International Women’s Day : Definition, History & Celebrations
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International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8th March every year to recognize women’s socio-economic, cultural, and political achievements. This day draws attention to violence & abuse, reproductive rights, and gender inequality against women.
What is the History of International Women’s Day?
New York City holds the earliest origin of National Women’s Day on 28th February 1909. The Socialist Party of America commemorated this day against the protest made by women garment workers in New York. In 1910, an International Socialist’s Women’s Conference was organized by a generalist meeting of Socialist Second International in Copenhagen. Over 100 delegates agreed to the idea of promoting equal rights for women.
In 1911, the first International Women’s Day was celebrated by millions of people spread across Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Women protested against sex discrimination in employment.
Till 1967, International Women’s Day was celebrated predominantly in Communist countries, and the trend continued to spread elsewhere. Finally, in 1977 the United Nations General Assembly commemorated 8th March as International Women’s Day. Every year, this day has observance dedicated to a certain theme or issue within women’s rights.
Major corporations have pooled in, and websites have been created to celebrate International Women’s Day. The website works unconnected with the UN and sets out a yearly theme & hashtags.
Celebrations for International Women’s Day
In 2011, the celebration of “Women’s History Month” by Barack Obama showed the extraordinary accomplishments of women in shaping the country’s history. International Organization Red Cross called for support on preventing rape & other forms of sexual violence.
In 2013, the theme set up the International Women’s Day was “A promise is a promise: time for action to end violence against women.” UNESCO’s contribution against the violence against young girls in which the collaboration with governments worldwide to support women’s rights took the headlines.
In 2016, India’s efforts in setting up four one-stop crisis centers to help women by the Ministry of Women and Child Development were appreciated. Air India carried the world’s longest non-stop flight from Delhi to San Francisco, was handled completely by women. It covered a distance of 14,500 kilometers in around 17 hours.
In 2018, the UN theme for International Women’s Day was: “Time is now: Rural and Urban activists transforming women’s lives.” Many prominent women’s personalities spoke on the issues such as sexual harassment & assault and the gender pay gap.
In 2019, the theme for International Women’s Day was: “I am Generation Inequality: Realizing Women’s Rights.” United Nations looked for innovative ways in which to advance gender equality and empowerment of women. Women should have access to public services and sustainable infrastructure.
In 2021, the UN theme for International Women’s Day was: “#ChooseToChallenge.” People were encouraged to call out against gender bias and inequality.
International Women’s Day is now more focused on Awareness-raising, Fundraising, key partnerships, shared missions, Celebrating achievement, and Raising Visibility for the movement against gender inequality and violence against women.