International Women's Day

It will be hard for anyone to be ignorant of the headlines that have bombarded us of late, in which violence against women has been at the core. Violent, dominating or intimidating relationships are all based on a power imbalance. Couzins, it has proved, is not an aberrant member of the police but one of a truly disturbing number of those reported for crimes against women. Aggressive, bullying behaviour, whether within the workplace or home is a reflection of an unhealthy dynamic, an imbalance of power. Until these insidious 'norms' of behaviour are called out and prosecuted, then women will continue to be exploited. It is easy to congratulate our society for 'equality', in contrast to others where women are openly subjugated, but equality for all members of a society is a constant battle and the erosion of rights and opportunities can be subtle and insidious.
In Britain there are 1.8 million single parent families and approximately 90% of these parents are women. When childcare facilities are closing, as their funding is inadequate, then it is women who bear the brunt. They are ,therefore, lost to the workforce with a profound knock-on effect to the economy and even if employed half a million more women are paid below the real living wage than their male counterparts. There is no equality nor equity in these statistics. The underlying theme is that women are less valuable. If we don't call out or recognise inequality and inequity at home in Britain we have no right to lecture others.
The message of today should be everyone matters, everywhere, equally.