Period

No1 ABORTION LAWS Polish Law and Justice party propose the introduction of an absolute prohibition on abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.

Polish women organise a national protest - Dignity March to oppose the introduction of a total abortion ban.

WOMEN RIGHTS ISSUE

December 2016

GENDER PAY GAP 41 years after the National Protest of women in Iceland the gender pay gap still exists.

Women across the country leave work at 14:38 once a year to mark the two month pay difference.

The push to do this assignment definitely did not come from the fact that it’s worth 60% of my News and Politics module on my final year of studying journalism. Being followed from work by a random man for a hundredth time was the kick I needed to pick up a pen and paper and write down a number of issues surrounding women rights around the world. I’m not only writing it because I’m fed up of being scared to walk home at night on my own, I’m writing because this incident reminded me about the feminists around the world who are fighting constant battles with the governments to achieve equality.

I hope that this issue will inspire you to do something yourself.

And if you ever doubted in women, I hope that this issue will show you how powerful we really are.

A symptom of the general feeling was enormous interest in the group Dziewuchy Dziewuchom (translated: Gals for Gals) founded on April 1 on Facebook in response to the alarming press reports. Initially, the group was set up to be a tool for communication between a narrow group of interested women, but in just a few hours, it turned out that there are many more women worried about the changes than first expected.

During the first march one of the organisers said: “We are independent, courageous, aware of ourselves and our rights. We will not stop marching on the streets until they (the government) assure us that these changes won’t go ahead. “ “Our group is a place where we, women, finally get a voice, which we weren’t given before.”

(Dziewuchy Dziewuchom Facebook page)

“On this night a few of us set up a Facebook page Dziewuchy Dziewuchom to express our anger towards the new amendments to the already strict laws and to seek help and support from other women.” Marta Lempart, representative of the “mother” group.

Many Polish women never had the opportunity to participate in the public debate on abortion. They were young girls or weren’t even born when this subject appeared in the public debate for the last time.

During the first day the group gained 30,000 members, and a few days later exceeded 100,000 users, which is a record number in the Polish social media gain interest. In this way Dziewuchy Dziewuchom became an online phenomenon, discussion forums and a virtual meeting space of women from around the country.

Abortion has not been spoken about so openly in Poland for 19 years, since the enactment of the Constitution.

And nothing is able to stop this avalanche of female anger, rebellion and frustration sparked following the proposition of amendments of the current laws and the intrusion of Church into women's rights.

As the talks of the changes to the presently strict abortion laws became more serious in a joint protest with organizations guarding the rights and freedoms of women and thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of women from across the country, took to the streets. Now, it is not only activists dynamically fight to defend women's rights in Poland.

On the 9th of April, thousands of women in Warsaw and across the whole of Poland went out on the streets to show their unparalleled determination to fight for the right to self-determination, the right to control their own fertility, un unrestricted access to contraception and universal access to reliable sex education.

women, enough of ignoring our right to health and life, we want to finally see rapists being sent to prison, we want to stop being blamed - we are the victims. We want to have access to latest advances in medicine - in vitro for us.

And above all, we demand the cessation of all attempts to tighten abortion law "- she said.

In her opinion, politicians - not only the ones currently in power, but the previous term of office should be ashamed that women must go out to the streets and fight for their rights. “We have the following message to the government: stop trying to tighten the abortion law.

If you do not, you will see what is the anger of women and women solidarity” - she said.

They were not lying. After the Dignity March, women cross the whole of Poland, in cities and small villages took to the streets again on the 24th of October, just over a week after the first demonstration.

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Now, manifesting their indignation against the proposed changes to existing law, and at the same time Polish women across the world use the opportunity to speak to the first time to present its position on the matter.

In fact, that was only the beginning of the protests. Girls and women from across Poland and Polish expats joined the initiative and joined a “warning strike” on the 3rd of October organised by Gals for Gals.

"We are here to defend the rights of women! - Said starting the march one of the organizers, Irina Ovcinicov. – We're here because there comes a moment that you have to stand on the street and say: enough! Enough of ignoring ou our most fundamental rights, enough of violence against

The marchers chanted, among other slogans: “We want education, not indoctrination” (in terms of access to sex education), "Nothing about us without us" or "We want to be heard, not humiliated."

Other banners read, "Save Women", "life free from violence, women's right," or "Enough hypocrisy! We demand respect for the rights of women" March organizers do not want to be tied to any specific organizations or political movements. "It is women who spontaneously got together and show a decided opposition to certain trends that have been observed for several years said Alexandra Różdżyńska, a spokeswoman for the march.

"We want to show that women are subject to the equal rights with men. We want to remind that women have a voice and that you have to take them into consideration," - added the spokeswoman.

Although Polish lawmakers voted extensively to oppose the draft, the Polish Law and Justice Party is preparing a new draft to be taken into the consideration in the new year.

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It all started when the United Nations announced that 1975 would be the Year of Women. All of the major women's organizations from the country decided to do something to celebrate. Red Stockings activists have proposed to organize a nationwide protest. It would remind the public how important the role of women in it, and what problems every day they face. Low wages and gender inequality are just some of them.

The idea spread through the country like a virus.

But instead of organizing a formal strike, the women decided that they would take a day off from work. This way, their bosses would have to be more accommodating to the idea.

Finally, 25 thousand women gathered in Reykjavik, which made a great impression, as the population of Iceland was then only 220 thousand. Girls, teenagers, women and seniors from almost every corner of the island gathered in Old City Main Square to hear speeches from activists and protest.

Although at first, men took it as a joke, they soon realised that life without help of a woman, even for a day, was not easy. Some schools, shops and factories had to lock up, because there was no one to work in them.

For other institutions, the biggest problem turned out to be having children in offices as desperate fathers did not have anyone to leave them with. “I remember my mum telling me that dad had to take us (me and my brother) to work with him, because mum, grandma and all of her friends went on strike.”

- recalls Brynja Gunnarsdóttir - “Some of my friends even took part in the protest! Only because mum’s did not want to leave them alone with their dad’s.”

Icelanders call that day a "Long Friday".

This one-day caused a real revolution. A change actually came, five years after the strike Iceland was the first country in the world to chose a female president in a democratic election. Representation of women and men in parliament today is almost equal. Modern Iceland is considered one of the most women-friendly countries in the world. Employment of women is as high as 76 per cent, and the pay gap continues to decline.

However, the changes are not coming fast enough. In 2005 women in Iceland celebrated another ‘Day Without Women’. That day the ladies left work at 14.08. In 2008, they went on strike again, already seven minutes later, at 14.25. As emphasized by trade unions, based on trends of the last 10 years it can be assumed that the alignment of the difference between the salaries of both sexes will take 52 years. Wages will be equal in 2068. – “It's a lifetime” - said Gylfi Arnbjornsson, chairman of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour.

But Icelandic women are not giving up.

In hope of a faster change they left work at 14:38 this year, on the day of 41st

anniversary of Black Friday. At about 15:15 they met at a rally in Reykjavik.

“This year's goal was to draw attention to the differences in the salaries of men and women in Iceland. The average earnings of women in Iceland is only 70.3% of the average wage of men, that is, on average, they receive 29.7% less than men.

This means that a woman should work 5 hours and 38 minutes of an eight-hour working day.” –said the Icelandic Association of Women's Rights spokesperson.

Inequality in pay between men and women is unfortunately a global standard. The biggest pay gap can be witnessed in South Korea, Estonia and Japan. In Canada, often believed to be the model of gender equality, women earn 19 per cent less than men according to the report "Transforming World Atlas" made by the Bank of American Merrill Lynch comparing data from 2015.