March 8th is International Women’s Day, the day we honour the contributions women have made to our communities, and the day we take stock of our progress towards gender equality.
When women thrive, our communities thrive. Here are a few considerations to achieve this vision.
Ensure women have personal security.
Everyone has a right to live free from abuse and violence. Women and girls who feel safe and secure in their homes and communities are able to participate in all aspects of life.
Sexual and domestic abuse and violence perpetrated against women is still extremely prevalent in our society. Continued advocacy, education and media attention are needed to shift our culture away from normalizing abuse and violence against women.
Less than 10 per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police, for a wide variety of reasons that include victim blaming and fear of experiencing further trauma. Our justice system must improve so more survivors are not afraid to come forward.
Empower women to achieve economic stability.
Our community is stronger when everyone is economically stable. Women strengthen their financial independence when they have the freedom and ability to pursue education and maintain employment.
In Calgary, 28 per cent of women hold university degrees, yet women still earn 68 per cent of what men earn, a significant wage gap. Women disproportionally bear unpaid work such as childcare, family and household duties impacting their hours and availability for paid employment. This means women are more likely to work in temporary, contract, part-time or unstable jobs.
The face of poverty in Canada (and abroad) is a woman’s face. Wages in traditionally male-dominated sectors are higher than in roles which are seen to be “women’s work.” Together we can encourage Calgary businesses to pay all employees a living wage, which is $17 with benefits and $18.15 without, determined by Calgary’s Living Wage Action Team.
Promote more women to leadership roles.
Governments are more effective when they reflect the demographics they represent. We have achieved gender parity in the federal cabinet, a coup worthy of celebration.
At a local level, we hope to see improvements reflecting the federal example; women currently hold two of the 15 elected seats. In the corporate sector, women in Calgary hold 29 per cent of senior management positions, despite an even population of men and women. Representation is also important for future generations of women, as the saying goes “What you can see, you can be.”
It takes a village to make positive changes – individuals, corporations and governments are needed to ensure we achieve gender equality. We’ve made great strides as a society, and we look forward to the day when we don’t need to add “But there’s more work to do.”
As the largest and longest-serving women’s organization in Calgary, the YWCA is a proud host and participant in local International Women’s Day events. Browse the events below for more information:
