International Women’s Day ‘Break the Bias’

The 2022 theme for International Women’s Day is Break The Bias.  This is designed to keep the focus on breaking gender stereotypes experienced by women world-wide.

It is unsurprising that many older women are reflecting upon just how far they have really come since the very early female activists took to the streets around the globe to advocate for a better deal for women and girls everywhere. Women of my generation tend to take for granted something as simple as enjoying the freedom to hold a license to drive a car.  Yet this privilege has not been universally enjoyed.  Indeed, it was as recently as July 2018 that women in Saudi Arabia, who had been campaigning for women to be able to drive for years, took to the streets to celebrate when that nation lifted the ban on women driving.

Australians may find that hard to believe and for a fleeting moment we possibly think that Australia is so much more socially advanced. However, when we consider that our mothers, our sisters and daughters are often not afforded safety within their own homes, or when going out and walking alone or even in their workplaces from a building site to parliament house, I truly despair at how backward sections of our society really are.

We only have to look at how successive governments have repeatedly rejected the calls from older Australians for adequate resourcing to ensure they might have access to timely, quality and contemporary care whether for residential or home care options. And this is despite the findings of a recent Royal Commission! Would the fact that the majority of care recipients and carers, both in residential and home care settings are women allow for such inexcusable neglect?

Maybe the colour of my hair has made me cynical, but I would say what I see with my eyes, hear with my ears and sense with my heart tells me that the bias against women is thriving.  This is clearly evidenced when report after report and carefully considered recommendations to change this story are rejected or picked over at the highest levels to maintain a sick status quo.  There is no doubt at all we have much more to do.

I call upon women and men, boys and girls to work together to learn, understand and practice mutual respect and behaviours that raise up our fellow human beings.

Think again before you make that joke about gender or blondes, think again before you stare at someone else’s features or what they are wearing, think again before you elevate your own attributes over those of another, think again before you condemn someone else’s mistakes as if you have never made one, think again before you dismiss the input of those around you as if you know it all.

Instead let’s all commit to raise one another up, let’s call out the greatness in others, lets laugh together at ourselves, lets release joy and hope by addressing others by name in a tone that speaks of our own humility and gentleness and let’s seek out the wisdom of colleagues, family and friends because together we can really change the world.

Let’s choose this day to honour women everywhere and continue to include and encourage the men in our lives to be part of the change needed across our society.

Today I do honour and thank all the wonderful women in my life who have been part of my journey from birth right up to the present day. Yes those of all ages, all colours, all persuasions and all backgrounds . You have all made a difference in ways that only you could for you did indeed ‘Raise Me Up!’

Now it’s over to you! Why not tell someone in your life of the difference they have made to you, perhaps someone really does need to know, and it could mean the world to them to hear it from you.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Viv Allanson
CEO, Maroba