March 8th, 2017 marks International Women’s Day, a special day celebrated in a growing number of countries around the world, from the United Kingdom to Australia and Bostwana to India. Forgetting language barriers or cultural differences, women from all over the world join in this annual event in an effort to claim equal rights both in the work place as well as in society.
The Origins of International Women’s Day
The idea of an international day for defending women’s rights started in the beginning of the 20th century. In 1910 it was unanimously approved in a meeting of the Socialist International Party in Denmark, and attended by more than 100 women representing 17 countries.
In 1911, the first International Women’s Day was celebrated in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland. More than a million women and men rallied in demand of universal suffrage and equal rights in education and employment opportunities. However, many of these rights were not achieved until later in the century. For instance, the United States did not grant women’s suffrage until 1920. In some European countries, such as Italy or Spain, women were not allowed to vote until the second half of the 1900’s.
International Women’s Day…But Still a Long Way to Go
The last decades of the 20th century were decisive for women’s professional progress. Sex segregation diminished, the wage gap between genders narrowed and the percentage of women in high ranking positions slightly increased. But according to a report by the World Economic Forum, we are still 170 years away from reaching true equality. For example, even though women account for almost 52% of the professional workforce in the United States and the percentage of women attending college is now higher that men’s, roughly 15% achieve management positions in their workplace.
Moreover, there are still several countries where women have very limited rights. In Pakistan, for instance, married women cannot open a business without their husband’s consent. In Congo or Nigeria they cannot have a bank account without their husband’s or father’s signature, and in countries like Mali, Jordan or Iraq, they cannot even have their own passports.
Change starts with education. Teaching kids not to believe on stereotypes or promoting events with female speakers are small actions that can help drive bigger changes for women in the future. This year’s movement #BeBoldForChange campaign on International Women’s Day calls for everyone to take action towards raising awareness about gender parity and creating a more gender inclusive world.
Women in Translation and Interpreting
Despite the gender pay gap reported in most jobs, translation services seem to be a female-friendly occupation. According to recent research on the matter, it is one of the few professions where for the most part men’s and women’s wages are equal.
Currently, 66% of the translation and interpreting services providers working in EU institutions are women, which indicates that gender is not an issue in this profession even for positions in high level political institutions. Women working in these positions break stereotypes and prove that theyare as competent at performing highly demanding jobs as men. As part of an effort to demonstrate the impact of women in the workplace, there was a call for “A day Without Women” on March 8th to show that if women stop, the World stops.
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