111 YEARS OF IWD: WHY

DO WE STILL DO IT?

International Women’s

Day is everywhere in the media, thankfully. It needs to be on everyone’s lips no matter your background or indeed, your gender he date: March 8 2023. Why do we need this day? Aren’t women equal yet? After all, for more than a century people have been marking this day. In short, the answer is no.

International Women’s Day, or IWD for short, is recognised by the UN today as a yearly occasion.

WHEN AND HOW DID IT START?

When 15,000 women marched through New York in 1908 calling for shorter hours, higher pay, and the opportunity to vote, the seeds of today’s movement were planted. The first National Woman’s Day was proclaimed by the Socialist Party of America a year later.

The idea for an international day originated with communist activist and champion for women’s rights Clara Zetkin. In 1910, she presented her concept to a gathering of working women in Copenhagen, and the 100 women in attendance, who represented 17 different nations, unanimously endorsed it.

The year 1911 saw the first celebrations of International Women’s Day in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. As the centenary was commemorated in 2011, this year is actually the 111th anniversary.

When the United Nations began commemorating the day in 1975, the celebrations became official. In 1996, “Celebrating the Past, Preparing for the Future” was chosen as the organisation’s initial subject.

Because of its political origins, International Women’s Day has evolved into a day to recognise the progress made by women in society, politics, and the economy. Strikes and protests are also organised on this day to draw attention to ongoing inequalities.

There was no set date for Clara’s concept of an International Women’s Day.

It wasn’t formally recognised until a 1917 wartime strike in which Russian women called for “food and peace” led to the tsar’s forced abdication and the provisional government’s granting of the right to vote four days later.

The strike started on March 8, which is now recognised as International Women’s Day.

WHY DO WE STILL MARK IT?

In the midst of war, violence, and policy changes in their individual nations throughout the last year, women have fought for their rights in numerous places, including Afghanistan, Iran, the Ukraine, and the US.

The Taliban’s return in Afghanistan has slowed the growth of human rights, as women and girls are now prohibited from pursuing higher education, working the majority of occupations outside the home, travelling long distances alone, and being told to hide their faces in public.

Mahsa Amini, 22, was killed in protests in Iran after she was detained by morality police in Tehran on September 13, 2022. Mahsa was accused of breaking one of Iran’s harsh laws requiring women to cover their hair with a scarf.

Since then, protests have persisted around the nation, with many Iranians – both male and female – asking for more gender equality and an end to the current political system. The protesters’ catchphrase is “Women, life, freedom”. Authorities have called them “riots” and used force in response. There have been over 500 fatalities.

The UN reports that gender disparities in food insecurity, hunger, poverty, and increasing gender-based violence have gotten worse in Ukraine and around the world as a result of war-related price increases and shortages since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, a landmark law that had safeguarded American women’s right to an abortion. This decision sparked significant protests and outrage in the US. Several American women have turned to individuals in Mexico for assistance in abortion after a revolutionary decision there effectively decriminalised the practise in 2021.

Positive Change

After a 10-year battle, the European Parliament adopted a law in November 2022 to guarantee that more women are represented on the boards of publicly traded corporations by July 2026. There are many women who are competent for high-level positions, and the EU asserted that its new regulation will provide them a genuine opportunity to obtain them.

In the meantime, Colombia and Armenia revised their parental leave laws, and Spain introduced legislation supporting menstrual health leave and expanding access to abortion.

According to the International Olympic Committee,

Beijing 2022 will host the most gender-balanced Winter Games, with women making up 45% of competitors. Despite the fact that gender parity was not attained, new regulations encouraged more impartial coverage of women’s sports.

Thirty-six teams will compete in the significantly expanded 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The US Soccer Federation agreed to pay its men’s and women’s teams equally before to the competition, making it the first organisation in the sport to make such a commitment. For more than five years, female athletes have argued their case in numerous lawsuits and equal wage demands.

2023’S THEME FOR CHANGE

“DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” is the UN’s theme for 2023. The purpose of this subject is to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions that women and girls are making to technology and online learning.

IWD this year will also focus on the effects of the digital gender gap on inequality for women and girls because, according to the UN, if nothing is done, women’s lack of access to the internet will cost low- and middle-income nations’ GDP $1.5 trillion by 2025.

But, there are other themes present as well. The International Women’s Day website has chosen the theme #EmbraceEquity, with organisers and events aiming to “challenge gender norms” and “offer a platform to forge good change for women.

Find out more at un.org/en/observances/womens-day and internationalwomensday.com.