International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th. It is a global day to honor and celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and girls. It is also a moment to raise awareness about the progress made toward gender equality and the work that still needs to be done. The goal of International Women’s Day (IWD) is to celebrate women’s accomplishments, identify obstacles, and draw attention to women’s rights and gender equality. It is observed worldwide to highlight women, their difficulties, and their accomplishments, with a different topic each year.
“The globe has made extraordinary progress, but no country has achieved gender equality,” states the United Nations, which has established gender equality as a goal for 2030. According to the United Nations, International Women’s Day is a “moment to reflect on progress made, to urge for change, and to honor acts of courage and resolve by ordinary women who have played an outstanding role in the history of their countries and communities.”
International Women’s Day History
International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on March 8th and is a global day that recognizes the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It is also a day to raise awareness about gender equality and to promote women’s rights. Since the early 1900s, when the industrialized world was undergoing immense development and upheaval and radical ideologies were on the rise, International Women’s Day (IWD) has been honored.
1908-1910
There was a lot of unhappiness and heated discussion among women. Women were becoming increasingly outspoken and involved in the fight for change as a result of the oppression and unfairness they faced. Later, in 1908, 15,000 women staged a march through New York City to demand better working conditions, higher wages, and the right to vote.
The inaugural National Woman’s Day (NWD), according to a proclamation by the Socialist Party of America, was honored on February 28 across the country. Up until 1913, women still observed NWD on the last Sunday in February.
Copenhagen hosted the second World Congress of Working Women in 1910. The concept of an International Women’s Day was proposed by a lady by the name of Clara Zetkin, who served as the leader of the “Women’s Office” for the German Social Democratic Party. She suggested that every year on the same day, in every nation, there should be a celebration honoring women in order to further their causes. Zetkin’s suggestion was enthusiastically embraced by the conference of more than 100 women from 17 different countries who represented unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs, and the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. As a result, International Women’s Day was established.
1911-1917
The first International Women’s Day was observed on March 19 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland as a result of the resolution made in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1911. More than a million women and men turned out for IWD rallies to support the rights of women to vote, hold public office, work, get an education, and stop discrimination. But on March 25, less than a week later, the catastrophic “Triangle Fire” in New York City claimed the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them immigrants from Italy and the Jewish faith. Following International Women’s Day celebrations made a point of focusing on the working conditions and labor laws in the United States as a result of this catastrophic incident. The women’s Bread and Flowers campaign also took place in 1911.
Russian women celebrated their inaugural International Women’s Day on February 23, the penultimate Sunday in February, as they campaigned for peace on the eve of World War I. Following deliberations, it was decided to observe International Women’s Day on March 8 each year, which corresponds to February 23 in the widely used Gregorian calendar. Since then, this day has been observed around the world. Many women held demonstrations in 1914 to protest the war and show their sympathy for one another. For instance, on March 8, 1914, there was a march in favor of women’s suffrage from Bow to Trafalgar Square in London, United Kingdom. On her way to speak in front of Charing Cross station, Sylvia Pankhurst was detained.
In reaction to the approximately 2 million Russian troops who died in World War 1, Russian women launched a “Bread and Peace” strike on the final Sunday of February. Political authorities opposed the women’s strike, but it lasted for four days before the Czar was compelled to resign and the provisional government gave women the right to vote. The women’s strike started on Sunday, February 23, according to the Russian Julian calendar that was in use at the time. It was March 8 according to the Gregorian calendar that was then in use.
1975
The United Nations celebrated International Women’s Day for the first time in 1975. Subsequently, in December 1977, the General Assembly passed a resolution establishing a UN Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace, which Member States are free to mark on any day of the year in line with their own national and historical customs.
1996
Honoring the past, and planning for the future was the UN’s first theme, which was followed by “Women at the Peace Table,” “Women and Human Rights,” “World Free of Violence Against Women,” and so on each year to the present.
2000-2001
Most nations had a little widespread celebration of International Women’s Day by the turn of the millennium. The world had changed, and feminism was no longer a hot topic in many areas. In order to give International Women’s Day the respect it deserves and to increase public awareness, something had to be done. There was urgent work to be done because gender equity and wars had not yet been won. There was a critical need to involve the general public and to promote and support group activities.
The internationalwomensday.com platform was launched after a year of planning and cooperative discussions with the specific goal of reviving the day and inviting mass participation – a focus that persists today – by celebrating and making visible the accomplishments of women while continuing the call for accelerating gender parity. The IWD website, which offers helpful advice and information, adopts a yearly campaign topic that is applicable to groups and organizations all over the world. The following campaign slogans have been used in the past: “Embrace equity,” “Break the bias,” “Choose to challenge,” “Each for Equal,” “Balance for Better,” “Push for Progress,” “Be Brave for Change,” “Pledge for Parity,” “Make It Happen,” and more. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and Catalyst Inc., a global working women’s organization, have been the IWD website’s Charity of Choice since 2007 and 2017, respectively. An IWD Charity Alliance is now open to female-focused registered nonprofits worldwide.
2011
International Women’s Day celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, with the inaugural IWD event taking place exactly 100 years ago in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. President Barack Obama declared March 2011 to be “Women’s History Month,” encouraging people to commemorate IWD by focusing on “the incredible contributions of women” in creating the country’s past. The “100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls Through International Exchanges” was founded by Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State. Celebrity campaigner Annie Lennox led a march over one of London’s renowned bridges to raise awareness for the global charity Women for Women International. Several celebrities and corporate executives have come out in favor of the day.
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International Women’s Day History – In the Modern day
Women’s attitudes about equality and independence in society have undergone a substantial change, according to research. Many people of the younger generation might believe that “all the wars have been won for women,” yet feminists of the 1970s are fully aware of the persistence and intricate intricacy of patriarchy. One can believe that women have achieved actual equality as a result of the growth in female board members, increasing legislative rights equality, and a growing critical mass of women’s visibility as powerful role models in every sphere of life.
Unfortunately, women are still not compensated similarly to their male counterparts, they are still underrepresented in business and politics, and worldwide, women’s health, education, and experience of violence are worse than that of males. Yet, there have been significant advancements. Women can work and have families; we have female astronauts and prime ministers; and university admissions offices welcome high school students. So, the world encourages women and honors their accomplishments every year. Many nations, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), and others observe International Women’s Day as a national holiday. According to custom, men give small presents and flowers to their mothers, wives, girlfriends, coworkers, etc. In some nations, IWD is regarded in the same way as Mother’s Day, when kids give their moms and grandmas little gifts.
FAQs on International Women’s Day History
The first International Women’s Day was celebrated on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. It was proposed by Clara Zetkin, a German socialist and feminist, at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen in 1910.
International Women’s Day was created to advocate for women’s rights and gender equality. In the early 1900s, women in the United States and Europe began campaigning for better working conditions, suffrage, and other women’s rights. International Women’s Day was established as a way to unite and amplify these efforts on a global scale.
International Women’s Day is celebrated in different ways around the world. Some countries recognize the day as a national holiday, while others organize marches, rallies, and other events to promote women’s rights and gender equality. Many organizations also use the day to launch campaigns and initiatives aimed at empowering women and girls.
The date of March 8th was chosen for International Women’s Day in 1917 by the Soviet Union, to commemorate a strike by women textile workers that occurred on March 8th, 1917, in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), Russia. The strike was a key moment in the Russian Revolution and helped to pave the way for women’s suffrage in Russia.
The Socialist International, gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark, established an international Women’s Day to honor the women’s rights movement and to develop support for gaining universal suffrage for women.