The UN released a report last week that states women are discriminated against in almost every country around the world.
The report states that 70% of the world's poor are women and they own just 1% of the world's titled land.
Thankfully, there are some positive advances for women in world leadership positions. Per the UN Web site, in January of this year, the proportion of women in national parliaments reached a new global high. There are now 11 women Heads of State or Government, in countries on every continent. And three countries – Chile, Spain and Sweden – now have gender parity in Government.
I take my access to education, to equality in legal issues and advancement opportunity for granted but then something happens or I read something that makes me stop and really think. There is a scene in Sense & Sensibility where Elinor and Edward discuss the situation of women, of single women of a certain age and the true extent of their plight during the early 1800's.
Elinor Dashwood: You talk of feeling idle and useless. Imagine how that is compounded when one has no hope, no choice of any occupation whatsoever.
Edward Ferrars: Our circumstances are therefore precisely the same.
Elinor Dashwood: Except that you will inherit your fortune. We cannot even earn ours.
I am thankful I have the choice of education, of occupation and that I am not tethered to my parents' home and hearth because I am a single woman in her thirties. But I am in the US and I have had advantages. I take certain human rights for granted and I want to remind myself, more frequently, that I must never forget the ones who do not have a voice.
Peace.
