We explain what International Women’s Day is and why it is celebrated on March 8. In addition, its characteristics and the facts that are commemorated.
What is International Women’s Day?
International Women’s Day is an international commemoration held on March 8 of each year. Its origin is linked to the demonstrations of women for labor rights in Europe and the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. However, with the growth of feminist movements, International Women’s Day incorporated the struggle of women around the world to achieve equal rights and opportunities.
In 1910, the II International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen proposed to establish an international fight for women around the world. The date was chosen in honor of a great demonstration of women in New York City in 1908, which marched for the improvement of labor rights.
Within the framework of that protest, on March 25, 1911, a fire in a textile factory took the lives of 140 workers. This tragedy marked the struggle of the different feminist movements that, since then, sought strategies to make their claims heard and raise awareness among society about the various problems of gender inequality.
The United Nations Organization (UN) officially recognized Women’s International Day only in 1975. This recognition was the product of the continuous struggle of women throughout the twentieth century. It was an important event because it reflects the growth of feminist movements and the need for national and international institutions to face the problems caused by gender inequality.
Origin of International Women’s Day
The creation of a day of international struggle for the political, civil and labor rights of women was proposed in 1910, during the II International Conference of Socialist Women that took place in the city of Copenhagen. In that conference, delegations of socialist workers of more than seventeen countries had met.
The objective was to make visible the struggle of women in different parts of the world. At that time, the main claims were linked to labor and political rights: they demanded remunerative equality (men were paid more for similar tasks), the reduction of working hours and the right to suffrage.
For the election of the date of International Women’s Day, it was sought to commemorate the struggle that women had been carrying out since the nineteenth century.
In general, you can highlight the following historical moments linked to Women’s Day:
- 1857. First mass manifestation of workers. Within the framework of a massive labor strike in New York City, textile workers mobilized in claim for long days, low wages and lack of labor rights. This mobilization of women achieved the public’s attention to the worst working conditions that women supported in textile factories in relation to men.
- 1909. The strike of the twenty thousand. The workers of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company shirts organized a strike to claim the improvement of salaries, safer working conditions and their right to associate in unions. This demonstration is known as “The strike of the twenty thousand” (in English “The Uprising of the 20,000”), in reference to the massive amount of women who participated. It was one of the most important manifestations of the time and made visible the difficulties that textile workers were going through.
- 1910. Creation of International Women’s Day. Socialist women decided to commemorate that date every year with the aim of expanding the struggle for women’s rights worldwide and created International Women’s Day. However, during the first years, International Women’s Day was held on different dates in each country and was just a few decades later that it was settled on March 8 internationally.
- 1911. Triangle Shirtwaist Company Factory Fire. On March 25 of this year, the Shirtwaist Company Triangle factory caught fire and, as a consequence of the bad conditions of the work environment, the workers could not escape the building. 146 people died, almost all women. This tragedy marked a milestone in the history of workers’ struggle because it sensitized public opinion about these problems.
Why is International Women’s Day?
The celebration of International Women’s Day is important for many reasons:
- Visitize the claim of women worldwide. Being an international commemoration, the different manifestations that are carried out globally allow to make visible the problems that women are going through everywhere, simply because they are women and independently of their national, political, economic and social context.
- Demonstrates the mass support that these claims have. Manifestations for women’s rights are massive in most countries. This aware of the power that women have to defend their rights and legitimates their claims.
- Celebrate the advances and make visible the challenges. The commemoration acts allow to consolidate the rights achieved through the struggle of the different feminist movements. But, in turn, unsatisfied needs, violated rights and the problems that women still face in different parts of the world are also manifested.
- It allows cooperation and solidarity between the different movements. The struggle for women’s rights is not organized as a homogeneous movement, but historically was carried out by hundreds of different feminist organizations, with different approaches and action plans. On Women’s Day, the various organizations cooperate and manifest together.
What were the main achievements of women’s struggles?
Some of the problems faced by women depend on their social and cultural context. However, there are different issues that the various movements of women in the world had to face and, in some cases, continue to do so.
Among the main achievements of women’s struggles globally can be highlighted:
- Suffrage and political rights. Historically, the right to vote representatives was denied women in all democratic systems in the world. Women had to fight for the recognition of this right. They achieved it for the first time in New Zealand in 1893; in Western countries such as England, the United States and Germany, only in the 1920s and 1930s; In Latin America, in the 1940s and 1950s in the countries of Muslim culture, this right was relegated for longer. For example, in Saudi Arabia women recently achieved the right to vote in 2015 and still face limitations to be able to exercise this right freely.
- Reproductive rights. These are the fundamental rights of sexual and reproductive health that were denied to women for centuries. The movements of women from different parts of the world managed to approve different laws on access to information, integral sexual education, autonomy of the decision on the body itself, access to forms of contraception, right to safe abortion, family planning services and rights of pregnant persons.
- Laws against gender violence. Women had to fight to recognize the different forms of gender violence of those who are victims. This struggle is different for each culture, because the problems of violence take various forms. The most important achievement in this regard is that many countries were creating specific laws on domestic violence, sexual harassment and femicides, among other forms of violence. In addition, international recognition of problems such as human trafficking or female genital mutilation was achieved.
- Laws against gender discrimination. In different countries, women achieved the promulgation of laws that explicitly prohibit gender discrimination, especially linked to access to education, employment, salaries and citizen participation.
What are the main claims of women today?
The struggle of the different feminist movements of the world has made great advances in terms of equal labor rights, access to information, recognition of political rights and visibility of gender violence. However, these problems remain a reality in many places.
In summary, the following gender problems can be identified today:
- Fundamental rights. There are still countries that do not guarantee the fundamental rights of women, such as the right to life, freedom of association and marriage, access to education or religious freedom. The main problems in relation to fundamental rights are the high femicide rate, female genital mutilation, human trafficking and child marriage.
- Gender violence. According to the UN, one in three women has suffered sexual or physical aggression by a man throughout his life. Few countries have special care services for women suffering from domestic violence.
- Economic inequality. Worldwide, there is a salary gap between men and women for the same job. In some countries the gap is minimal, while in others it is absolute. The UN estimates that, on average, women are paid worldwide for almost 25 % less than men to perform the same tasks. In addition, another problem is the real possibility of accessing work and the unequal distribution of hierarchy positions.
- Sexual rights. According to UNICEF data, almost 12 million girls are forced to marry every year. In Third World countries, this figure represents 1 in 5 girls. There are countries that allow forced marriage (of minors and adults). In addition, there are more than twenty countries that prohibit abortion, even when the mother’s life is in danger. Another fundamental problem is access to information, to sex education and contraception methods.
- Political disparity Women have limitations to access representation and political participation positions. Only 25 % of legislative benches, 22 % of leadership positions (ministries and public institutions) and 26 % of state leaders are occupied by women worldwide.
What are the most important activities of International Women’s Day?
In different parts of the world, on International Women’s Day, women’s struggle for their rights through different types of activities is commemorated:
- Marches Massive manifestations in the street are one of the most common expressions of women’s movements. These marches become massive when society is going through some especially important conflict in that year. For example, the march of women in Washington of the year 2017 (in the context of the elimination of certain rights by President Donald Trump) or the march of women in Argentina in 2018 (in the context of the debate due to the legalization of the voluntary interruption of pregnancy).
- Debates. The creation of conferences and different discussion panels allow to identify the gender problems that each society is going through and propose action plans. In turn, they promote the development of feminist research, encourage dissemination and help social awareness.
- Campaigns. Institutions of different levels take advantage of International Women’s Day to generate education, awareness and solidarity actions campaigns. Educational institutions carry out activities to reflect on the problems that women are going through.
Continue with:
- Universal DDHH Declaration
- Coco Chanel
- Suffrage
References
- AUFFRET, S. (2020). The great history of feminism. Of antiquity to this day. The sphere of books.
- Kolontái, A. (2008). Women’s Day. Time house, (11-12).
- Puñal, S. (2001). Origin and evolution of women’s associations. Warmi leaves yearbook(12), 113-129.
- Varela, N. (2019). Feminism for beginners. Updated edition. Editions B.
