International Women's Day celebrates solidarity

International Women's Day celebrates solidarity

Chisato Haro, Contributor, Jakarta

On March 8, 1957, women in the garment trades of New England took
the first steps toward claiming their fundamental rights by
taking to the streets.

Today, the international women's movement has taken on global
proportions, taking on new aspects as governments and societies
have evolved, but its spirit remains the same.

As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan pointed out in his
International Women's Day message: "Gender equality is not only a
goal in its own right, it is critical to our ability to reach all
the others. When women are fully involved, families are healthier
and better fed. And what is true of families is also true of
communities and, in the long run, of whole countries."

It is in reflection of this communal spirit that the
International Community Activities Center (ICAC) has hosted an
International Women's Day luncheon for the last five years. It is
one of the few non-profit, multi-cultural organizations in
Jakarta to commemorate the day, drawing upon its 30 years of
experience as a platform of exchange and cooperation between the
Indonesian and international communities.

Themed in "Women's Health and Gender", this year's ICAC
International Women's Day Luncheon featured keynote speaker Dr.
Nafsiah Mboi, who is renowned both nationally and internationally
as a champion of non-discrimination through her life-long work
focusing on empowerment of women, issues of gender equity and
child rights.

Emphasizing a responsibility that rests among both women and
men to achieve change and progress, Dr. Nafsiah focused on three
concerns: the AIDS epidemic, the health impacts of violence, and
the challenges of aging.

While all three are global concerns, they are also crucial to
Indonesia in its struggle to realize political reform and
economic development, and in its recent advancements in
recognizing the importance of civil society in contributing to
growth.

Dr. Nafsiah pointed to this latter factor as being key to
meeting the challenges of the concerns above in conjunction with
improvements in law, education and health services as "They are
truly issues of public health and public welfare."

The physical, economic and social burdens women bear in
connection with these concerns affect not only the women
themselves, but also the community at large through women's
predominant role as caregivers.

Statistically, 50% of all HIV-positive adults in the world are
women, as a result of their physical vulnerability - the female
body is anatomically more vulnerable to infection - and their
vulnerability as manifested through the societal constructs of
gender stereotypes.

Domestic violence impacts on women of any socio-economic
class, culture or religious belief both mentally and physically,
and ultimately, the children who grow up in violent homes.

Violence on a larger scale, that of armed conflict,
particularly impacts on women, who suffer a disproportionate
impact in addition to the traumas inflicted through conflict, as
they are also targets of specific forms of violence and abuse,
including sexual violence and exploitation.

Aging poses a more significant concern than it may seem at
first glance, as globally, the life expectancy of women is longer
than that of men. In addition, 60 percent of women aged 60 and
above live in developing nations, where the combined impacts of
general poverty and a lack of accessible medical services
compound the ensuing social, health and emotional problems.

In this sense, International Women's Day is truly a
celebration of solidarity as a global, communal responsibility
across all societies - without discriminating between women and
men, children and adults, religion or culture, "developing" or
"developed", as we strive toward the recognition of universal
human rights and ensuring the health of the global community.