Name: Hayley Wason
Community/State: Cobden, Victoria
School: Mercy Regional College
Age/Grade: 16 Years, Year 10
“Life is a roadtrip with twists and turns. How can we support one another to navigate the road to gender equality?”
As a woman, I hear stories of how women were treated in the past. Patriarchy, inequality, discrimination. Over time this is changing. Women are being treated more equally, especially in Australia, but still many women are unfairly treated, through domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, non-equal pay and discrimination.
These are major problems for women. That’s not to say that women do not do these as well, but the percentages of men offending are far higher. Women should be able to walk down the street at night without fear of being raped, or murdered. Even walking in daylight by yourself is becoming more and more dangerous. Things need to change. For both men and women. Both deserve the right to not fear for their safety wherever they go. We shouldn’t have to feel unsafe everywhere. 1 in 2 women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime, and 1 in 3 women have experienced sexual or physical violence since the age of 15. How is this gender equality in any way? These numbers need to change.
Women make up just over half of the population in Australia. We are needed to keep reproduction going, just the same as men. We are the ones that spend over 50 years dealing with periods, and all the complications that come with that, and then we are also the ones that have to carry the children for 9 months, before going through the horrible pain of birth. We are incredibly strong human beings, and we deserve to be treated equally to men.
In our school, there has been a recent push for equality. Staff are getting behind the girls, in making sure they aren’t afraid to stand up and speak their opinions. Us girls participated in many activities that brought us together, and made us trust each other. We know that when we need it, we will always have people to stand with us. I think this should be something that is integrated in all schools, to allow for young women to never lose their voice, and to keep that voice as they proceed into adulthood.
We need to keep raising awareness about gender equality, and fighting for our rights. Stick together and stand up against the way we are being treated. If we keep fighting for change, things will change, we just have to support each other in standing against the way things are now.