(The following article is from the March 1-15, 2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

People's Voice Editorial

Mahatma Gandhi was once asked for his views on western civilization. "It would be a very good idea," was his reply. That quote seems to fit this year's United Nations theme for International Women's Day: "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities, Progress for All." What a great idea!

     2010 is the 100th anniversary of the Copenhagen conference of Socialist women, which launched the annual celebration of International Women's Day. The upsurge of women's struggles which followed, and the "second wave" of feminism during the post-war decades, saw enormous gains for women's rights.

     Unfortunately, that progress has been stalled or even rolled back by the global capitalist offensive of the past twenty years. Today, over 800 million women and girls live in poverty, and the strides toward equality achieved in the former socialist countries have been virtually wiped out.

     The story is similar in Canada, where women are stuck at just 70.5% of men's earnings. While women have gained more access to higher education, men with doctorates are twice as likely to be named full professors, and women in academia earn only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. In terms of elected positions, women in Canada have slid to 49th from 47th, accounting for just 22.1 per cent of MPs. Under the Harper Tories, Status of Women Canada has closed 12 offices, cut funding for women's advocacy groups, and eliminated the court challenges program, which helped women pursue equality rights. Governments have slashed supports for women's shelters and crisis centres. Right-wing politicians treat public child care as a barrier to the big box profiteers.

     IWD 2010 will come just days after the federal budget, which will mark another step in the Tory campaign to wipe out social gains. The labour and democratic movements must begin to make women's equality a top priority in the battle to defeat the Harper Tories and win a People's Agenda. An injury to one is an injury to all - a united struggle for equality is the key to victory.