Let’s see … how many women were killed at the start of this year – in France – by their partner or ex-partner?

26. We are only eight days into March and, already, twenty-six women have been brutally bludgeoned, stabbed, strangled, run over with a car, shot or had their throat slit. The word is Femicide: the killing of females by males because they are female. And President Macron has done nothing to eradicate or ease this problem. Two-thirds of those deaths, leaving behind traumatized orphans and broken families, could have been avoided.

On the government website, Stop the Violence, the words, L’Etat vous protège (the State protects you) are written. No, I’m sorry. The State does not protect us.

Today is International Women’s Day. So what?

Does it mean that for one day only, on March 8th, men should refrain from killing women?

Does it mean that for one day only, on March 8th, forced marriages and FGM (female genital mutilation) should cease?

Does it mean that for one day only women’s sanitary products (tampons and other products, classed as ‘luxury’ and ‘non-essential’) should not be taxed? Since when are monthly menstrual products deemed non-essential?

Does it mean that for one day women should receive a higher salary? Women earn 77.9 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Does it mean that for one day men should stop harassing women in the street, in the office and elsewhere? Women the world over face sexual and non-sexual harassment in the workplace which range from unwelcome verbal, visual, non-verbal or physical.

75% of women who find themselves subject to hostile situations in the workplace do not report their harassment for fear of being fired. People often ask “Why did the victim not report?” I did report. On more than one occasion, in well-known law firms in Paris, I found myself out on the street and unemployed for no other reason than I was harassed (one of my harassers was a female senior lawyer.) When I reported my tormenter’s actions to HR, they were utterly untrained and clueless as to how to treat harassment cases. “Just get rid of her” seemed the easiest option for those involved.

Does it mean that for one day only employers should put an end to Maternity Discrimination? The Guardian reports that over 50,000 women lose their jobs over pregnancy discrimination.

Most of the above refers to First World “advanced” nations. I shudder to think what women in Second and Third World countries go through.

Let me share with you a chilling photograph that iced women’s blood around the world, including my own. This is what patriarchy, misdirected power and misogyny look like. In other words, a horror show.

“The Trump administration rolled back important women’s rights protections with an executive order that enabled more employers and insurers to assert objections to the contraceptive coverage mandate of the Affordable Care Act.

from an article written by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett (The Guardian)