INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
MARCH 8, 2020

 She Empowers Her 

The Fair Trade movement is full of examples of women bucking social norms and overcoming gender barriers. Visit their Women’s Day site:http://wfto.com/womensday2020/ for inspiring stories, reports, materials and to learn how you can promote #GenderEquality. 

EQUALITY
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
MARCH 8, 2020

Dear Friends,

It is now fashionable to think that we, as humans, should all become equal as if being equal is a goal.  The Interfaith Peace Project offers another perspective.  Instead of longing for that day when all people will be equal, we propose we recognize the equality of all people all the time.  Equality is not something that is given through legislation or granted by some renewed theology or cultural adjustment.  Equality is what every person possesses by virtue of being a person.  We must work for that day when the dignity and equality of everyone will no longer be denied.

Equality is the starting point not the goal.  No one should be denied their rights as a person because of their gender identity, love attraction, belief, ethnicity, or color of their skin.  Women have suffered terribly and continue to be treated as if they were not fully human.  Their right to live in safety and autonomy has been and continues to be compromised by oppressive and duplicitous social, religious, cultural, and political conventions.  The time has come to recognize and foster the equality that women possess by virtue of simply being a woman.

If equality is understood as a starting point, we can then enjoy the unique contributions people can and will make in our World.  Women’s voice continues to rise all over the World.  Women who claim their equality as full-fledged human beings set new standards for governmental leadership, theological innovations, cultural developments, and social organizations.  As women continue to recognize and claim their dignity, they give oppressed women a powerful chance to be free to be themselves.  As women continue to recognize and claim their equality, they open the door for men to be liberated from any temptation to oppress or demean another person. 

The time has come for all people to recognize, celebrate, and claim their dignity as equal human beings for the sake of all peoples everywhere.  As we celebrate International Women’s Day, we pause to express our gratitude to all those who dedicate themselves to the cause of insuring the rights and dignity of everyone.  We stand with all people of good will as we especially thank the women and girls who have suffered in the cause of what is good, true, and beautiful.  The violence against women, because they are women, must stop.  It is now our responsibility to hear the voices of women who cry out for justice, freedom, and dignity.  Their voices invite us to conversion of heart that we might honor and respect women and no longer be afraid of their courage, wisdom, ingenuity, creativity, or boldness of spirit.

Remember every day is International Women’s Day.

The Interfaith Peace Project

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 WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY?

International Women’s Day was “officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977. International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.

International Women’s Day is now a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women, who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.”  (www.un.org)

This year, the United Nations International Women’s Day theme is:

I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.

For more information, click here or go to
https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day

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Claim your dignity…
Find your voice…
Stand up for what is
Right, True, Just and Beautiful!