Today is International Women’s Day. I’m a very lucky woman. I’m in a relationship with a man who is feminist and I work in a job with equal pay between men and women. What’s more, we have more women in leadership roles despite working in an industry which has more men.
Yet, not everyone is so lucky. I only found out while researching this that in 32 countries, women need their husband’s permission to apply for a passport.
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a time for us to call out gender inequality. One of my favourite things about travelling is the people I meet and the cultures I learn about.
Women in Different Countries
Being a woman in another country is very different to being a woman in the UK. When I visited Oman, the women covered themselves up. When I lived in China, a lot of the women I worked with felt pressured to be married. While in Laos, I vividly remember one night where some men were outrightly mocking a woman for the way she looked.
This is not right.
No matter what country we’re from or the lives we’ve lived as women, we are all equal and need to stand up for each other. We have a long way to go with equality, but we are making progress. Right now there are more women in the global labour force than ever before and in 2016 we saw the first ever woman run for president in the USA.
It’s easy to get fed up with the women who follow you around Sa Pa trying to sell you unnecessary trinkets or the Chinese women taking photos of you while you’re sat trying to have lunch. But, those women in SaPa need that money for their children and that woman in China taking your photo is probably taking it because she thinks your skin looks beautiful.
We should be trying to support each other, empower each other, and help each other. No matter what country I go to, I realise that as women are all the same; no matter what country we’re from.
To the Women in My Life…
Thank you. Whether we met for one day on a bus in Vietnam or you’ve known me for 10 years, you are all amazing, brave, and wonderful women. Don’t let anyone bring you down.
