The 8th of March is International Women's Day, a day to honour women's social, economic, and political achievements, reflect on progress, and demand gender equality. International Women's Day has brought attention to concerns impacting women all around the world for over a century. Today, everyone who believes that women's rights are human rights can celebrate International Women's Day.
Why is it necessary to have an International Women's Day?
Only about 15% of the world's countries have a female leader. Women make up only 24% of senior management positions, and 25% of organisations have no female executives at all. Women work in the lowest-paying jobs and earn less for the same amount of work. The gender pay gap refers to the disparity in compensation between men and women, and it is widening for young women in several countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Women are also more likely to be the primary caregivers and do the majority of the housework. All of these issues are more prevalent among women of colour than among white women.
Women confront considerable inequities in terms of healthcare and safety. Every day, an estimated 830 women die in delivery. There are some startling figures about female homicide as well. According to the United Nations, 137 women are slain every day by their current or previous spouse. Over half of all female homicides are carried out by the victim's husband or family. Women are more likely to be disregarded by doctors when they indicate they are in pain when they have access to health education and care, and major health concerns are sometimes overlooked for years.
Women's Day has a long and illustrious history.
In 1908, 15,000 women in New York went on strike over inadequate pay and deplorable working conditions in the factories. The Socialist Party of America had a National Women's Day the following year, and a year later, a conference on equality and women's right to vote was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The idea expanded in Europe and became International Women's Day (IWD) for the first time in 1911, with the United Nations declaring March 8th as International Women's Day in 1975.
International Women's Day arose from the efforts of labour organisations across North America and Europe around the turn of the twentieth century, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. According to UNESCO, "On February 28th, 1909, the United States celebrated the inaugural National Woman's Day, which was established by the Socialist Party of America to commemorate the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, during which women protested against poor working conditions. On the last Sunday in February in 1917, Russian women chose to protest and strike under the slogan "Bread and Peace" (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Their campaign eventually resulted in the implementation of women's suffrage in Russia."
The United Nations Charter was the first international accord to recognise the ideal of equality between men and women in 1945, but the UN did not commemorate its first official International Women's Day until March 8, 1975, during International Women's Year.
In December 1977, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace, to be marked by Member States on any day of the year, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. Finally, once the United Nations adopted International Women's Day in 1977, it became a mainstream worldwide celebration, with member states asked to declare March 8 as an official UN holiday promoting women's rights and world peace.
What will happen on March 8th?
Children and men in various nations send gifts, flowers, or cards to their moms, wives, sisters, and other women they know. Women's rights, however, are at the centre of International Women's Day. Protests and demonstrations are taking place all around the world to demand equality. Many women wear purple, a colour associated with women who fought for the right to vote. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements against sexual harassment have recently fueled marches and protests. There is still much work to be done in the area of gender equality. Women's movements around the world, on the other hand, are ready to do that task and are gaining traction.
Significance:
"International Women's Day is an occasion to celebrate progress toward gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as to critically reflect on those accomplishments and strive for a greater momentum toward gender equality globally," according to UNESCO. It's a day to celebrate women's outstanding achievements and to unite as a force to push gender equality around the world."
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