International Women's Day 2007

Did you know that apparently today is International Women's Day 2007? I didn't know that until just a few minutes ago. It was started by the UN. Now, I also looked up to see if there is such a thing as an International Men's Day and did not find anything official; I did, however, find a site where one could sign a petition to the UN requesting, that in honor of equal rights, there should also be an International Men's Day.

Now, I can't say that I'm one to go off about men vs. women because I think it is silly. We are simply a different gender. Nothing wrong with different anything. I do, however, love being a woman and all that goes with it.

What does get me going however is when we see/hear of crimes against women which are going on worldwide every single minute of every single day. Really, what gets me is crimes against humans because along with women around the world, millions suffer at the hands of others because of their race, their age, their religion (or lack thereof), their body type, their economic status, their job, their lack of a job, their language, their illness or handicap, their politics, where they were born, where they grew up, and the list could go on forever.

All over the world humans are being cruel to humans and just because it is not ME suffering at someone's hands does not mean that I don't have a responsibility to stand up against it . I will always love what Elie Wiesel said,

"one person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs."

So this is why I think that International Women's Day deserves it's place in the calendar because it means that on one day of the year there is cause to stop and take a look at the world and investigate, recognize and protest against the horrific acts from which women around the world still suffer every single day.

I am so thankful that I live in a place such as Canada and am surrounded by people who love me and treat me - a woman - with respect. My heart goes out to those who are not so fortunate and my pen speaks of my protest of crimes against women who suffer, and in hopes that those who have won their freedom and rights might never lose them.