#MeToo Sexism & Repeal The 8th Public Meeting

dublin | gender and sexuality | event notice Monday April 30, 2018 17:03 by Martin O'Sullivan - People Before Profit

#MeToo Sexism & Repeal The 8th Public Meeting

In a world characterised by sexism and inequality, women remain on the front lines in the struggle for justice, equality and rights for all. We are proud to stand with them for what are badly needed social changes.

In a world characterised by sexism and inequality, women remain on the front lines in the struggle for justice, equality and rights for all. We are proud to stand with them for what are badly needed social changes.

A recent United Nations Report estimated that women do 66% of the world’s work, earn 20% of the wages and own only 1% of the world’s private property.

Even when women have secured paid employment, women earn between 30% and 40% less than men and continue to be more likely to suffer poverty and deprivation than their male counterparts.
These are shocking statistics that go to the heart of a sexist and oppressive capitalist economic and social system.

Women are also under represented in public life and are far more likely to be the victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse than men. But women are much more than victims. In the year of the #MeToo and Time’s Up Campaigns, women are becoming politically active in a way that hasn’t been seen for a generation.

In Spain women marked International Women’s Day with a major strike to highlight gender inequality and sexual discrimination. The tag line of the event said it all - “If we Stop the world stops” - signifying the essential role of women in every society.

Hundreds of women have also taken to the streets in the Philippines to demand an end to violence against women by the country’s brutal dictator, Rodrigo Duterte. In Hong Kong migrant women have marched into the financial district to highlight the massive disparity between the male trading floor and the pay for women who clean their offices.

In Ireland, meanwhile, the big battle is obviously Repeal. For the women of this country repealing the 8th will be an incredibly important step on the road to genuine equality between the sexes.

It will also be another nail in the coffin of the Catholic right who have fought tooth and nail to keep women in the dark ages.