Happy International Women’s Day + A Gift For You To Celebrate

Happy International Women’s Day! A day to celebrate women’s achievements and raise awareness on gender equality. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #ChooseToChallenge. It indicates that a “challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change”. On this day, I want to celebrate the women around the world, and especially the women in my life whom I love and admire.

Latest Wins for Women’s Rights

We have still a long way to go when it comes to women’s rights, but I’d like to share with you some wins from 2020 and part of 2021 to celebrate as seen on Amnesty International for this International Women’s Day 2021.

“Women’s rights are human rights.”

1. Sierra Leone overturned a ban prohibiting pregnant girls from going to school. March 2020.
2. Costa Rica became the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage. May 2020.
3. Sudan abolished female genital mutilation. July 2020.
4. Argentina legalised abortion. December 2020.
5. Denmark passed a new law defining rape as sex without consent. December 2020.
6. The UK abolished tampon tax and Scotland made period products free for all. January 2021.
7. Abortion is no longer illegal in South Korea. January 2021.
8. Thailand changed its law to allow abortions. January 2021.

There Is Still A Lot To Fight For

Even though these wins are very good news and a big step towards equality, there is still a lot to fight for. I’ve compiled a few facts and statistics, but there are many more you can research if you are interested. The World Health Organisation website, the United Nations website, Amnesty International, between others, all have many resources available for you to read if you want to see more.

• 1 in 3 women around the world have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. (source. World Health Organisation).
• Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by a male intimate partner. (source. World Health Organisation).
• Globally 7% of women report having been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner, although data for non-partner sexual violence are more limited. (source. World Health Organisation).
• Around 650 million women across the globe were married before the age of 18 (source. Unicef, 2018).
• Over 200 million women and girls in 30 countries have undergone female genital mutilation (source. WHO, 2020).
• 71% of all human trafficking involves women and girls – mainly for sexual exploitation (source. UNODC, 2016).
• 1 in 4 seats are held by women in national parliaments. (Source UN.org)
• Women are paid 16% less than men and only 1 in 4 managers are women. (Source UN.org)
• 31% of young women aged 15 to 24 are not in education, employment or training in 2020, more than double the rate in young men (14%). (Source UN.org)
• The pandemic has also led to a steep increase in violence against women and girls.

Celebrate The Women In Your Life

I love this day, my friends and family and I share photos, and lovely messages to each other to celebrate. During the day I like to think about the hard-working and loving women around me; my mom, my aunties, cousins, friends, friends and extended family… & the ones that aren’t physically with me but are always in my mind, my aunties, my grandma, my abuela, friends… Let’s all think about the women in our lives, not only on this day, but every day of the year, and how they deserve to live in a world that is equal & safe.

International Women’s Day Downloadables

I’ve created some designs for you to download for free. You can add them to your phone screensaver, upload them on social media, send them to your friends, whatever you like! All you have to do is click on the image below, subscribe to my e-mail list & you’ll get the downloadable confirmation. If you’re already subscribed and want the freebies, just add your information again & you’ll see the confirmation message on the same page where you’ll get the link to download!

Who are you thinking of this International Woman’s Day? 💜

Comment down below!