Gender gap remains

March 8 is International Women’s Day.

It’s a worldwide celebration of women’s achievements and triumphs throughout history.

This year’s theme is “Embrace Equity.”

Equity is the idea of giving people opportunities and resources based off their individual needs, rather than giving everyone the exact same things.

International Women’s Day was first celebrated in 1911 with more than one million people campaigning for women’s rights in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and Austria. March 8th was decided to be the official date in 1914. The United Nations officially adopted the holiday in 1975.

We’ve progressed so much since the first celebration over a century ago, but there’s still more progress to be made.

The 2022 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report noted that no countries have completely closed their gender gap, with Iceland closest at 90.8%.

The United States stands in 27th with 76.9%.

The gender gap measures progress toward gender quality across 4 dimensions: economic opportunity, education, health, and political leadership.

It’s more important than ever to champion women’s rights worldwide.

Social media gives us the world at our fingertips, and we can use that power to spread information and increase awareness of the ongoing gender inequality worldwide.

Don’t let women’s oppression continue to be swept under the rug.

If you think one person won’t change anything, remember that there’s power in numbers.

Half of the world’s population is still facing oppression. Isn’t that something to be angry about?