An article by private investigator Nikos Pelekasis in the newspaper Pontiaki Gnomi – International Women’s Day.
International Women’s Day has been established as an annual celebration on 8 March, in commemoration of a major protest held on 8 March 1857 by female textile workers in New York, who were demanding better working conditions. Over the years, although this celebration originally had a political background, it subsequently became established simply as an occasion on which men honour women by giving them gifts and flowers.
With the resurgence of the feminist movement after 1975, it has been celebrated under the auspices of the United Nations, bringing women’s problems and rights to the forefront. – International Women’s Day.
Thus, particularly on that day, relevant articles concerning women’s rights under international and Greek constitutional law, as well as the struggles women have undertaken so far in pursuit of a better life in all areas of their activity, are presented around the world through the media, radio, television and the internet.
In this way, the public is informed about important issues such as the abuse of women (physical and psychological), often by a husband or other members of the family environment due to drunkenness, unemployment or psychological problems, or by relatives, for example for reasons of honour. At the same time, people learn which authorities they should contact if they become aware of such an incident in order to report such behaviour, such as the Hellenic Police and others.
International Women’s Day
Women have been, and continue to be, easy victims of all kinds of abusive behaviour against them because of their physical build and often because of their inability to become independent (due to unemployment or financial problems), but even more so because they believe that the person abusing them will one day change — something which, unfortunately, rarely happens in most cases.
Furthermore, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, attention is drawn to problems such as the rape of women, slavery, human trafficking and sexual harassment in the workplace, which unfortunately still occur worldwide and are becoming increasingly severe as a result of the economic crisis.
In Third World countries, unfortunately, the problems faced by women are far greater, since local law takes precedence over and goes beyond international rules and laws. There, for example, a woman who has engaged in prostitution or committed adultery may face punishment by death through stoning, as an example to others, although this does not appear to have a deterrent effect on similar behaviour. Girls at a very young age are also subjected to clitoridectomy, a practice which older women have established without hesitation and which has now become part of the local law of these countries.
However, despite the efforts of organisations concerned with women’s rights around the world, such as avaaz.org, which attempt in various ways to raise public awareness — for example, by collecting electronic signatures in an effort to prevent these disturbing forms of abuse against women — there appears to be little change in the local situation.
We hope that one day International Women’s Day will be celebrated in a meaningful way, not merely as a commemoration of a protest by female textile workers, but also through the resolution of present-day problems that violate women’s dignity and reduce them to something considered inferior even to an animal.
International Women’s Day
Pontiaki Gnomi newspaper
February 2016
Issue No. 83
