OPINION: Is this really a day for all women?
A true celebration of International Women's Day should extend beyond casual luncheons. It demands a commitment to tangible change, ensuring a safer, fairer future for all women.
Brigit Grant is the Jewish News Supplements Editor
There will be a lot of lunches today. Lots of salmon en croute served with Chablis to toast International Women’s Day. Countless speeches will be given incorporating the 2024 theme – ‘Inspire Inclusion’ and over dessert and fruit, diners can reflect on the roles women play in society.
Motherhood is one of those roles, if not the most important, and it requires a commitment that comes without a contract or a signature. There is no manual for the role as we rely solely on instinct – which for most mothers and particularly the Jewish kind translates into 24/7 concern juxtaposed with worry, depending on where our children are in the world.
As mothers we are most at ease when our children are asleep in their beds and when they are away we often gaze into their bedrooms, but it is about more than just tidying the mess they left behind. The room holds the essence of a child’s life –their interests, hobbies, character and personality.
A mother can still hear the laughter and remembers where her daughter was sitting when she cried. Now imagine the anguish of the Israeli mothers whose children have been taken hostage in Gaza.
This week I saw the Daily Mail’s story about the mothers of hostages Naama Levy, Liri Albag, Meirav Agam, Daniela Gilboa and Karina Ariev. Ashen faces frozen in sorrow, the mothers were pictured clutching photos or a cuddly toy to plead for the safe return of their adored daughters. There are clothes in the wardrobe. Shoes by the bed. The strands of hair on brushes are a torturous reminder of stroking their children’s heads. The empty bedrooms echo with the absence of joy replaced by the haunting uncertainty of their fate.
A mother can still hear the laughter and remembers where her daughter was sitting when she cried. Now imagine the anguish of the Israeli mothers whose children have been taken hostage in Gaza.
The pain of losing a child transcends all else. To know that one only has to look in the eyes of Mariano Janin who lives with the loss of his 15-year-old daughter Mia.
When Mia tragically took her own life in 2021 because of online bullying, entering her bedroom became unbearable for her mother Marissa who saw the space as a wretched void and a constant reminder of her obliterated role as the parent of a beautiful daughter.
That Marissa died four months later from an aneurysm and leukaemia leaves Mariano trapped in a labyrinth of anguish and after his fight for justice for his daughter, he is now calling for a new law to make cyberbullying a criminal offence.
Accepting the loss of a child defeats most parents. Falling with shock at the first hurdle they never regain their footing in the world without their child and the thought of what maybe haunts the Israeli mothers of the hostages.
Mothers sit at the table and are the heart of International Women’s Day, which if it has any value beyond mere celebration, it is about a call to action. While organisations champion the cause touting slogans of inclusivity, the plight of Israeli women has gone unnoticed.
UN Women had to be shamefaced and forced to acknowledge the unspeakable atrocities perpetrated on Israeli women on October 7. And now those women – the daughters of those women, as well as their sons, husbands and fathers who are now being treated as mere pawns in political negotiations with a terrorist organisation who can’t or won’t reveal their location or whether they are even alive.
UN Women had to be shamefaced and forced to acknowledge the unspeakable atrocities perpetrated on Israeli women on October 7.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2024, “Inspire Inclusion,” holds profound implications. It beckons us to acknowledge and address the mistreatment of women everywhere. Yet, for Israeli women, inclusion remains elusive. They languish in captivity, their whereabouts and well-being shrouded in uncertainty.
True celebration of International Women’s Day extends beyond casual lunches with wine. It demands a commitment to tangible change, ensuring a safer, fairer future for all women on both sides of this awful conflict. The agony of Israeli mothers and of course the suffering of women and girls in Gaza serve as a poignant reminder of this.
As women embrace inclusion, they find empowerment and belonging. Here’s to forging a world where every woman, regardless of nationality or circumstance, can thrive.
The promise of a brighter future lies not just in rhetoric but in concrete actions that uplift and protect women everywhere.
Mothers and daughters everywhere.
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