History Day

Science Fiction Day (2 January). Day of Hope (17 February). Battery Day (18 February). International Human Rights Day (10 December). World Autism Awareness Day (2 April). Almost every day of the year, something is commemorated or celebrated around the world. Some are more widespread, more serious or more necessary than others. There’s something for everyone.

A day steeped in history and still highly relevant today is 8 March, International Women’s Day. Its origins date back to 1908, when female textile workers in New York staged a major strike. They demanded equal pay, better working conditions and an end to sexual harassment in the workplace.

You would think – and hope – that, more than 100 years later, all that would have been achieved. That, in an age when we fly around the world, communicate wirelessly with one another, have brought smallpox, typhus and diphtheria under control, and are conducting research into the exploitation of other planets;

that in such a world, an ‘old-fashioned’ problem such as the oppression and abuse of women has long since become a thing of the past.

Unfortunately.

There are very few women who have never experienced some form of sexism. From seemingly innocent acts (a comment, a touch) to outright violence (harassment, sexual assault, rape). Your mother, your sister, your daughter: they’ve probably all had their share of experiences with it.

If they even do that. Because many women keep quiet about it, feel ashamed, or think it’s their fault. Or – even worse – have got used to it.

So there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

And it starts close to home. In every home. In every office. On every street. In the media. In politics. In Apeldoorn too.

And that’s why it’s good that 8 March is International Women’s Day. It still is.

Ton Heerts