March 8th is celebrated as International Women's Day, a date remembered for years as a symbol of the fight for their rights. However, although many countries have laws establishing equal rights for men and women, gender inequality and all its consequences are still experienced every day by girls and women all around the world. The patriarchal system, rooted in many societies over the centuries, has been responsible for inequality of power between the genders which, in the most extreme cases, results in violence and femicide.
The advances in many countries' legislation to ensure - at least in theory - equal rights for men and women is the result of more than two centuries of women's struggles for equality. Unfortunately, however, the laws are still not enough to secure these rights. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap report, we are still more than a century away from gender equality if we follow the current pace of progress.
