But this is not the case for women everywhere. In Afghanistan, the average girl won’t live to see her 50th birthday. In New Delhi, India, nine out of ten women feel the streets of their city are unsafe for them. In Ethiopia, 71% of women will be physically or sexually abused over the course of their lives. In Pakistan, only one woman per four men holds a paying job.

We must take this opportunity to denounce the abuse, oppression and persecution of women in such places, and pledge action to improving their fortunes however we can. But we need International Women’s Day here at home as well, where equal pay for work of equal value has yet to be fully realized, where domestic violence still exacts too high a toll on our society, and where only 36% of legislators, officials or managers are women. We’ve come a long way together – but we still have work to do!

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