Still a long way to go to equality - International Women’s Day

TODAY is International Women’s Day, an annual event celebrated by millions of women around the world. It is done so, however, in the knowledge that equality between the sexes is still a long way off.

The fact remains that more than two thirds of people living in poverty globally are female. According to VSO Ireland, an international development organisation, women perform two thirds of the world’s work and yet earn only 10% of world income and own only 1% of all property.

Female poverty and discrimination is most pronounced in Africa, Asia and the Pacific region but is not confined to it. While active discrimination against women is less evident in Western democracies, passive resistance to equality is a fact of everyday life for many women, including Irish women.