March to mark International Women’s Day this Sunday
Article published: Friday, March 2nd 2012
A march in recognition of International Women’s Day will be held this Sunday. Organisers say they have called the demonstration in protest against what they see as the disproportionate impact of government cuts on women.
Manchester Coalition Against Cuts (MCAC), who have called the march, argue that the poorest and most vulnerable will be hit hardest by cuts to the public sector, and point out how women – who make up 65 per cent of the public sector workforce according to 2010’s Labour Force Survey – will be especially hard hit.
A Victorian theme has been chosen for the demonstration, in protest against what organisers claim is a return to “poverty and inequality not seen since Victorian times”. Some attendees plan to dress as street urchins and the protest will follow a route past the Palace Theatre’s latest production of Oliver.
From its birth in the socialist movement in 1918, International Women’s Day has become an international platform of recognition of women’s rights to equality and a celebration of women worldwide. Each year on 8 March thousands of events are held globally to inspire and celebrate the achievements of women.
With Manchester City Council expected to confirm the second year of a £170 million cuts programme to local services next Wednesday, the day before International Women’s day, organisers from MCAC hope to hit home to those in power the disproportionately negative effect austerity measures will have on the city’s female population.
Nahella Ashraf, an MCAC activist organising the demonstration, said: “Women will be the ones most directly affected by the cuts because not only will they lose the support they receive from the welfare state, they also stand to lose their jobs.” In addition, Ashraf pointed out how women “tended to be the ones doing the low paid public sector roles who deliver the services the council plans to cut.”
Anna Bird, acting Chief Executive of women’s rights campaign body The Fawcett Society, warned that “twice as many women than men” are expected “to lose their jobs in the public sector”, and noted how more women than men are expected to be hit by planned cuts to state benefits and services.
Ashraf claimed that austerity measures could undo years of progress made towards gender equality, describing the consequences as “the loss of benefits that previous generations of women have fought so hard for”.
When asked about the importance of the march given this, Ashraf said “this is the reason why we’re marching together under the banner of international women’s day, as part of that global struggle, for a better life for working class women in Manchester and around the world.”
Jenny Forrest
The demonstration will assemble at All Saints Park, Oxford Road, at 1pm Sunday 4 March.
More: Cuts, Manchester, News, Unions and workplace, Welfare
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