March 8th marks International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day (IWD) was first celebrated in 1911 when it emerged from international women’s suffrage movements to foster international efforts to advance women’s equality and empowerment. The first celebration of IWD was accompanied by global protests and campaigns for the rights of women to work, vote, be educated and trained, and hold public office.
Coinciding with the celebration of International Women’s Day, the United Nations is hosting its 70th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) from March 9th to March 19th. CSW70’s 2026 theme aims to “accelerate gender equality by focusing on strengthening access to justice, eliminating discriminatory laws, and overcoming structural barriers for all women and girls.” The PC(USA) proudly sends a participating delegation each year to the CSW. Together, the member nations of the United Nations gather at CSW to advance the principles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The United States remains the only industrialized nation that has signed but not ratified the treaty.
Both of these international events critically redirect our focus to issues of women’s liberation and equality. As we celebrate successes in the advancement of women through previous decades and honor courageous women dedicated to these causes, we also acknowledge that patriarchal values still run deep, nationally and internationally.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has long lamented and worked to remedy the persisting realities of gender inequality manifest in economic, legal, and societal barriers to fully equality and autonomy. We acknowledge the incredibly high rates of gender-based violence in our country and others, realizing that “a church committed to peacemaking cannot avoid its responsibility to address the issue of domestic and international violence against women.” We grieve the normalcy of and lack of accountability for sexual misconduct committed by our government and church leadership. We grieve the “unjust exercise of governmental coercion” demonstrated in the rolling back of legislation permitting women to have autonomy over their bodies and lives. We acknowledge the physical demands that childbearing places on women’s bodies and mourn the toll on women’s lives created by societal expectations that they serve as primary caregivers. We decry and grieve the toll that climate change, famine, natural disasters, and warfare have on women and children. Especially now, we lift up the women and girls of Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, Haiti, and Iran, as they face active conflict. Additionally, we highlight issues of intersectionality, wherein women of color, sexual and gender minorities, migrants, displaced people and refugees face additional structural barriers to safety and access to legal aid.
The church, as a trusted and influential member of civil society, is uniquely positioned to support the advancement of women’s equality. Our tradition compels us to state with certainty that “a political, economic, and social system that translates unalterable human difference—race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical ability—into occasion for oppression, exploitation, and hopelessness, is incompatible with Reformed theology.” Our faith requires us to ensure the dignity of all people and promote proactive approaches to women’s empowerment.
As we celebrate the successes of women, we are reminded of the need to also regard this observation as a call to action, to continue to pursue gender equality and put a floodlight on the areas of our society that continue to permit and perpetuate the marginalization and mistreatment of women and girls. So today and every day, we urge Presbyterians to write Congress asking that their elected officials:
- Pass The Equality Act (S. 1503 / H.R. 15) to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender and sexuality in the US.
- Pass The Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 17 / S. 1115) to prevent gender-based wage discrimination and protect the rights of workers to discuss wages.
- Pass The Child Care for Every Community Act (H.R. 5658) to increase the accessibility of affordable and high-quality childcare to enable working families and in particular, women, to pursue employment.
- Pass The Stronger Start for Working Families Act (S. 3596) to enable low-income families to access the Child Tax Credit to increase economic empowerment in low-income families and in particular, women.
- Reintroduce and pass the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA/S. 2279) to strengthen U.S. leadership in preventing gender-based violence globally, particularly in conflict and humanitarian crises, and to support survivor services and women’s organizations working for justice, safety, and dignity in their communities.
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