Too little effort !

The day of the year this time too passed off with the same fanfare- Neighborhood beauty parlors offering special beauty packages for women, corporates trying to cash in with special discounts and media houses shifting focus for a day on “women of substance.”  The leaders too contributed their bit by issuing media statements on International Women’s Day. News reports from across the world were good enough to bring certain realities to core.

A news report released by Statistics Canada just a week back came at a wrong time. The celebrations so associated with the International Women’s Day took a moral dip.  The report highlights that Canada continues to have the large gender wage gap. The data from Statistics Canada shows that a woman working full time in Canada makes 73.5 cents for every dollar a man earns. Yet another report, from Alberta shows greater disparity. The Parkland Institute found Alberta women’s average market income this year will be less than half of men’s and  women working full-time in the province will earn over $31,000 less on average than their male counterparts. While the world celebrated March 8 this year with the theme as #PledgeForParity, harsh realities were brought forward to throw some more light on the very fact that disparity does exist and more has to be done.

We sitting here in Canada, could be far away from the realities of how women are suppressed, misrepresented in an Islamic world. The case of death of Aqsa Parvezby her father and her brother in 2007, who have been sentenced to life in prison for what the judge called the “twisted and repugnant” murder of the 16-year-old. What the judge had said then while handing down the second-degree murder sentence was that he found it “profoundly disturbing that a 16-year-old could be murdered by a father and brother for the purpose of saving family pride, for saving them from what they perceived as family embarrassment,” goes to convey a lot on how the state of affairs have not changed for the women around the world. Malala Yousafzai, the youngest noble laureate had to face bullets for advocating the right of education for the kids and more so for the girl child in Pakistan. Women in India too face the plight of being women. Cases from India related to rapes, torture and death due to dowry demands can’t make much progress on the women’s right. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was asked about the bill that grants 33.5 reservation to women in the Parliament and the Legislative Assembly, he opted to remain silent and went all out to highlight that India’s air force will induct its first female fighter pilots in June-A major leap amidst an all-around grim situation, having inducted women as pilots in 1991, but on only helicopter and transport planes of the Air Force.

The bill has been handing fire for over six years in the upper house. No wonder in the same land in a repeat of the Shani Shingnapur incident, the Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik closed its gates for the over 300 women. These women are seeking “equal rights to pray”, as women remain barred to enter in the mentioned temples; in a country where Goddess Lakhsmi, The Durga, Saraswati are worshipped!

Certain ground realities just can’t be ignored.  There are fewer women than men on this planet thanks mainly due to the unhindered sex-selective abortions in China and India. The employment rate of women in the formal sector in many countries has been going down. The disparity in salary and perks for women stands exposed in Canada and can’t be ruled out in other countries too. Many aspects of the society such as die hard traditions and religion are still stacked against the womenfolk.

Despite some of the most influential women openly speaking about the evils of gender discrimination it continues to rear its ugly head. Despite over 40 women featuring in the top 100 most influential persons in the world gender discrimination still remains an issue that has not found favors with many.

Surely there is a philosophy behind the International Women’s Day, with a lot pending. More than a day of celebrations, a synergy is required to bring in the much desired change.