The world celebrates International Women’s Day annually on March 8. The day honours women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements and existence in general. Whether occupying roles as homemakers, teachers, engineers, economists, doctors or architects, women consistently contribute to making the world a better place through their unwavering gusto, determination, and convictions. Hence, this day is also dedicated to raising awareness about the challenges women still face, such as gender inequality, discrimination, and violence and commemoration.
National Women’s History Month 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. Then, on March 8, 1908, women workers in the needle trades marched through New York City’s Lower East Side to protest child labour, and sweatshop working conditions, and demand for women’s suffrage. Beginning in 1910, March 8 became annually observed as International Women’s Day.
Read on to learn about the history and significance of International Women’s Day, key facts, theme for this year and how to celebrate this day.
The Socialist Party of America founded National Women’s Day in New York on February 28, 1909. This was proposed by labour activist Theresa Malkiel, commemorating citywide protests against garment workers regarding their inequality and oppression. The call for change gained traction when 15,000 women marched through New York City, demanding higher wages, shorter hours, and voting rights. Later that year, German delegates proposed the idea of a women’s day, taking inspiration from American socialists.
In 1975, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day, and then the UN General Assembly declared March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1977 in support of women’s rights and global peace. Since then, the United Nations has played a significant role in commemorating the day by establishing a theme each year.
Talking about its significance, this day celebrates women’s achievements, accelerates gender parity, and raises awareness about gender equality as well as fundraising for various charities focused on females.
The theme of this year’s Women’s Day is ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’. This theme means that establishing gender equality and women’s well-being in all aspects of life is more important than ever in order to develop strong economies and a healthy world. When we value and respect women from all different backgrounds, the world gets better for everyone.
