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I was Women's Officer for undergraduate students when at college ensuring their voices were heard by college authorities, dishing out rape alarms and offering weekly meetings where they could feel less isolated and discuss issues that affected them or other women at home and abroad. Some women told me they would not attend women's group meetings as the men in college would stop liking them if they did. That was back in the Eighties but I wonder how much has changed? Is it still more important for many women to be liked by men than to fight for women's rights? Does that mean there are no issues left to debate or does it mean that women still do not feel empowered to have a voice?
On Twitter today, I got absolutely no responses to my promotion and questions about the day. Yet I know I am followed by hundreds of women and some feisty and fabulous ones at that.
Maybe some women feel International Women's Day does not matter. However, it does give a focus each year to highlight issues confronting women around the world from my small village to other continents.
Is is right to say nothing when two women a week are killed as a result of domestic violence?
Can we stay silent when on average a woman is assaulted 35 times before making a phone call to the police?
Is it fair to turn a blind eye when children are witnessing women being treated in this way?
When I finally admitted to being attacked by a man on the street to my Mum in the Eighties, she shocked me by telling me that she was also attacked in the Forties.
What goes wrong? Or do we have to accept unpalatable statistics like the ones on domestic violence outlined above?
If you are a woman reading this, leave a comment and have your say. You have a right to a voice. Use it whether on Twitter, Facebook, in local politics, with your family, colleagues and friends.
What matters to you? How can we improve women's lives?
There are so many issues and inequalities. At the very least, give them some thought, do some research and show your commitment to a fairer world for women.
I will post about women's issues this week and hope others do that too. Bloggers have power to change things and working for a fairer world for women is a very good cause indeed.
