The Origins of International Women’s Day
Back in 1911 when the inaugural IWD took place on March 19th in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, women didn’t even have the right to vote: ironically, the date was chosen because it commemorated the day that the King of Prussia promised to introduce women’s suffrage in 1848, a promise that never came to fruition.
Clara Zetkin was the leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, and first suggested the idea of an International Woman’s Day at the second International Conference of Working Women held in Copenhagen in 1910; the proposal was greeted with universal enthusiasm, and was honoured the following year when more than one million women and men attended IWD rallies and campaigned for women’s suffrage, the right to work, hold public office and the end of discrimination.
Since 1911 International Women’s Day has grown each year, and has played an important part in changing lives of women everywhere and in attempting to achieve universal observance of human rights.
In 1977 the UN General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8th as the UN day for Women’s Rights and International Peace, and aimed to help women gain active and equal participation in global development.
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day is an annual and global event that takes place on the 8th March each year: it offers an opportunity for the celebration of women’s achievements throughout history and across the world, and also creates a platform from which women can consider and evaluate how far they have come in their struggle for equality over the years. Nowadays women are represented in almost every government and company boardroom, with women taking leading roles as prime ministers, astronauts and judges; there’s no wonder that people all over the world think there’s something to celebrate – to such an extent that in many countries including China, Russia and Bulgaria, the day is a public holiday.
In some parts of the world IWD has the equivalent status of Mothering Sunday, when children give presents to mothers and grandmothers.
International Women’s Day 2010
Every year organisations involved select a different theme that reflects global and local gender issues: this year in 2010, the theme is Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All – although individual countries or groups are encouraged to choose their own theme if preferred.
Events are as varied as a cycling initiative in Sydney, a hand or chair massage in Fort Wayne, Indiana or organised talks in Calgary’s public library.
In the UK, the occasion offers an opportunity for women to get together, to network, to campaign and to unite: International Women’s Day is marked by events that can be as small scale as a few friends meeting for an informal lunch to large scale street marches, talks, conferences, political rallies, craft markets and fashion parades; many global corporations and companies also support IWD, and run their own internal events or support external ones.
Examples of topics chosen to date include Doncaster Council’s Women’s Voices and Influence whereas the Welsh Assembly is exploring the subject of Bridging the Generation Gap.
This year promises to be even greater event – above all, it offers the chance for girls everywhere to unite, to encourage and motivate, and to do their bit for the advancement of womankind.