An international
celebration of education and empowerment Around the world,
International Women's Day (IWD) marks a celebration of the
economic, social, cultural and political achievements for women.
The first IWD was held on 19 March 1911 in Germany, Austria,
Denmark and further European countries. German women selected
this date because in 1848 the Prussian king had promised the
vote for women. Subsequently over one million leaflets calling
for action on the right to vote were distributed throughout
Germany before IWD in 1911. Now IWD is always celebrated on 8
March and is an occasion marked by women's groups around the
world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and
is designated in many countries as a national holiday. Women in
every country, often divided by ethnic, linguistic, cultural,
economic and political differences, come together to celebrate
this important date that represents equality, justice, peace and
development.
International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as
makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of
women seeking to participate equally in society on an equal
footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a
sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French
Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality,
fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.
The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn
of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period
of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and
radical ideologies.
Until women are fully represented at senior leadership levels of
public, professional and economic life, women do not have equal
rights nor an equal voice.
Following is a brief chronology of the most important events :
1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the
first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28
February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that
month through 1913. 1910 The Socialist International, meeting in
Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to
honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving
universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous
approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which
included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No
fixed date was selected for the observance.
1911
As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year,
International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in
Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million
women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to
hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational
training and to an end to discrimination on the job. Less than a week
later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the
lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish
immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in
the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster
were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.
1913-1914
As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian
women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday
in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the
following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to
express solidarity with their sisters.
1917
With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again
chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace".
Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went
on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to
abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in
use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use
elsewhere. Since those early years, International Women's Day has
assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing
countries alike.
The growing international women's movement has helped make IWD a special
day for promoting women's rights and participation in political and
economic processes. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to
reflect on the progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts
of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an
extraordinary role in the history of women's rights.
