Six stats about SA's women this Women's Day

You strike a woman‚ you strike a rock.

This refrain‚ used to such great effect during the famed anti-pass law march of August 9‚ 1956‚ stands as testimony to South Africa's women. But how much do we know about women in the country?

Figures released by the Institute of Race Relations ahead of Women's Day reveal a lot. For starters‚ there are more women than men in South Africa - with the fairer sex making up 51.1% of the country's more than 56-million people. In fact‚ according to the IRR‚ it is only in Indian households where there are a greater proportion of men than women.

Also‚ women in South Africa are expected to live longer than men - the life expectancy for women is 66.7 years compared to 61.2 years for men.

The IRR's Unathi Matwasa‚ writing in the August edition of FastFACTS‚ states that there are also marked improvements when it comes to schooling and the number of women enrolling at universities. However‚ women still don't have the same access to the labour market as men.

"While progress can be seen‚ there is a need for a further upturn in the socio-economic status of women in South Africa. Accordingly‚ policy should focus on achieving a more inclusive economy‚ and on improving the safety and security of women‚" said Matwasa‚ a senior IRR researcher.

Here are six graphs that show exactly how women fare in South Africa: