Today marks United Nations’ International Women’s Day, a time to reflect on those issues that impact the lives of women, locally and globally. It is also an opportunity to highlight the exemplary contributions of various women in society.

In Bermuda, like all cultures with patriarchal roots, the issue of women remains a work in progress. While there has been progress, there remain “blind spots” that undermine us being a truly inclusive society, at both a personal and a community level.

We men may encourage each other to work with our wives/partners in sharing in family responsibilities. We can all foster solidarity, ignoring the tradition that some tasks are “women’s work”.

The process of transformation has been continuing, demonstrating how society is interlinked. The Suffragettes, led by Gladys Morrell, campaigned for 30 years before successfully achieving the Women’s Voting Rights Act in 1944. That came when Henry Tucker changed his opposition to the Bill and introduced it. Another key supporter was Eustace Cann, who broke with fellow black parliamentarians that traditionally opposed this Bill. They were waiting for the “whole loaf”.

Dr Cann moved out of that box, from “fighting the old” to “seeking new possibilities”, thus facilitating a move forward. Within weeks of that shift, a group of workers at the US Naval Base captured that wave of change and invited Dr Cann to help them set up the Bermuda Workers Association.

With that successfully launched, Dr Cann passed the baton over to E.F. Gordon, who launched a comprehensive campaign addressing social justice and matters of social welfare, concerning men and women. While Dr Gordon had criticised the shortcomings of the Suffragette Movement, he made use of their template in that historic campaign, confirming the link.

On that integrated foundation, the Progressive Group, of which almost half were women, galvanised a movement to remove formal segregation in the island in 1959. Another pioneering woman, Roslyn Williams, along with husband Edouard, hosted those secret meetings. She also secreted the copier and other campaign equipment in her kitchen ceiling.

A few months after the Theatre Boycott’s success, Roslyn started Sunday afternoon meetings at her home, inviting Progressive Group members and other friends, discussing an inclusive right to vote. Out of those discussions, the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage emerged, with Roosevelt Brown as chairman. Roslyn was the keynote speaker at the final meeting of that successful campaign, addressing a crowd of 800 people in Hamilton.

A third pioneering woman was Dame Lois Brown-Evans, Bermuda’s first woman lawyer in 1953, who played a key role in getting the island’s first political party, the Progressive Labour Party, off the ground. She helped to shape the island’s first constitution and in 1968 became the first woman to be an opposition leader in the Commonwealth.

Bermuda has subsequently had three women serving as premier. There remain questions as to whether female politicians receive the level of respect that reflects an inclusive society. It has been encouraging that after the departure of Diallo Rabain, the membership of the Senate is majority female for the first time.

As the Bermuda story demonstrates, the matter of the rights of women is a part of the greater issue of societal inclusion. There are things we can learn from others sharing the planet. Our friends in South Africa, in spite of extensive internal challenges, have a vision of inclusion that is exemplary. Their constitution goes as far as guaranteeing that 50 per cent of their Cabinet members are female.

We may decide not to rely on quotas, but would benefit from a conversation that speaks to ensuring that Bermuda is an inclusive society. This would benefit women and all upcoming generations.

• Glenn Fubler is a social commentator who represents Imagine Bermuda