International Women’s Day celebrates women’s achievements while calling for gender equality. See how women perform in jobs that are often still considered “men’s jobs” and what they have to say.

(Copyright: Fotolia/DD Rockstar)

Is International Women’s Day a relic of days gone by? Hardly, says DW’s Sarah Hofmann. We need the day more than ever – not only to push for equal employment and pay, but as a sign of solidarity among women.

Women take part in a protest along a main street in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi November 17, 2014. The demonstrators were demanding justice for a woman who was attacked and stripped recently in Nairobi by men who claimed that she was dressed indecently (Copyright: Reuters/N. Khamis)

I was involved in a discussion started by a friend of mine a couple of days ago. In his opinion, “women’s rights are hardly an issue in most developed western countries in comparison to 100 years ago.” So he thinks that “what liberated woman and supportive men of these western countries need to do is go to a country that really does have woman impediments, and make a difference for them.”

The Persian writing on her hands: women should have the same rights as men (picture-alliance/dpa)

When we hear the phrase “women’s issues,” numerous issues and problems come to our minds and most of the problems have been prevalent for centuries. In spite of the plans and policies at national and international levels, no substantial work has been done for the elimination of these issues from women’s lives. Only superficial efforts have been made, which hardly influence the living standards of women at grass root level.

Do men ever try to look at themselves as ‘men?’ A new film by Indian journalist and filmmaker Vivek Asri tries to portray the struggles of an Indian man trying to come to terms with the fact that he is infertile and cannot sire a child. How does such a man deal with the Indian stereotype of a macho, virile male and what does his wife have to go through in the process? Vivek speaks to Women Talk Online about the recurring themes of gender identity and of the sense of masculine loss in his film, “Every silence, another doubt.”

While the Indian government was celebrating its 64^th Republic Day with pomp and grandeur, most young Indians were thinking that Republic day has lost its sense. The reason, they say, is that laws have not been revamped and do not ensure to justice for the victims of social crimes. Using social media as a platform to voice their protests and demands, the youth ofIndia has unified in one spirit and is  showcasing its demands all across the country.

It’s been a very bad year indeed for women in India. As the world settles into the New Year, India’s daughters are mourning the death of their “braveheart Nirbhaya,” the 23-year-old who was brutally raped and has now succumbed to her injuries.  This is symptomatic of the agony, pain, humiliation and wretchedness that Indian women suffered in 2012.