We are witnessing today women being elected as presidents or prime ministers, women who have been awarded Nobel prizes, who perform exceedingly in sports, winning Olympic medals, women who excel in art, who have defended the rights of the oppressed, who have gone to space, who are active in politics, and are CEOs of businesses and corporations. Women today are found in the most challenging jobs, such as urgent care paramedics, workers in heavy machinery factories, and in the construction of skyscrapers; they are in research laboratories or as members of toxic materials management teams.

This was not the scenario 175 years ago. On the contrary, women, since the cave times until the dawn of the twentieth century, have been oppressed by the fact that they were born as women. Social, cultural, economic, and political roles defined by men in those times obliged women to stay at home raising children, without being allowed to aspire to play a significant role in the development of the economic, civic, and religious life of their communities.

The explosion of women participating today in the social, political, and economic arenas of the advanced countries might give the impression that this was their situation in the past. Not true. This modern movement of women has engaged in a tenacious struggle for equality with men, securing unquestionable victories and a powerful consciousness of their role in the unfolding of a new history. Their victories, on many occasions, were acquired in open confrontation with men who did not want to accept they had inherent rights. It has been a slow process that has demanded extraordinary effort from women worldwide. We are just beginning to witness the potential of women, and we can foresee the bright future they will create for humanity. Appreciating, defending, and promoting this evolution is an invitation to participate with them in this extraordinary journey destined to be a magnificent stage of evolution for the benefit of all of humanity.