It was on 8 March 1975 that the United Nations (UN) began celebrating International Women’s Day, each year with a theme relevant to the situation of women in the world and to the respective country. This year the theme chosen by the UN is “Equality for Women is Progress for All”.

This year is a special one for The National Council of Women, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary of work for the advancement of women. The Women’s Council was set up 50 years ago by formidable women who understood that women had more worth and more capabilities, as well as more rights than were assigned to them. The theme for NCW’s anniversary year is “Women – Building Blocks of Society”. Each year women gain more rights and therefore more responsibilities in the family, at the workplace and in society.

One cannot say however that all has been achieved, and although many countries have achieved more rights for women, violence against women is still present in many forms. Domestic violence seems to have increased in recent years, perhaps due to the crisis that families and individuals are facing, but violence can never be an answer to solve a problem or as a means of venting one’s anger and frustration especially on the more vulnerable. New forms of violence seem to appear from time to time and a more recent one that is causing concern in Malta and in Europe is female genital mutilation, a barbaric act performed on young girls who are then scarred for life.

Rape, murders, sexual abuse, child marriages, forced marriages are in the news every day and not only in developing or Third World countries but also in Europe. Violence and abuse can no longer be a woman’s issue, it is a man’s issue too because men have mothers, partners, wives, daughters, sisters and granddaughters. All of them could be possible victims, therefore men must be roped in to help in the fight against all form of violence and must speak up as well and condemn the perpetrators.

Although abortion is seen in many countries as being a woman’s right, it can also be deemed a violence against herself, a lifelong pain of having destroyed a potential human being that was a part of her even if for a short time. Women have obtained many rights but this so-called right is definitely not their own.

Women are indeed the building blocks of society and governments around the world have realised this, especially in difficult times such as wars and more recently during the financial crisis. Women rose to meet the challenges by creating for themselves and others and this can be seen in the increased number of women entrepreneurs throughout Europe. Women are also starting, finally to break the glass ceiling and achieve posts in management, albeit at a slow pace. This could also be due to the 40% gender balance directive proposed by Commissioner Reding.

Female entrepreneurship must be given more prominence, as there are many women who just need the right support to kick-start a business. Young women need role models and families need a culture change in order to realise that women also need support when embarking on a political, business or professional career. Women should also be given every opportunity to work, if they wish to pursue a career and NCW is certain that the introduction of free childcare centres will be an incentive for more women to join the labour market or to study. Sharing of responsibilities between men and women will provide so many opportunities for a strong and dynamic relationship which will result in building meaningful family relationships that we all wish for in our society. Education on the other hand not only educates the woman herself but it is known that educating the woman is educating the family and a nation, in turn opening up opportunities not only for work but also as a contributor to society.

“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance” (Kofi Annan)

Mary Gaerty

President

National Council of Women