8 March - INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

MARCH 8^th

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

On March 8th it is celebrated the International Women's Day. This day commemorates the struggle of women for their participation, on equal terms with men, in society and in their integral development as a person.

International Women’s Day: why the 8 of March? 

 

 Established by the United Nations in 1977, “International Women’s Day” owes its origins to the protests of women, particularly in Europe, who demanded, at the beginning of the 20th century, the right to vote, improved working conditions and gender equality. 19 March, the last Sunday of February, 15 April and 23 February are among the key dates for International Women’s Day.

• 1910: in Copenhagen (Denmark), hundreds of participants gather at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women (the first having been held in 1907) and decide to organize an annual day for women to bolster their efforts to achieve voting rights.  

• 1911: a day for women is celebrated in a number of European countries and in the United States. But this celebration occurs on 19 March, in commemoration of the revolution of 1848 and of the “Commune de Paris”.  

• 1913: Russian women celebrate their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday of February, by organizing clandestine gatherings.  

• 1915: As the First World War rages, a huge gathering of women is held in The Hague (Netherlands) on 15 April. Participants include over 1300 women from over 12 countries.   

• 1917: Women labourers take to the streets and declare a general strike announcing the Russian Revolution. The date was 23 February.  

• After World War II, 8 March begins to be celebrated in a number of countries, before being recognized by the UN as International Women’s Day in 1977.  

Before the Revolution, Russia had not yet adopted the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to mitigate the errors of the Julian calendar, which owes its name to the Roman emperor who had chosen it 46 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The Gregorian calendar is used today in the large majority of countries. In 1917, 23 February in Russia thus corresponded to 8 March in the other European countries.

  

A little Homage 

The following video is a little homage to all of the women who try to improve the world every day of their lives.

The pictures in the video go along with Angela Aki singing the song she co-wrote with her music teacher Janis Ian in a collaborative work in July 2010: “Every Woman's Song' is a song about transcending national boundaries, gender, age, race, a song of friendship, about ties between woman and ties between people.”

You can find the lyrics below the video.   

                                                        

Song: Every Woman's Song  

Artist: Angela Aki

Every woman is a story
Might not always have a happy ending
And every story has a history
And the past is always worth remembering

To all the women who have gone before me
To all the women who have yet to come
We all weave our separate stories
But from a distance they are one

We are a rainbow of faces and a tapestry of songs
We all come from different places in this world
Though we are strangers when we meet
We are sisters when we're done
We are beauty, we are mystery, we are one
We are every woman's song

And every woman is a journey
We are always right where we belong
Hearts can guide us, hearts can blind us
Still we carry one

Thank you to the mothers and daughters of my soul
To all the women I will never know
And you have given me a voice that I can call my own
You are beauty, you are mystery, you are one
You are every woman's song

We are a rainbow of faces and a tapestry of songs
We all come from different places in this world
Though we are strangers when we meet
We are sisters when we're done
We are beauty, we are mystery, we are one
We are every woman's song

This is every woman's song

Say YES to:

• Gender equality      
• Right to vote 
• Education
• Improved working conditions

Say NO to:

  

• Domestic violence
• Sexual violence and assault
• Genital mutilation
• Racism
• Injustice

Sources: Unesco - Google Imágenes - Youtube