International Women's Day: Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities, Progress for All

In his International Women's Day 2010 message, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges: "Let us work with renewed determination for a future of equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all." March 8th, International Women's Day, is a day to celebrate the achievements of women of the past and present, and set the stage for the success of women of the future.

Right here in the United States, why haven't we passed the Equal Rights Amendment yet? We only been waiting since Alice Paul introduced the ERA in 1923 for a simple affirmation that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." (Speaking of Paul, Hilary Swank has a strong portrayal of her, and the suffrage movement -- with a lot more spice than it gets in history textbooks -- in the movie Iron Jawed Angels.)

But this is International Women's Day, so let's get global. Why hasn't the U.S. ratified CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women)? Does America support discrimination against women? Does it think that, rather than joining the almost 200 states who oppose discrimination, it should remain on the side of Iran, Nauru, Palau, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga -- the only six U.N. member state that have refused to sign the treaty? Unfortunately, the U.S.'s refusal to ratify legitimizes an anti-woman stance, and has encouraged other countries to try to backing out of enforcing the deal, a serious concern for groups that do work on women's rights globally.

And how can we claim to have "equal rights" when a woman can't make decisions over her own body serving as an incubator when it comes to reproductive rights, but it would be a crime to take a person's blood or bone marrow or a piece of their liver against their wishes?

Equal opportunity seems laughable when an eight-year-old girl in Yemen can be married off to a man four times her age, raped and beaten, and denied the ability to attend school -- and when this is not a particularly rare or unusual occurrence for many countries. And when America continues to pay women less for the same work and hasn't passed legislation that would prevent wage discrimination, and even our high-powered corporate businesswomen get screwed over in pay and promotions starting on graduation day, the prospects for economic empowerment and respect for women less supposedly gender-equal countries looks bleak.

These policies that disempower women, deny them education and financial opportunities, put women at increased danger for both poverty and violence. But this is an issue that impacts everybody -- addressing poverty amongst women, providing education opportunities, microfinance, etc. reaps benefits that allow "progress for all." Their gains become the families' gains; they learn how to protect their own and their children's health; and their potential to succeed and thrive isn't wasted by a denial of options.

Photo credit: Tony Webster