International Women’s Day just happened on March 8! This important day is meant to prevent discrimination towards women. And it recognizes how much we have equally contributed to the world’s development.
There’s a whole site dedicated to International Women’s Day. It describes how the day is set to point out gender inequalities and eliminate biases. And we are here for it!
So where did International Women’s Day come from? And how was it recognized across the world this year? This year’s theme was #EachforEqual.
History of International Women’s Day
The first-ever Women’s Day took place on February 28th, 1909 in New York City.
The world did not recognize it internationally at the time. And took place because a year before, in 1908, 15,000 women rightfully demanded equal wages and rights. But Germany and Russia later adopted this day after more women made similar protests for equality and female recognition.
In 1917, Russia turned Women’s Day into a national holiday.
And in 1967, feminists adopted this day as an occasion for female empowerment and protest against gender oppression. In 1977, the UN adopted Women’s Day, turning it into a genuinely international occurrence!
For more info, you can check out this awesome video:
Different countries around the world recognise this day in different ways- as a celebration and sometimes as an occasion to protest for women’s rights. So we’ll get into a few of the ways that the world recognised International Woman’s Day this year!
Recruiting Women for Police Force
In 2020, the London police force marked international women’s day by encouraging more women to join their ranks.
Because many people see police forces as more of a male-dominated career -characterised by brute force- recruiting women marks an essential change in dynamics.
London shares that working as a police officer is no longer something to associate with masculine physical strength and oppression. Instead, it is for communicating with others and respectably solving issues. And with more women on the police force, people will probably have much more positive perceptions of the job! Good job, London.
International Women’s Day Protests
Unfortunately, there are still several places in the world where female equality still needs recognition- which further emphasises the sheer importance of having this day internationally acknowledged.
Some of the protests that have made recent news include those in Mexico City, Paris, Turkey, Pakistan, and more. International Women’s Day, for many women around the world, is a day to celebrate society’s progress towards the fair treatment of women as equals. And for others, it is a call to action. The world is not wholly equal yet. And International Women’s Day is an occasion for people everywhere to band together and demand changes for unfair gender-based conditions.
Future Gender Equality
The world has made some great strides towards equalizing genders. But there is still so much more work that needs to be done across the world.
As of yet, no country in the world can say that they are genuinely gender-equal. Men in power devalue women everywhere. But we’re going to change that. And years of progress proves that there will yet be a day in the future where everyone can be equal.
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