2012 Notable Female Achievements

By PB Rose 

March 1-31, 2013, is International Women’s Month. A lot of interesting things have already happened in 2013, but let’s pause and reflect over some of 2012’s notable female achievements.

1. 20 Seats in the United States Senate are now held by women.
6% of women voted more than men in the 2012 election
55% of women voted for Obama

2. Amidst a Libyan diplomatic crisis, a concussion, a stomach bug and a blood clot, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton navigated those intense situations with aplomb.
Clinton was nominated as the most admired woman in the US for the 17th year in a row.
Is she getting ready for another run at the White House? Did she resign to recover her health so she will be ready for a very contentious run in 2016? Time will tell.

3. 16% of American Fortune 500 Firms have women climbing their way up to the top.
20 women now serve as CEO’s of some of the top 500 US corporations.(IBM, Sam’s, HP, Avon, Time, Inc., Petrobras-to name a few)
5 of the new female CEO’s collectively control over $36.6 Billion in revenue, according to a Forbes report.

4. 45% of the Olympians were female. Making this international sporting event the closest to gender equality.
37 women broke records versus 29 men
Every country sent a woman to the London Olympic Games. Even Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Qatar sent females.

5. In October, 2012, Malal Yousafzai, 15, was shot in the head by the Taliban for going to school in Swat Valley, Pakistan. She is on the mend and using her celebrity to bring awareness to the plight of Pakistani women. To spin this in their favor the Pakistani government has taken action on issues facing women.
Ever since she was 11, Yousafazi has been blogging for the BBC about social issues. It’s in her blood, one of her parents is an education activist and a “person of interest” for seeking gender equality in South Asia.

6. 18.5% of the average Asian Parliament is made up of women.
Park Geun-hye, 60, is the first female president of South Korea.
Joyce Banda, 62, is the first female president of Malawi
Christine Lagarde is the first female leader of the International Monetary Fund

7. 23 year old female medical student was gang raped and later murdered on a bus in India.
1000’s of Indians are protesting this atrocity and demanded that the Indian government and Indian MEN do more to protect women and end the culture of “approved” rape.

Nice bunch of statistics and numbers to read but consider this:

• 4 women everyday die as a result of abuse.
• 2 million women are assaulted everyday by male partners
• 95% of women are victims of domestic violence
• 5.8 Billion is spent every year on health costs for domestic violence
• 37% of all women who sought care in Hospital Emergency Rooms for violence related injuries
were injured by a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend
• 25% of domestic crimes are reported to the police
• 1 in 3 women in the military are raped
• 1970 service members reported military sexual trauma in FY 2011
• 1612 investigations initiated and completed in FY 2011

Not very notable facts. And yet, DOD trots the last 3 numbers out as a “look what we’ve achieved.”

The VA and DOD have not achieved the recognition for 1 female soldier who died 4 years ago this month. Captain Agnes “Irish” Breshnahan was the only person ever awarded stateside compensation for exposure to Agent Orange. In addition to this notable achievement, Irish, as she was affectionately called by a cast of veteran characters across the nation, touched so many lives.

Even when she was wasting away from Agent Orange, Irish would help as many soldiers as she could, from those who needed medical attention, to those who needed help with their fight against the VA but most of all Irish was a good listener. To some she was known as “Ma”, some she was “Ma’am” and to some she was just “Irish.” Daughter, sister, aunt, employee, cheerleader, kick-in-the-pants person, joke teller, veteran but most of all she was my friend. Rest In Peace, Ma’am. Rest in Peace.