by Sheralyn Welch

Created on: March 15, 2010

Every woman’s basic right to equal opportunities goes far beyond the label ‘feminist movement.’ It is a right that women around the world, by the hundreds of millions, are denied every day; it is a struggle we are losing. In fact, according to The U.N. Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), there is strong evidence that, “overall, global discrimination against women is worsening.”

The very expression ‘feminist movement’ would be a laughable anachronism were it not for the tragic truth that progress for women has not only come to a total stop, but has been thrown into full reverse. For those who have settled into the anesthetizing notion of ‘slowly-but-surely,’ here is a warning that should toss out that dubious comfort once and for good:

 “Thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), many girls and women still do not have equal opportunities to realize rights recognized by law. In many countries, women are not entitled to own property or inherit land. Social exclusion, “honor” killings, female genital mutilation, trafficking, restricted mobility and early marriage among others, deny the right to health to women and girls and increase illness and death throughout the life-course.

We will not see sustainable progress unless we fix failures in health systems and society so that girls and women enjoy equal access to health information and services, education, employment and political positions.”  -Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization, International Women’s Day, March 8, 2010

Those who suggest that these issues are exclusively the result of religious laws, or confined to only certain countries, or not issues that affect all of us are wrong; there is proof otherwise to be found everywhere.

When we come to see every woman as one woman, when we come together in a sisterhood of solidarity, when we stop allowing the discourse about our freedom to degenerate into idiotic observations about men’s vs. women’s restrooms and Valentine’s Day, when we stand together against the oppression, enslavement, torture and deprivation of every woman who suffers these humiliations, no matter where, we will have reached a destination that can never be too far: the place of true equality and a better world.

 For those of us who live under the banner of freedom, let that journey begin with a renewed definition of that freedom:

 All people are created equal.

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