COMMENT | In commemoration of International Women's Day on March 8, let me start by applauding every single girl and woman out there who feels and experiences the anger resulting from inequality.

And those who, in their way, big and small, individually and collectively, choose to do something about this and bring about change, either for themselves or for other girls and women around them.

The first experience of anger that I remember was when I was eight years old. It was a personal one, a huge fight that I witnessed between my parents and when I felt - what I didn't have the words for then - the overwhelming power of patriarchy. I remember the devastation because I love my father very much and was the closest to him amongst my siblings.

The disappointment was too huge to contain because I felt the injustice towards my mother, and so, I penned a letter to my father telling him how I felt and what I thought of the situation and about him. It was only many decades later that I realised that this was my first experience of speaking up against the most significant authority in my life back then.

Because of the love I felt for both my parents and the injustice I felt against my mother was so strong, I was fearless. The only other thing that I remember is my mother had read the letter too. She didn't say much, but the look on her face said it all.

That she felt she was heard.

Women must be part of decision-making

The struggle against inequality and injustice begins with the experiences that we encounter in our daily lives. The rise towards marking International Women's Day started in the early 1900s because of...