First of all, HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY folks. Its 8th of March and the whole world is celebrating International women’s day. Do you know, why? Let’s find out.
What is Women’s Day?
It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements irrespective of their division, nationality, ethnicity, language, cultural, economic or political background. Today when we see the outside world, we know that there have been a lot of talks about women rights, their upliftment feminism, women empowerment, gender equality and many more ambiguous terms. There has been exploitation of women all over the globe since time immemorial, they have been derived from their basic necessities, they have been treated inhumanely as hell and their condition has been poor as slaves. That’s why in the so-called modern era, some philosophers, social activists and the society itself is trying to give women from what they have been deprived of. For that, International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe.
How did it start?[i]
- 1909: The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.
- 1910: The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women’s Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women’s rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.
- 1911: As a result of the Copenhagen initiative, International Women’s Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded women’s rights to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.
- 1913-1914: International Women’s Day also became a mechanism for protesting World War I. As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.
- 1917: Against the backdrop of the war, women in Russia again chose to protest and strike for “Bread and Peace” on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar abdicated and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
- 1975: During International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March.
- 1977: In December 1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.
Theme for Women’s day:
In 2012- The UN theme for International Women’s Day was ‘Empower Rural Women – End Hunger and Poverty’. In 2013, the UN theme for International Women’s Day was ‘A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women’. It was ‘Equality for Women is Progress for All’ for 2014; ‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!’ for 2015; in 2016, the theme was ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality’. And in 2017, ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’ was the theme. For 2018, the theme UN has agreed upon is ‘Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives’.[ii]
Is it real?
The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. But “the change is visible. It can be seen that we are not in the era when women were synonyms of the oppressed and the world is moving ahead. We should appreciate the change and contribute positively towards it.”[iii] International Women’s Day is an official holiday in many countries including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. In fact, in some countries, women’s day has been as established as Mother’s Day.
What’s next?
In words of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women for International Women’s Day-
“… The feminist movement must continue to increase the diversity and the number of people working on gender equality, bringing in individuals and groups—such as men and boys, young people and faith-based organizations—to support and shape the agenda, so young men and boys learn to value and respect women and girls and so men can change the way they behave. Today’s activism needs to alter the way we listen to women and the way we look at them, recognizing the power of stereotypes to influence how we value people. A movement of women that can address these issues is critical, but we also need a movement of male feminists…”
So make a difference, even the smallest contribution matters.
Make everyday International Women’s Day.
Do your part to make sure that the future for all is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.
[i] https://womenwatch.unwomen.org/international-womens-day-history
[ii] http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day
[iii] https://kailashafoundation.org/2017/11/25/international-day-elimination-violence-against-women/
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