On 18 December 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”, the overarching element of which is the elimination of gender inequalities. Greece ratified this Convention by Law 1342 of 1983. Some forty years later, progress has certainly been made towards gender equality, especially in the Western world, of course.
However, at the social and political level, we are unfortunately far from achieving full equality and practical gender respect. An indicative example is the representation of women in the central political scenes of the Mediterranean countries. The words of Antonio Guterres on the occasion of the Women's Day celebrations last year are characteristic: «With women still occupying just a quarter of parliamentary seats around the world, political representation is the clearest evidence of the gender gap.» And to speak for the rest of the world, just 62 Greek women have been given seats on the Greek Parliament's benches.

This finding is only the «tip of the iceberg». Unfortunately, we are all aware of the extreme manifestations of the violation of women's fundamental rights, first of all in Third World countries and especially in societies of Islamic fanatics. Millions of women throughout the world are deprived of political freedoms, equal opportunities for education and work, and even of that supreme right to self-determination and dignity, to life itself!

However, the advances that have been made in Western societies are in no way a guarantee of gender equality. Rape, the increasing incidents of domestic violence, abusive and degrading behaviour in many aspects of working and social life, the overwhelming majority of which have women as victims, with the perpetrators being representatives of the «stronger» sex. The root cause of discrimination can be traced back to the dominant mentality according to which economic and political power - and not meritocracy - is a criterion for promotion and professional and social advancement.

Although millions of great women are now creating and excelling in politics, the sciences, the arts, and in most professional arenas, numerous patriarchal anachronistic stereotypes undermine effective gender equality. Women's intellectual and professional abilities are often questioned, seeking to confine them exclusively to the traditional roles of housewife and mother, considering them worthy only of marginal and menial tasks. Even «old-fashioned men», as a well-known man who has recently been the target of allegations of sexual harassment put it, consider the physical and emotional self-determination of their target women to be the prey of their appetites and the perverse power game they play to be manly machismo(!).
For all these reasons, March 8, Women's Day should not be considered just another anniversary, a «celebration», but a starting point for reflection and militant initiatives. The responsibility of us women first and foremost is great. First of all, as mothers, we must raise daughters with self-esteem, sons with an appreciation of women, children and adolescents who are equal in dignity, mutual respect and humanitarian values. Equally crucial is the responsibility of teachers, journalists and intellectuals, as they are called upon to demolish outdated perceptions and to forcefully promote the demand for equal coexistence and cooperation between the sexes in all areas of working, political and social life.

In conclusion, full and practical gender equality should not be seen as an exclusively «feminist» demand, but as the crowning achievement in the struggle for a truly just, humane, creative and peaceful humanity.