Celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March 2023

From the Editors Desk by Amrita Deshpande

Of the entire year, women get one day to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe. 8th March was that auspicious day when women got together to protest and be heard voicing their concerns about unequal rights. These protests spread far and wide making a big impact, paving the paths for women’s equal working rights. The victories that were achieved by women and the acknowledgment of that first protest are the reason for the women’s day celebrations.

According to Google:

“It began in New York City on March 8, 1857, when female textile workers marched in protest of unfair working conditions and unequal rights for women. It was one of the first organized strikes by working women, during which they called for a shorter work day and decent wages.”

According to US census bureau, National Archives Authority: Public Law 103-22, 107 Stat. 58 and Executive Order 11375:

“On March 8, 1908, women workers in the needle trades marched through New York City's Lower East Side to protest child labor, sweatshop working conditions, and demand women's suffrage. Beginning in 1910, March 8 became annually observed as International Women's Day. Women's History Week was instituted in 1978 in an effort to begin adding women's history into educational curricula. In 1987, the National Women's History Project successfully petitioned Congress to include all of March as a celebration of the economic, political and social contributions of women.”

According to UNWomen Australia International Women’s Day: (https://unwomen.org.au/get-involved/international-womens-day/ about/)

“In 1910, Clara Zetkin, the leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. The proposal received unanimous support from over one hundred women representing 17 countries. The very first International Women’s Day was held the following year on 19 March. Meetings and protests were held across Europe, with the largest street demonstration attracting 30,000 women. In 1913, IWD was moved to 8 March and has been held on this day ever since.”

International Women’s Day in Australia: According to UN Women Australia: (https://unwomen.org.au/get-involved/internationalwomens-day/about/)

“Australia’s first International Women’s Day was held in 1928 in Sydney. Organized by the Militant Women’s Movement, women called for equal pay for equal work, an 8-hour working day for shop girls, and paid leave. The next year the event spread to Brisbane. In 1931, annual marches were launched in both Sydney and Melbourne and both marches continue to be held today. Since these early days, International Women’s Day has continued to grow. It is a day to celebrate women’s achievements and both highlight and work to address barriers that continue to perpetuate gender inequality.” Unequal pay and unhealthy working conditions for women have long been the themes of Women’s protests. Although we have made progress in improving the working conditions of women, equal pay is still lacking. Women employees are looked at as cheap labor. Many will be working as casual or part-time workers in countries including the USA, Canada, and Australia for a lack of workplace daycares, lower pay, and few opportunities to reach the top managerial levels. Even if we have equal opportunities for women established in various sectors such as education, engineering, and STEM areas, the numbers are still low. In some working sectors, there may be gender parity in men and women working together, however, the hours they work and the pay they take home has a huge gap. The same work hours, same work done, for the same qualification for a woman the pay is often less than that of her male equivalent. In fact, by default women put in more work and effort than men just to survive in the position and stay employed. Hence, in the struggle to save their job the demand for equal pay is never raised. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Women will often work on low pay and accept more work to stay employed. The fear of losing a job is higher in culturally diverse women than men and it was evident during the pandemic. In general, more women than men lost their jobs during the pandemic. Women also took up unpaid jobs during this time. The conditions for culturally diverse women became worse as many could not qualify for the government subsidy.

Definitely, new ideas, new pathways, and innovation in the system are necessary to crack the codes of the gender gap. Technology may be an answer. However, technology should be safe for women to work for 8 hours a day. It should not make them fall prey to cyberbullying, as well as overworking with no equal pay.