For International Women’s Day we are thinking about all the WOMEN of the Day. That is us, you, and all our sisters around the world currently being oppressed by the patriarchy.
In multiple countries, women’s rights are being rolled back with anti-feminist rhetoric and policies. There has also been an upsurge in femicide.
In Afghanistan, women and girls are denied their human rights, forced to wear full body veils and denied access to education. This impacts on every aspect of their daily life’s, not only restricting them from attending secondary school and universities, but also working in many jobs and even moving freely outside of their homes. In 2023 on International Women’s Day, Mahbouba Seraj, a longtime women’s rights activist in Afghanistan, answered with a bitter laugh when asked by an interviewer what message she had for the international community. “I’m going to say – really – shame on you” she said. “I’m going to say to the whole world, shame on you.”
In neighbouring Pakistan the annual Aurat March in honour of International Women’s Day has been the target of an extremist backlash by the Pakistani Taliban, who have made threats against women’s rights activists and the march’s organisers, demanding that they be prosecuted for blasphemy.
In Kenya there is currently an epidemic of violence against women. Activists in the East African country report they are experiencing an increased rate of femicide (the intentional murder of women or girls primarily because of their sex) and are calling on the Kenyan government to act. A key demand from activists is the establishment of “femicide” as a separate legal charge from homicide.
In China, the government is trying to silence feminists as it tightens social control, imposing strict censorship policies, including banning feminist terms and content they see as “harmful speech” or “inciting conflict between the genders.”
According to Amnesty at least 10 women and girls are murdered every day in Mexico with victims’ families abandoned by the authorities and left to carry out their own homicide investigations. Femicide has been rife in Mexico for decades. In recent years, a growing feminist movement has held massive street protests against the violence, but authorities have proved unwilling to take action to stop the killing. “It’s always a question of political will,” said Maricruz Ocampo, a women’s activist in the state of Querétaro.
Countries in the West often considered “progressive” are not immune from this attack on women’s human rights. In America, women and girls are facing increasing restrictions to their sexual and reproductive health and rights as the Supreme Court and multiple states have moved to ban or heavily restrict access to legal abortions.
In Poland, the government has actively targeted women’s rights activists and organisations, smearing them and punishing them for their activism whilst also introducing retrogressive laws and policies to obstruct efforts to address sex-based violence and like America is undermining women’s and girls’ reproductive rights.
These examples are just a snapshot of the backlash women’s human rights currently face across the world.
Green Party Women stand in solidarity with our sisters. We will not forget you and we call on our own government and those around the world to recognise the global threat to women’s rights and reinforce measures to protect women and girls.
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