Fight for women’s rights continues
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Many women shared the grueling and trying times they faced fighting for equal rights and opportunities on International Women’s Day (IWD) on Tuesday.
IWD has been observed since the early 1900s but was not officially recognized until 1975 by the United Nations.
The speaker of the house is a woman and that’s history and yet that woman is up there and they still disrespect her.
During the early 1900s, women protested and marched for fair working hours and pay and voting rights in The United States and The Bahamas, according to the United Nations.
Nikita Rolle, 47, of Bel-Air Estates said: “Before the independence, women were treated like second-class citizens.
“Women who were working the same jobs as men weren’t even paid nearly as much.”
She said women were never considered equal to men and never had equal opportunities like them.
Rolle said: “Growing up, in the workplace, people were like they had to sleep with this one or the next one to get what they were trying to accomplish.
“It’s like how they say slavery was abolished but you still had a racist culture.
“I mean, look — the speaker of the house is a woman and that’s history and yet that woman is up there and they still disrespect her.
“When a man was up there, they didn’t do those kinds of things.”
She said it is a constant fight for equality and for circumstances to change in areas such as the workforce and society for women.
Like, hey, don’t throw that in his face because he’ll beat you down because he is still supposed to be the head.
Rolle also said when it came to the decisions made for the country, those were based on what men said, even if women were the breadwinners.
“It was like I’m making this money, but I must make myself more docile,” she said.
“Like, hey, don’t throw that in his face because he’ll beat you down because he is still supposed to be the head.
“Even when you [went] to school and come out, it is like the men are more superior.”
She said to encourage or promote equality, men should be more supportive and appreciative of the many sacrifices women make daily.
“A man cannot do it all by himself,” she said.
Another resident, Bessie Cooper, said: “There were a lot of petitions done for women’s rights and a few or so protests before we were even able to vote in 1962.”
Many continue to stress the need for more equal opportunities and less discrimination in the workforce for women and demand women’s right be treated as human’s rights.
Written by Eyewitness News Intern Kareem Minnis
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