Page 804 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 2018
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(c) commit to reviewing and improving access to reproductive health services including contraception, abortion and termination services; and
(d) continue to deliver health services that meet the specific needs of women.
We celebrated International Women’s Day two weeks ago, one day which is a reminder to celebrate women and to continue to make genuine steps towards equality every day. The celebrations reminded me of a TED talk I watched recently which emphasised to me just how far we have come on the path towards gender equality since my school years. The talk was presented by American sociologist and gender studies specialist Michael Kimmel. Michael was talking about a riddle he heard when he was younger, and I remember this one travelling around my schoolyard too. It goes something like this: a man and his son are driving on a freeway. They are in a terrible accident and the father is killed. The son is brought to the ER, and as the paramedics are bringing him in the attending physician sees the boy and says, “I can’t treat him. That’s my son.”
How is this possible? It is cringe-worthy now, but it was a real stumper back then. His father is dead. How can he also be the doctor in the ER? The idea that the doctor could be his mother—that was tricky. When the presenter Michael recounted this same riddle to his 16-year-old son and his son’s male friends today it was a no-brainer. The 16-year-olds instantly said, “It’s his mum.” Or, as one kid said, “Maybe he has two dads.” Anecdotes like this are hardly conclusive, but they are illustrative of a changing tide.
Every time we speak out, question assumptions and live according to our own ambitions rather than someone else’s expectations of us we influence attitudes towards gender equality and we are succeeding. Women are working across every industry, from the front line to corporate Australia, to engineering and IT. They can have kids and have a career. They can make their own choices about who they love and whether they want a family. But they will still find it tougher than their male counterparts to get a job in some industries even if their resumes are exactly the same.
Once they do get the job they will probably be paid less and be unrepresented in leadership positions. They are more likely to have to contend with misogyny and harassment in the workplace. Despite their career successes they will probably still be the engines keeping their homes running, bearing the burden of most household responsibilities. And, sadly, they will be extremely overrepresented in statistics about domestic, family and intimate partner violence.
Despite all of this we continue. We know that we are capable. We are competent. We are strong. The fight for equality is far from over, and this government is committed to supporting women and girls every step of the way so that they can reach their full potential. We are challenging barriers to success for women in the corporate and sporting spheres because these are women’s domains just as much as they are men’s. We are providing specialist healthcare services and improving infrastructure so that Canberra women can be confident that they can access world-class facilities that meet their needs. And we have established clear and defined policies on reproductive health
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