Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. It’s an honour to speak in this debate today. Indeed, there are many of my colleagues here who have inspired me, and it’s a privilege to join them and others in this Chamber.

I know that I stand on the shoulders of others. Many women who have gone before us made sacrifices and fought battles so that women can have the vote, go to university, work and choose how to live their lives. We’ve come a long way from the suffragettes such as Margaret Mackworth, Lady Rhondda, but there is much more to do. As a new Member, this is really the first opportunity that I’ve had in the Chamber to pay tribute to my predecessor as the Member for Newport West, Dame Rosemary Butler. Rosemary certainly has been an inspiration to me and many other women in Newport and throughout Wales. As Llywydd, she used her position to encourage and support women in public life. She understood that a diverse workforce is better for everyone. It’s important to ensure that women in senior positions don’t pull the ladder up, but hold out a hand to other women. Rosemary’s Women in Public Life campaign certainly made a difference. In Newport, she organised International Women’s Day events over many years, bringing together women from all walks of life to meet, learn from each other and have fun, always keen to support and encourage women to try something new, give it a go and not be afraid of failure, something that I know she will continue to do.

International Women’s Day is also about recognising the value of women in crucial roles, such as paid and unpaid carers. There’s a long way to go to solve the gender pay gap, and it’s shocking that, in 2017, gender can have an impact on how much you get paid. Indeed, the World Economic Forum estimated that the global gender pay gap won’t close until 2186. This is inexcusable. The UK is currently twentieth in the world behind Nicaragua, Burundi, Ireland, Slovenia and Germany. We can do much better.

Equal rights is not just a fight for women. My grandfather, who was a blacksmith from Glyncorrwg, was proud to call himself a feminist. He died five years ago at the age of 89, and he wholeheartedly believed in equality and knew that it was something that men needed to fight for as well. And I know that the Cabinet Secretary believes that, and he’s a champion for equality.

International Women’s Day is an opportunity for us to reflect and celebrate the fantastic works and achievements of women in our community. Since being elected, I’ve met women who are campaigners, leaders and who just get things done—formidable women, many of whom just get on with it and don’t realise the difference they’re making. This year’s theme is ‘Be bold for change’, and, only three months into 2017, we’ve already seen women taking to the streets across the world to protect peacefully against divisive politics. We can see from the hateful language on social media against women that the fight for equality is not over. We must face these challenges head on and test the advancements made.

In many parts of the world, women won’t be celebrating. In fact, they might be fighting to survive the day. In countries such as Syria, Iraq and Nigeria, women face rape as a weapon of war. We hear how, in some countries, women and girls are being forcibly married, sexually abused and raped by their so-called husbands and sold to others. It’s also a chance to think of those refugees who have travelled hundreds of miles to find safety, many of them mothers, forced to carry their children from one danger zone to the next. Battles we thought had been won seem to be bending in the wind. It’s imperative that we all stand together, celebrate what we’ve achieved and take bold action for change.