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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-03-08 Daily Xml
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International Women's Day

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (16:48): I move:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges that 8 March 2023 is International Women's Day and pays tribute to those who have fought, and continue to fight, for the advancement of the status of women and girls.

2. Notes this year's theme Embrace Equity recognises that each one of us can actively support and embrace equity within our own sphere of influence to challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination and draw attention to bias.

3. Acknowledges that whilst much has been achieved, women still face entrenched inequality, violence and barriers to equal and active participation in our economy and in every aspect of community life.

4. Commits to doing whatever it can to work towards—

(a) preventing and eradicating sexism, harassment, violence and abuse of women in all of its forms;

(b) challenging stereotypes, discrimination and bias against women; and

(c) continuing to advance the status of women and girls.

5. Commends the state government for its strong women's equality and safety policy and actions.

On 8 March every year, the world comes together to acknowledge the achievements, struggles and determination of women. As we know, this daylong celebration generally consists of flashy breakfasts, catchy slogans and brand promotions, and after this day, normality resumes and any meaningful discussion of women's liberation is put on the backburner once more. Much of the fanfare around International Women's Day attempts to convince us that gender equity is a paramount ambition for businesses, governments and society, yet despite this, the World Economic Forum states that it will take another 217 years to achieve this equity.

The commercialisation of International Women's Day grows every year, without much improvement to the reality of issues affecting women. The modern corporate rebranding of International Women's Day could not be further away from its revolutionary roots: 8 March was initially nominated as International Working Women's Day at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women. This was in commemoration of a large strike by women textile workers in America in 1908.

This was just one instance within a broader global campaign in the early 20th century, which saw millions of women take to the streets to fight for their basic human rights. This included the right to work, unionise, vote, participate in politics and access higher education, improved health care and welfare services. It is important that we acknowledge and honour those who have fought and continue to fight for the rights of women.

However, to make true progress towards gender equality we must acknowledge the continued struggle and abuse that women face globally. International Women's Day is a stark reminder that we have a long way to go. We cannot consider the issues that women fought against in the past as history. Many of the same struggles are still present today.

In Afghanistan, sixth grade is now the highest education level for Afghan girls. Afghan women are demonised and banned from the public sphere. They are no longer allowed to attend gyms, parks or secondary schools and are increasingly forced into marriages from the age of 13. They need a male chaperone for long road travel and to board a plane, and they are required to cover their faces and bodies. Perhaps most significantly, Afghan women are excluded from access to vital aid and health care, as women workers are banned in both non-government organisations and government itself. Under the deeply conservative rule of the Taliban, women cannot receive treatment from men and are therefore precluded from humanitarian operations.

In Iran, the regime brutally represses women. Women are targeted at protests and shotguns are aimed at their faces, breasts and genitals. Morality police detain women like Mahsa Amini for failing to wear the hijab, and later kill them in custody or sentence them to death for speaking out against the oppressive laws enforced upon them. Both countries effectively institutionalise misogyny in their constitution to ensure women's financial, social and political dependency on men.

Furthermore, women and children are often the worst affected by conflict and suffer disproportionately during and after war. For example, the brutal war waged by Russia against Ukraine saw 3.8 million people flee Ukraine by mid-April 2022. UN figures showed that 90 per cent of those fleeing were women and children. Rape and sexual violence have a long history as a weapon of war, frequently utilised by militaries to destroy the social fabric of communities. Numerous stories of women raped and killed in front of their children, or targeted and brutalised by Russian military officials, emerge at an alarming rate as the conflict continues.

This is not unlike conflict in other countries such as Myanmar, where, by the end of 2020, 77 per cent of people living in an internally displaced persons camp were identified to be women and girls. Uyghur women, forced into labour camps by the Chinese government, frequently recall surviving the horrors of rape, torture and forced sterilisation in the internment camps.

The West is not exempt in this victimisation and marginalisation of women in society. Just last week, hundreds of women took to the streets of central London to highlight the lack of action in addressing gender-based violence. The protest pointed to a former Met Police officer who admitted to a horrific campaign of rape and abuse against women throughout his 20 years in a position of power.

In the US, women are constantly fighting for the right to their own bodily autonomy as the abortion debate continues. In fact, to find institutionalised misogyny in the US we need not look much further than the term of the former President Donald Trump, who was exposed as a perpetrator of sexual assault by at least 10 women.

South Australia, even with its progressive history as the first state to grant women equal political rights to men, continues to have a gender pay gap of 7.4 per cent. This equates to a $127.70 difference in weekly full-time earnings. Nationally, Australian men have an average superannuation balance at retirement of approximately $345,000 compared to women, whose average super is $279,000. In terms of gendered violence, we saw 60 women murdered in Australia at the hands of an intimate partner in 2022.

This speech has painted a bleak picture of women's position in society under the patriarchy, but it is my belief that in order to meaningfully improve the life of every woman, we must fully embrace the ugly truth. What we really want to see on International Women's Day is a sincere plan of action to tackle these struggles rather than empty celebrations.

In South Australia particularly, we want to see a focus on women workers' issues so that we can achieve economic equity. To do this, we must target the shameful fact that female-dominated occupations attract lower pay than male-dominated occupations. Recent data from the Bureau of Statistics also indicates that overall 70 per cent of part-time jobs are held by women and that they are twice as likely to be engaged in insecure work in comparison to their male counterparts.

I commend our government's commitment to a range of policy initiatives to tackle this. It is important that we stay committed to closing the gender pay gap by ensuring that the barriers to women's full and equal participation in the workforce are removed through systemic and cultural change. Discrimination, harassment, abuse and misogyny impact women at every stage of their lives, past, present and future. This International Women's Day, I will be keeping the women who have fought, struggled and continue to advocate for equal rights at the front of my mind. To quote the brave women in Iran, 'Women, life, liberty.'

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. L.A. Henderson.

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