THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
Autor: Andrea Rincon | Publicado: 2013-03-12T19:23:00-07:00




























The idea of an Internacional Women's day arised for the first time around &nbsp;the turn of of the twentieth century, in the context of the First World War and the Second Industrial&nbsp;Revolution, when the incorporation of female labour&nbsp;ocurred, en masse, throughout industry. It was a&nbsp;period of expansion and turbulance with expansive growth of population and&nbsp;radical&nbsp;ideologies.&nbsp;Working conditions, often unhealthy and dangerous, were cause of frequent protests&nbsp;by workers. Many events occurred in the following years, in various parts of the industrialized world. Here is a short chronology of the most important events.







1909







According to a declaration by the Socialist&nbsp;Party of&nbsp;America, National Women's Day was first observed in the&nbsp;United&nbsp;States on February&nbsp;28. Women continued to celebrate on the last sunday of that month until 1913.








1910



Clara Zetkin: A German socialist who proposed the creation of International Women's Day.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;







The organisation "Second International", the original "Social Internatonal", came together in Copenhagen, where they established Women's Day in an&nbsp;internacional&nbsp;character, to honor women's rights movement and to assist in achieving the rights to vote for women worldwide. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.







1911







As a result of the decision taken in Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended demonstrations. Besides the right to vote and hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to professional education and an end to discrimination in the workplace.










Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic factory fire of "Triangle Shirtwaist" in New York, took the lives of more than 140 girls who worked in the factory, mostly Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labor legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.


















1913-1914


















As part of the peace movement on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed the International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, as the German poster here on the right depicts, on 8 March of the following year, women formed rallies to protest against the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

















1917











With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government gave women the right to vote.







That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere. Above the massive demonstration on that day in Petrograd.










In the West, International Women's Day was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s. Later, the date was forgotten and was only recovered by the feminist movement, already during the 1960s, and ultimately adopted by the United Nations in 1977.








In Brazil, we can say that the day 24 February 1932 was a milestone in the history of Brazilian women. On this date women's suffrage was established. Women conquered, after many years of discussions and claims, the right to vote and be elected to positions in the executive and legislative branches.









Since the first years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries. Unfortunately, today, the celebration of International Women's Day partially lost its original meaning, acquiring a festive and commercial&nbsp;character.







"Who beats his wife hurts the whole family"




On the other hand there is a growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations conferences for women, which helps make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in political or economic processes. This year (2013), the efforts are to end violence against women.&nbsp;








Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights.







&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;



&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
















That at least 125 countries have specific laws that penalize domestic violence, but 603 million women live in countries where it is not considered a crime?








That a child born to a mother who can read is 50 per cent more likely to survive?

That the companies on the list of "Fortune 500", having more women in their joint directives, are 53 percent more profitable than those with fewer women on their boards?

Up to 7 in 10 women suffer from physical or sexual violence during their lives?

That there are 139 constitutions that guarantee gender equality and 117 who legislate on equal pay, but that on average, women still continue to receive a commission of 10 to 30 percent less than men in the world?

That violence against women has important economic implications, with an estimated cost ranging from U.S. $ 11,380 million in Australia up to 32 900 million per year in England and Wales.

That in 411 BC in Ancient Greece, when Athens was surrounded by the troops of Sparta, Aristophanes, an antimilitarist Greek playwright wrote a play, a severe critic of this war, where Greek women led by Lysistrata hold a sex strike, or that is, indefinitely deny their partners or husbands to have sex, to force the Athenians and Spartans to establish peace?

That women nowadays, hold sex strikes in order to pressure the men to resolve a conflict, get a claim or bring peace to a war?

That during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage?





















"Women, They Make History"













&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;





Milestones of Achievements of Women in History


1788 - French politician and philosopher Condorcet claims rights of political participation, employment and education for women.

1840 - Lucretia Mott struggles for equal rights for women and blacks in the United States.

1859 - Uprising in Russia, in the city of St. Petersburg, a movement fighting for the rights of women.

1862 - During the national elections, women can vote for the first time in Sweden.

1865 - in Germany Louise Otto, creates the General Association of German Women.

1866 - In the UK, the economist John S. Mill writes demanding the right to vote for British women

1869 - is created in the United States the National Association for Women's Suffrage

1870 - In France, women now have access to medical courses.

1874 - Japan created the first normal school for girls

1878 - Russia created a University for Women

1901 - French deputy René Viviani defends the right of women to vote






&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;





&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;





&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;end! &nbsp;









source: UN Women