** Third week of mobilizations for women’s rights: a renewed necessity **
On March 8, dated each year as an opportunity to claim women’s rights, regained its importance in the speech of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. However, for the urgency and action message he embodies is really heard, it is imperative to transcend the traditional framework of celebrations and speeches. It’s a week like no other, a week that will have to tackle contemporary challenges and dazzling paradoxes of 3.0 feminism.
Antonio Guterres, stressing that “when women and girls go ahead, everyone is prosperous,” highlights an often ignored fundamental aspect: the interconnection of social advances. It is not just a question of rights or equality, but of collective prosperity. Statistics confirm this: studies show that an increase in the employment rate of women can contribute up to 35% to the economic growth of a country. Let us stop for a moment to consider this phenomenon through a comparative lens.
Take the example of Iceland, often praised as the most advanced country in terms of gender equality. Its proactive policies concerning equal pay and access to maternal health care has enabled a significant integration of women in the labor market. In the light of OECD data, Antonio Guterres’ proposal requires our attention. If Iceland can lead the way to a repreens equality, what prevents other nations from following its example? A look at persistent inequalities in developing countries shows that a deficit in fair policies causes worrying stagnation rather than progression.
Guterres also evokes the time it takes to eradicate the extreme poverty of women, proclaiming that “it would take 130 years” to achieve this target. This figure is not only alarming, it illustrates the extent and depth of the oppression system that persists. At a time when the world faces unprecedented economic and environmental crises, this deadline should arouse collective conscience to an urgent change of paradigm. Political will, community mobilization and synergy between economic and social actors are now imperative. Resistance to change is no longer acceptable.
Violence against women, as Guterres points out with the disturbing figure of “every ten minutes, a woman is killed by her partner or a member of her family”, finds its origin in cultural and behavioral standards rooted in many societies. Why does the culture of silence and inaction continue in front of this? It is essential to analyze these dynamics using social psychology; Studies have revealed that aggressive behaviors are often perpetuated in social environments where mistreatment is trivialized. Anti-violence initiatives must therefore go beyond awareness campaigns and attack the root: educate young people, model the culture of non-violence and promote standards of positive masculinity.
On the other hand, online activism, of which Guterres stressed the importance, also deserves that it is given a critical look. Although social networks have catalyzed unprecedented mobilization in favor of women’s rights, it may be argued that movements can sometimes superigre discourse. The digital tool, all powerful as it is, must be accompanied by concrete actions in the field. Hashtags are not enough to eradicate deeply anchored secular practices. The results of the campaigns, like the #MeToo, indicates that an awareness has been started, but the materialization of this consciousness by a policy of concrete change is slow. Movements must adopt an intersectional approach because women are not a homogeneous group. Intersectional inequalities, such as racism or social class, must be continuously integrated in the context of current feminism.
In conclusion, while we celebrate the progress made and that, even if everything we can hope for in terms of significant change still remains unsatisfactory. The urgency of the world situation calls us to collective action beyond solemn celebrations. The challenges are known, the solutions too, but it is up to each of us to go from theory to action. The transformation opportunity is now in our hands. If the gap between speeches and actions persists, then we will be condemned to remain witnesses to the stagnation of progress. Mobilizing for justice, acting for change and, above all, going from resistance to resilience are the challenges that await us.