International Women's Day is celebrated because there is no level playing field between men & women and we want to bring attention to this fact - Jalal

International Women's Day is celebrated every year on the 8th of March because there is no level playing field between men and women and we want to bring attention to this fact.

These were the sentiments of International Human Rights lawyer, Imrana Jalal during a virtual discussion to commemorate International Women's Day last night.

SODELPA MP Ro Teimumu Kepa and the Founder of FRIEND Fiji Sashi Kiran were also part of the discussion.

Jalal says she was asked by her 11-year-old nephew why we celebrate International Women's Day and not International Men's Day.

She adds that she told him that they want people to know that women are the largest discriminated group in the world.

Jalal went on to say that men have always had a historical advantage in every field where they have this incredible learning curve advantage.

She says unless women are given special rights and unless there is affirmative action and positive discrimination, there is no possibility of closing the gaps on gender gaps between men and women.

Jalal highlighted that in 2009, Fiji was ranked 103 out of 135 countries in the World Economic Forum Ranking and we are still ranked 103 in 2020.

She adds we have made no progress for a decade.

Jalal further says she also found out that only 19% of businesses are registered to women and almost all of them are micro and small enterprises.

She says a study by the Fiji Women's Rights Movement showed that out of 1,000 women interviewed, 20% had experienced sexual harassment.

Jalal says this means one in every five women in the working environment suffered sexual harassment which has an impact on whether or not they are willing to go to work to earn an income.