International Women’s Day 2023 – It’s time to #EmbraceEquity

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. This year’s IWD is centred on the theme of #EmbraceEquity.

The first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.

Equality generally refers to equal opportunity and the same levels of support for all segments of society. Equity, on the other hand, involves distributing resources based on the needs of the recipients.

Defined as giving an individual what they specifically need to be successful, equity, unlike equality, doesn’t mean giving everyone the exact same thing. Embracing equity is important as the only way equality really works is if we assume that everyone started out in the same place which can be incredibly inaccurate because everyone is not the same.

Often when discussing equity vs equality, the concept of ‘fairness’ is mentioned. Many assume that ‘being fair’ means that everybody gets the same thing. This has been taught throughout time, but ‘fairness’ really only works when everyone is on a level playing field to begin with.

Due to this, many describe equity-based solutions as a long term solution to creating a fairer world for all as the concept of equity takes into account the diverse life experiences of everyone and thus adapts solutions according to these differences.

Focusing on just providing all genders with equal opportunities such as a women’s right to vote could be considered equality. However, women will likely require more than this. It needs to be recognised that what is needed to support them in all aspects of their life, from education to the workplace to health, can differ to what men need.

Equality doesn’t always take barriers or priviledges into account, whereas equity means giving everyone what they need to succeed. Even if that means providing different opportunities to different people. Ultimately, a shift from gender equality to the process of gender equity is required for meaningful progress.

Read more about the importance of International Women’s Day and how you can help #EmbraceEquity here.