Table of Contents
What International Women’s Day is
International Women’s Day is on 8th March.
The day is a global event that aims to showcase the achievements of women, to help inspire others, and to campaign for a gender equal world.
Why it is important
Unfortunately, we still do not live in a gender equal world, particularly internationally.
- Even in the UK, despite in general entering the workplace with higher qualifications than men, women statistically earn less than men per hour
- More women still work in lower paid sectors than men and in lower paid roles
- Women still take on more unpaid work than men, such as childcare, other caring responsibilities, and housework
- More than half of girls and young women don’t feel safe on public transport
- 54% of younger women worry about appearing to confident in front of boys
- 1 in 10 girls have missed school to avoid sexual harassment
- There are still widespread limiting attitudes towards gender, with ‘gender norms’ starting to emerge at a very young age, with boys aged under 10 more likely to say they want to become scientists, and girls under 10 more likely to say that women are better at doing chores at home than men
- On average, girls tend to do better than boys in STEM subjects at GCSE level, but fewer women go on to study those subjects at A level
- Women aged 17-19 are three times as likely to have a diagnosed anxiety disorder than men
- More women than men face financial instability later in life due to earning less throughout life
- Across the world girls are less likely to be in education than boys, more likely to be sexually harassed or to experience sexual violence and less likely to receive good healthcare
- Even products that both men and women might use, such as razors or shaving foam, are approximately 13% more expensive when marketed at women.
International Women’s Day does not expect to solve these issues but hopes to draw some attention to them and to encourage longer term change. For more information, visit Women make Wigan Borough.
Why Wigan Council supports International Women’s Day
Supporting International Women’s Day links in with our main plan, Progress with Unity, in particular one of our key missions to break down barriers that create inequalities in our borough.
How much the council spends on marking International Women’s Day
Our approach in recent years for International Women’s Day has been to encourage and support community groups, schools, and colleges to mark International Women’s Day. We help to promote everything that is going on in local communities, encourage people to go along to local events and celebrate the events through our social media channels. We usually run a competition for young people through schools and colleges, to get young people thinking about female leaders and the importance of equality. This approach means there is minimal cost to the council but still an impact.
When is International Men’s Day?
International Men’s Day is on 19th November.
Events for International Men’s Day
The council doesn’t run events for International Men’s Day, but we don’t run an event for International Women’s Day either, we help to promote and celebrate what is happening in local communities.
If you would like to run your own event in the borough, tell us you’re planning an event.
We would be happy to help promote and celebrate your International Men’s Day event on our social media channels if you let us know about this in advance. Please contact Public relations (PR).
