Are you a good global citizen? Stopping discrimination against women in the workforce and in everyday life

Julia
St Mary's Primary School
Australia

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Everybody deserves a 'fair go'. It doesn't matter what sex, race or age you are, everyone is born with the desire for free speech and to express their opinion freely.

Today, millions of women throughout the world still live in conditions of abject deprivation, with fear of violence and the fear of attacks against their fundamental human rights – all this for no other reason than that they are women.

If you're a little different to the average Australian woman, then chances are you will only have a slim chance of finding the job you want. Discrimination against women is an on-going problem in the Australian workforce. Many women are finding work hard to find because of the unfairness created by employers. Big companies and business bosses are disregarding women because of their appearance, age and religion. This is an injustice and a cruel practice.

Unfairness to women doesn’t just happen in the city. Aboriginal women in rural Australia suffer a lot of discrimination and are the most disadvantaged Australians of all. I wonder, do employers look at them and think: 'Oh, she's got black skin, we can't employ her'. Or do they say: 'I can't understand her language, we can't have her work in this store.'

Such attitudes can often force Aboriginal women and children to leave their families and towns in search of work. Already many fathers have to go to isolated communities to try and find work and this leaves mothers and children often feeling disempowered and forgotten.

I think it is a ridiculous situation when women are refused work on the basis of what they look like or what religion they practice. Everyone was born to have free speech and to have their own opinion. This is what makes our nation democratic.

A cold world needs warm-hearted people. Our world needs a change. We need warm-hearted people to help bring this world together so that everyone can have their rights respected.

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