), secretaries (94%), and preschool teachers (97%). While these are considered traditional occupations for women, they often play an integral role in our healthcare, social, and workplace community. Unfortunately, even in fields where women dominate, the wage gap persists. In 2014, the Women’s Bureau reported that full-time women earned 22% less than men — roughly 78 cents for every $1.
Women are most affected by the environment. The United Nations 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action states that “women have an essential role to play in the development of sustainable and ecologically… natural resource management.” Women are often the first impacted by negative environmental changes. As we have painfully learned from the Flint water crisis, safe drinking water and sanitation are not only issues that impact communities in the developing world. Toxins in the air or water can create health risks for mother and child. And when women lack access to land, it limits their ability to provide food or income for their family.
More women are needed in elected office. The United States ranks 104th for gender parity for elected office, with less than 20% of the seats in Congress being held by women. Representation2020 reports that in the last 25 years increased representation of women in politics has inched along slowly. While more women are being trained, many of the electoral structures across the U.S sustain institutional barriers that keep women’s representation under 25% at the local and state level. In recent years, the major political parties have adopted gender parity rules for internal positions, yet these rules are not applied to how parties and PACs fund candidates.
International Women’s Day is an opportunity for everyone to stand in solidarity with marginalized women in the U.S. and around the world. Now is the time for women to come together to create dignity and equity in the workplace through the right to organize and fair labor practices because worker’s rights are human rights. Now is the time to build a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren by empowering women and men to use our limited natural resources responsibly because climate justice is social justice. Now is the time to increase the number of women at the decision-making table as policymakers by eliminating barriers to participation and developing structures that give women and men a level playing field to run, win, and serve in elected office because a reflective democracy is a fair democracy.
The goal of “A Day Without a Woman” is to put a spotlight on the impact women have in our workplace, economy, and society as a whole.
So, take the day off from paid or unpaid labor today, and then tomorrow fight for equal pay for women.
Shop locally, women- and minority-owned businesses today, and then tomorrow support women who are fighting for clean air, clean water, and better healthcare.
Wear red today, and then tomorrow raise the flag for fair representation in voting redistricting reform.
It’s time for men and women to be tired of gender inequality. How will you model solidarity with women today for a stronger democracy tomorrow?
