International Women’s Day 2025

INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day is an annual event which has been running since 1911.

It is about celebrating women’s achievements and moving towards gender equality and parity.

It is about tackling the many issues that impact upon women’s advancement, about raising awareness about discrimination and highlighting and working towards ending violence against women and girls in all its forms.

Throughout the years feminists have fought for women’s equality, the right to vote, the right to have a bank account, the right to have custody of their children and equality of pay — the list goes on — and while some outstanding achievements have been made there is still a long way to go.

The World Economic Forum estimates it will take until 2158, which is roughly five generations from now, to reach full gender parity. IWD, which was on Saturday March 8th, is inclusive and about human rights, making changes to ensure that everyone is safe from all forms of abuse, now and for future generations.

Article 3 of the Human Rights Act addresses the right not to be tortured or treated in an inhuman or degrading way — something we should all be able to do but inequality and the imbalance of power allows abuse to continue.

Overwhelmingly, perpetrators are in positions of power and control some through their job, some through money and some through their familial role.

Recent headlines make for grim reading — Andrew Tate, the self-confessed misogynist and perpetrator of violence against women and girls, was released from Romania following lobbying from the Trump administration; and French surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec is accused of raping or sexually abusing 299 victims, whose average age was 11, while they were anaesthetised or recovering from operations.

Donald Trump has shut down all federal diversity, equity and inclusion programmes which aim to boost workers from diverse backgrounds.

Corporations, according to Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, have been “neutered” and need more “masculine energy”.

While Stefan Hoops, the head of Deutsche Bank’s investment arm, said he feared Trump’s language would “lead us straight back to the macho ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ era” and called on companies to ensure equal opportunities. It is this inequality and abuse that IWD seeks to challenge.

But perhaps the saddest news article was that of the 25th anniversary of the death of Victoria Climbié.

Victoria died on February 25, 2000, when she was only eight years old after suffering months of horrific abuse and neglect by her great-aunt and great-aunt’s boyfriend.

Her death led to Lord Laming’s report which highlighted failings in and led to changes in children’s services across England and Wales.

Victoria’s short life is still used as a case study in all safeguarding training although sadly many more serious case reviews involving the death of a child are now included.

Despite all the changes in legislation, working practices and ‘lessons learned’, here we are 25 years on living in a society where abuse against women and girls, men and boys is still the norm. Perhaps this is the real focus of IWD.