International Women’s Day: Why and since when is it being celebrated. International Women’s Day is organized every year on 8 March. But why is it celebrated? And when did it start?
Is it a protest or a celebration? Is International Men’s Day also organized on the same lines?
Will it be organized this year in the era of Kovid transition?
These are all those questions that must have come in your mind too, so know the answers to all these questions.
Clara Zetkin started International Women’s Day in 1910
1 – How did it get started?
The organization of International Women’s Day was a labor movement, which was approved by the United Nations as an annual event. The seed for this event was laid in 1908,
when 15,000 women in New York City staged a protest demanding reduced working hours, better wages and voting.
A year later, the American Socialist Party started celebrating National Women’s Day for the first time. But the idea of making this day international came in the mind of a woman named Clara Zetkin. She gave this idea to her in 1910 at the International Conference of Working Women held in Copenhagen.
100 women delegates from 17 countries were participating in this conference, all of them welcomed Clara’s suggestion.
After this, International Women’s Day was created for the first time in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland. Its centenary event was celebrated in 2011, so in 2021 the world will celebrate the 110th International Women’s Day.
However, officially celebrating it started in 1975 when the United Nations started celebrating this event. The United Nations adopted a theme for the first time in its event in 1996, that theme was – ‘Celebrate the past, plan for the future’.
International Women’s Day is celebrated as a celebration of where women have reached in society, in politics and in economics, but at the heart of this event has been the importance of performance,
so as to raise awareness about the inequalities faced by women. Protests are also organized for
Women participating in International Women’s Day event in Turkey
2 – When is International Women’s Day celebrated?
It is organized on 8 March. When Clara gave the idea of International Women’s Day, she did not mention any particular day. There was no clarity till 1917 on which date International Women’s Day should be organized.
In 1917, the women of Russia staged a four-day protest demanding bread and peace. The then Russian Tsar had to abdicate and the interim government also gave women the right to vote.
According to the Julian calendar used in Russia, the day the Russian women started the protest was February 23 and Sunday.
According to the Gregorian calendar, this day was March 8 and since then International Women’s Day was celebrated on this day.
What are the colors representing International Women’s Day?
Violet, green and white – all three are the colors of International Women’s Day.
According to the International Women’s Day campaign, “Violet is a symbol of justice and dignity. Green is the color of hope. White is considered a symbol of purity.
These three colors were created by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) of Britain in 1908. were decided.”
4- Is International Men’s Day also organized?
Yes, International Men’s Day is organized on 19 November. But it started after the 1990s and has not been recognized by the United Nations. However, it is celebrated in 80 countries around the world.
The day is organized to celebrate the ‘positive values brought by men to the world, their family and community’, highlighting the role of positive role models and spreading awareness about the better life of men.
The theme of the International Men’s Day 2020 was ‘Better Health for Men and Boys’.
5 – How is the International Women’s Day organized, will this event be virtual this year?
In many countries of the world including Russia, International Women’s Day is a national holiday. In Russia, flower sales double in three to four days around March 8.
According to the advice of the State Council in China, women get half a day off on March 8, although not all employers follow it properly.
In Italy, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, people give each other flowers of Mimosa. The reason for the origin of this tradition is not clear, but it is believed that this practice started in Rome after the Second World War.
In America, ‘March’ is the month of women’s history. The President honors the achievements of American women through a proclamation issued every year.
However, this time in view of the corona infection, more and more virtual events are expected around the world.
6 – What is the theme of International Women ‘s Day 2022?
According to the International Women’s Day website, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is – #BreakTheBias.
This theme has been chosen with the idea that women around the world should not be treated with any kind of discrimination and prejudiced thinking.
At the same time, while announcing the 2022 campaign, the United Nations has said that today’s gender equality is necessary for sustainable tomorrow. These events will showcase information about women working to improve climate change around the world.
The campaign states that “we can all challenge gender discrimination and inequality. We can all celebrate the achievements of women. Collectively, we can all contribute to building an inclusive world.”
People are being asked whether they are committed to bring about change by removing inequality.
7 – Why do we need this event?
Attackers in the past year have seen the fight for women’s rights weaken around the world. The rise of the Taliban has put the future of millions of women in Afghanistan at risk.
Girls are not allowed to pursue education. The country’s Ministry of Women’s Development has been shut down and many women have not been allowed to return to work.
The fight for women’s rights in countries around the world has also slowed down due to Corona infection. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report,
2021, the estimated 99.5 years for discrimination between women and men has increased to 135.6 years at the time of corona infection.
At the same time, according to the 2021 data of UN Women, one in every two women in 13 countries has admitted that some woman has faced violence during the Kovid crisis in her identity.
At the same time, last year Yoon Women had told that according to the data, due to corona infection, all that was achieved in the last 25 years in the fight for gender equality could end.
Due to the Corona epidemic, women are doing most of the domestic work and its impact will also be visible on jobs and education opportunities.
However, even after the Corona transition, many demonstrations were seen during International Women’s Day-2021. Most of these demonstrations were peaceful.
But in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, police arrested dozens of female activists after masked men attacked women protesting.
Women activists of the country believe that the situation of women’s rights is getting worse than before. Despite violent threats and legal matters, protests were seen in many cities of Pakistan.
In the last few years, the situation of the women’s movement has steadily improved. In 2021, Kamala Harris became the first black and Asian-born woman to reach the position of vice-president in the US.
In 2021, Tanzania became the first woman president. Samia Soluhu Hassan was elected president there, while for the first time in countries like Estonia, Sweden, Samoa and Tunisia, a woman has reached the post of prime minister.
In January 2022, Siomara Castro is sworn in as the first female President of Honduras. In 2021, New Zealand has declared paid leave to women and their partners in the event of childbirth or abortion, while in 2020, female genital mutilation was declared a crime in Sudan.
It was only in 2022 that women got legal validity in Colombia to perform abortions up to 24 weeks.
On Women’s Day in 2021, women’s groups protested in Mexico by erecting an instant metal monument to the murder victims.
In Northern Ireland, abortion was outlawed. Apart from this, the law made in Sudan regarding how women should dress in public places had to be withdrawn.
Apart from this, the effect of #MeToo campaign was also seen during this period. It started in 2017 under which women started raising their voice against harassment and sexual harassment in social media with this hashtag.
Now its practice has spread around the world, which is showing that unacceptable and inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated and many high profile people have been punished in these cases.
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