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International Women’s Day – Where it all began
The 8th March every year is a day when women all over the world celebrate their achievements, organise, campaign and declare solidarity with each other. Women can reflect on nine decades of the struggle for equality, development and peace.
The Early days
It all started in 1857, when a group of widowed and poverty stricken women revolted against their working conditions and low wages in the US. Many were trampled by crowds as they marched in protest. They were also arrested for daring to defy the public and the state.
An International Agenda
The call for International Women’s Day to be observed on the 8th March each year in memory of those earlier struggles was made in 1910 by Clara Zetkin, a representative at the Socialist Women’s International Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It was first observed in 1911 when women demonstrated to demand the right to vote and hold public office and for an end to discrimination.
The United Nations
In 1975 the United Nations (UN) put International Women’s Day on its calendar, and suggested that its member states choose a day to “recognise the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security.”
Most Nations chose March 8th. Some countries chose other days - in South Africa, Women’s Day is celebrated on 9th August to commemorate the date when, in 1956, 20,000 women marched in Pretoria to oppose the extension of the pass laws to women -a move aimed at controlling black migrant workers.
Britain & IWD
Britain did not celebrate IWD until 1926, the year of the General Strike. Here IWD has always had strong ties to trade unions. March 8th was the date for expressing opposition to fascism in Europe until the outbreak of the Second World War. From 1945, IWD for some time was not celebrated in Britain.
The International Women’s Day which came out of the 1960s and 1970s was brought about through women’s liberation movements. 5,000 women demonstrated in London in 1971, demanding equal pay, equal opportunity, free 24-hour child care, free contraception and abortion on demand. Since this major event, the celebration of IWD in Britain has continued to grow.
The day has become an opportunity to celebrate, inform, raise women’s voices and bring women together.
Despite of the differences that invariably exist for women across the world, it is crucial that we continue to use International Women’s Day to focus on the adverse conditions that effect women world-wide, campaign and respond to the urgent need for change, a time to celebrate women’s achievements and reflect on the struggles that have brought women’s liberty thus far.
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