International women's day provides an excellent opportunity to talk about the role of women in society. We often tend to use lofty words and talk about grandiose empowerment strategies. However, I want to draw attention to the women that don't grab the headlines.
Discussions about women and femininity tend to be centred on women aiming to reach the top of the career ladder. We talk about professional, highly educated workers and their fight to break the glass ceiling. The public discourse is dominated with discussions about women on boards and female leadership.
"We should use events such as international women's day to focus on women working in poorly paid jobs"
Although we might disagree on the best route to success, there is no doubt we need powerful women and role models. The life stories of those who have reached the top, such as Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer are incredible and I am always delighted to meet such impressive women to hear their fascinating success stories. However, there is a much bigger group of women who do not imagine spending their days in the boardroom or aspiring to political office and we should also devote our energy and effort to these women and girls.
The same admiration should be afforded to women who are supposedly at the bottom of the labour market. Therefore, we should use events such as international women's day to focus on women working in poorly paid jobs, domestic carers who deserve our respect and decent working conditions, small business owners who are an invaluable asset to their communities and women who are successfully managing careers and undertaking childcare responsibilities. The invaluable contribution of these women to society does not get the recognition it deserves.
You many well ask - what has this to do with politicians? Our task is to act as an enabler - to do as much as possible to offer every woman a freedom of choice. The freedom to be able to avail of maternity leave and enjoy flexibility in working arrangements, freedom of access to education - whether they are from a disadvantaged community in Slovakia or a Parisian suburb. I want all women to have the freedom to make their own choices and to have the choices they opt for fully respected.