Women's rights have lagged behind the rights of men for many years. Even today, women face challenges because of laws that discriminate against them.
Women were first allowed to vote in elections in the United States in 1920. Only in 1963 was the equal pay act passed which made it illegal for employers to pay a woman less than what a man would receive for the same job.
Women are discriminated against in almost every country around the world. 70% of the world's women are poor and women own just 1% of the world's land.
Even basic laws like the legal ages for marriage could have a huge impact on women's lives. Many countries still have different ages of marriage for young women than they have for young men, and the age for girls is always lower then the age for boys.
This leads to problems, for example of a girls' right to education, if she has to leave school at 14 to get married, and this impacts upon her chances in life. It ends up being a life-long violation of her rights because she can't often finish school and she often has children too early.
Why do you think women's rights seem to always be behind the rights of men? What can we do to make sure that men and women are both treated fairly and equally? How have you seen women discriminated against in your life?
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Information retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7331813.stm
