Aside from marking the start of a new semester for many Australian university students, March is also known for celebrating International Women’s Day on its 8th. The day which has its roots in demonstrations that happened in the US and Russia during the early 1900s is now celebrated around the world to celebrate women’s achievements, empower women and girls around the world as well as raise awareness about gender equality and issues affecting the welfare and well-being of females from all age groups such as violence against women.
The Statistics
According to The Gender Snapshot by the United Nations in 2020, women hold only a quarter of seats in national parliaments. School closures during the pandemic are likely to increase gender gaps in education and over 11 million girls from pre-primary school to tertiary education age are at risk of not returning to school in 2020. Moreover, an estimated 243 million women and girls aged around 15–49 were subjected to sexual and/or physical violence in the previous year. In this day and age with COVID-19 in the picture, the situation has become worse than before as research shows that COVID-19 lockdowns actually increased the rates of domestic violence against women and children in countries such as Malaysia and Australia.
Women-led Initiatives in the US
Women’s March is a women-led movement with the mission to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change”. The movement was prompted by former US President Donald Trump’s inflammatory remarks on women and other marginalised groups, and their first worldwide protest was held on January 21, 2017, the day after Trump’s inauguration. Today, Women’s March Global is a network of over 100 chapters and thousands of members worldwide, shining light on issues such as ending violence, women’s reproductive rights, LGBTI+ rights, workers’ rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, indigenous rights and climate justice.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international social movement that was launched in 2013 by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi on Facebook. The movement was triggered by the acquittal of George Zimmerman who shot dead an unarmed 17-year-old Black youth. Subsequently, the three founders who were devastated by the news decided to set up social media accounts and encourage Black people to share why Black lives matter using the hashtag ‘#BlackLivesMatter’. Although BLM was prompted by violence against the Black community, the founders stress that BLM is an all-encompassing social movement that aims to liberate and empower all marginalised and oppressed people as well as amplify the experiences of state and gendered violence that women and the LGBTIQ+ community face.
#ChooseToChallenge with #IWD2021
In part with this year’s International Women’s Day theme #ChooseToChallenge, we are challenging you to learn more about women’s rights and leadership by joining the events below!
Malaysian Events 🇲🇾
- Women’s aid organisation — Their Podcast
- UNFPA Malaysia — Women in Leadership: Achieving an EQUAL FUTURE in a COVID-19 world [Live]
- Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur & AWAM— Women and COVID: A French-Malaysian Dialog [Live]
- Malaysian Youth Diplomacy — Panel Discussion: Laws Discriminating Against Women, Legal Meh? [Recorded]
- Yayasan Sime Darby — Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World [Recorded]
- Rise: Future Female Leaders — Sustainable Mental Health in Leadership [Live]
- UNICEF Malaysia — Towards ending child marriage [Live]
- Sawo Sabah — Fixing Women Under-representation with Sabah’s Nominated Assemblypersons [Live]
Australian Events 🇦🇺
- International Women’s Day panel by Unimelb Law society [Live]
- Monash LSS International Women’s Day Panel [Live]
- International Women’s Day — Women in International Affairs Panel [Live]
Written by: Jessica Ong of MPower MASCA Victoria (mpower@vic.masca.org.au)
MPower is one of the five arms under the student-run organisation MASCA Vic (Malaysians’ Student Council of Australia — Victoria chapter) which aims to empower the voices of students to make an impact on future generations. In effect, raise awareness regarding important issues and normalise intellectual discussions in daily conversations between Malaysians.
Instagram: MASCA Victoria / Twitter: @MASCA_Vic / Facebook: MASCA Victoria
