International Women's Day

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, this year marks the 95th anniversary of National Women's Day and the 93rd anniversary of International Women's Day. Since the first decades of the 20th century, when women in the United States, Western Europe, and Russia fought for the right to vote, tremendous progress has been made in advancing women's rights. Unfortunately, many women here at home and abroad still suffer.

In the last year, through America's increased involvement in foreign countries, our attention has been drawn to both the gains and shortcomings in the advancement of women's rights. In Afghanistan, although more girls are attending school than ever before in the country's history, tremendous security concerns remain. In rural areas especially, many women and girls choose to remain indoors because they are frequently targeted by armed warlords. This makes it impossible for them to attend school, go to work, or actively participate in the country's reconstruction.

Afghan women are also concerned with the widespread prevalence of forced marriage, and rape. In some cases, girls as young as 8 years old are forced into marriage with much older men. Although I am glad to see that the new Afghan constitution guarantees equal rights for all, I recognize the difference between putting high ideals down on paper and putting them into practice. Women's programs in Afghanistan have not been funded at proposed levels and it is unacceptable.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have been a strong supporter of Afghan aid, especially for women. I worked very hard to include an amendment to provide $60 million for Afghan women's programs in the fiscal year 2004 Iraq/Afghanistan supplemental appropriations bill, because it is of the utmost importance that women play an active role in the country's political and economic reconstruction.

In Iraq as well, we must demand that the promises made to women become a reality. The interim constitution sets a 25 percent quota for women in the transitional assembly, and the preamble of the document makes clear that Iraqis are equal without regard to sex, sect, religion or other considerations. However, this is far removed from what women's groups initially asked for. The 25-member Iraqi Governing Council has only three women members, only one women sits in the Iraqi Cabinet, and of the 18 provincial governors, none are women. This has resulted in a vast shortage of women from all the decision-making bodies in the new Iraq.

In addition to following through with our commitment to women in Iraq and Afghanistan, we must also do a better job of drawing attention to the other millions of women around the globe who suffer from legal and political discrimination, domestic violence, inadequate medical care, illiteracy, and other social injustices.

The worldwide theme for International Women's Day this year is "Women and HIV/AIDS." This is because the disease is having an increasingly devastating impact on females. Throughout the world, girls and young women now make up nearly two thirds of those below the age of 24 living with HIV, and new infections are rising fastest among married women infected by their husbands.

In order to stem this trend, women must be involved in the solution. This will involve providing women with better education and better healthcare. The U.N. properly recognizes that no enduring solution to any of society's social, economic and political ills can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment of women.

In Africa alone, poor healthcare and poor education among women is one of the greatest challenges to development. Because women are the primary caretakers of children and the elderly, families face an additional burden when mothers are in poor health and poorly educated. Unfortunately, it has taken a global pandemic to remind us how important it is to support education and healthcare improvements for women.

Domestic violence is another enormous problem facing women. Not only abroad, but here at home as well, countless women are the targets of brutality simply because of their gender. The impact of domestic violence toward women is profound and it is often overlooked.

The World Health Organization asserts that domestic violence causes more deaths and disabilities among women between ages 15 and 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war. Every day, thousands of women are made to be victims of rape, genital mutilation, sexual assault, honor killings, sexual trafficking, female infanticide, forced sterilization, and forced abortion. These things are very unpleasant to talk about, and for most of us, their occurrence is hard to comprehend. Many ask, how is it possible that in this age of technology and global communication, so many still suffer from the barbaric practices of the past?

As a global leader, the United States has a responsibility to bring attention to these types of questions, because progress can only be made by recognizing and addressing the unfortunate realities that still exist. In the upcoming year, as the international community seeks to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as bring stability to other tenuous parts of the world, let us renew our focus on the importance of advancing the causes of women.

Today, as we recognize International Women's day, I am reminded of the inscription on the Women's Suffrage Monument in the Capital Rotunda. The inscription reads:

Principle not policy, Justice not Favor, Men, their rights and nothing more. Women, their rights and nothing less.