International Women’s Day
The challenge for this year’s International Women’s Day is that it bears an air of sadness given the immense challenges many women around the world have experienced over the last year. The sudden change of abortion rights in the US – a supposedly free country, the loss of rights to an education in Afghanistan, persecution of women over the way in which they wear their hijab in Iran, a war in the Ukraine where millions of women and children are displaced, and a raft of natural disasters.  What can we do as women to ensure that we help and support those who do not have equitable rights and therefore access to a future where they and their families can thrive?
A few years ago, while working in the Philippines, Indonesia, and parts of China, it was sobering to see that women lived a very different life to me.   Being raised in a rural dairy farm, attending a small two teacher school, life was simple.  We rode our bikes and later caught the bus to the local college. Money didn’t grow on trees and my older brothers ensured that resilience was a good thing to have. It was the barefoot and kiwi lifestyle, outdoors with lots of local community events – watching Saturday rugby on the bonnet of the car and kicking the ball around the fields.  It was a freedom in some ways taken for granted.
This interpretation of the world led to the belief that all people had equal rights and opportunity, including women. It enabled a university education and a passion to see the rest of the world. How impactful it was when experiencing levels of poverty and deprivation and to learn so much about service to others – that money doesn’t necessarily change things or make people happy. The most powerful moment was to read and learn that the education of a woman even for one more year has the power to change the birthrate and quality of life for a whole country.
While my experience of education was that there was equal access in New Zealand, equity doesn’t mean treating everyone equally. New Zealand has been a leading example of providing access to education for all, but as we embrace changing socio-economic conditions, technologies, and manage our own natural disasters, we cannot be complacent. We should never lose sight of the need to support all women’s identities so that as they experience our country, they are blessed with the quality of life, opportunities and education that supports their cultural identity, beliefs, and ability to create an equitable future. At least, we can be the example for the world to see what is possible.
Heather McRae
Principal – Diocesan School for Girls
