The relevance of celebrating International Women's Day

(Published on 6 March 2007 in 'Women at Work' - W @ W - a supplement of the Daily Mirror, Colombo, Sri Lanka)

Each year 8 March is observed as International Women's Day. As always women's groups around the world irrespective of their nationalities, economic and political differences and their ethnic and cultural backgrounds come together to commemorate their day. I have been invited to an august gathering this coming 8 March where celebrity women achievers from different walks of life will voice their opinion about equality, justice, peace and development. But the International Women’s Day is not just about the few that have a voice and have gathered for a symposium. It’s about the ordinary woman on the street. Celebrating International Women’s Day is about empowering that ‘ordinary woman’ and about understanding the meaning of words like equality and suffrage.

For centuries women had been taught that, for them, the earth is flat, and that if they venture out, they would fall off the edge. But the turn of the century brought with it, a new wind of change. The first ever National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February 1909. Soon after, it was unanimously decided to establish a Women's Day to honour the movement for women's rights and to achieve universal suffrage for women. As a result, International Women's Day was marked for the first time on 19 March 1911 in Austria, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. Besides the right to vote and to hold public office, women demanded equality with emphasis on the right to work and to an end to discrimination at work.

Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913 lobbying for peace on the eve of World War I. Women in Europe followed suit, holding rallies on 8 March 1914 to protest the war. Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February 1917 to strike for "bread and peace" to protest against the 2 million Russian soldiers who had died in the war. Four days later, the provisional Government in power after the Czar’s abdication granted women the right to vote. That historic day fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar.

Since then, International Women's Day is celebrated on 8 March and has taken on a new global dimension. The growing international women's movement has resulted in coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in the political and economic process. The campaign to promote and protect the equal rights of women has received intense and widespread support. The Charter of the United Nations signed in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right.

The United Nations' theme for International Women's Day in 2007 is "Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls." The subject highlights the crucial need to create and maintain a social and legal environment that does not accept and tolerate violence against women. Unfortunately, such violence occurs in every country and cuts across boundaries of culture, class and education. We all publicly decry violence against women. But the truth is that it is often embedded within our cultural practices and norms.
Ending all forms of violence against women, whether it is physical, sexual or psychological, is one of the most daunting challenges faced by the world.

It is time for the women of today to reflect on progress made. International Women's Day is YOUR day. It is time for YOU to call for a change.

Miss Know-All
miss.know.all@gmail.com