German actress Hedwig Reicher wearing costume of "Columbia" with other suffrage pageant participants standing in background in front of the Treasury Building, March 3, 1913, Washington, D.C. The pageant featured an allegory in which Columbia summoned Justice, Charity, Liberty, Peace, and Hope to review the new crusade of women.(Wikipedia)
The day was commemorated for the first time on 19 March 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, following its establishment during the Socialist International meeting the prior year. More than one million women and men attended rallies on that first commemoration.
International Woman's day started as a Socialist political event,
the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc. In many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
International Women’s Day is being celebrated with events being held around the world.
This years theme Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women
•UN Women:
Events around the world to commemorate International Women’s Day, organized and co-sponsored by UN Women
•United Nations in Geneva
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day with the UN in Geneva (Download PDF flyer)
•Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) :
Launch of the 2010-11 edition of The State of Food and Agriculture report: Closing the gender gap in agriculture (View live webcast)
•International Labour Organization (ILO):
ILO celebrates International Women's Day
•ILO and UN Women:
Award Ceremony on prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace
More at the link.
Some International Woman's Day events and headlines:
In Egypt A Million Woman March scheduled for Today
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's message on International Women's Day
Involving women in agriculture reduces hunger
Women and media in the Maghreb: UNESCO launches new Facebook group and logo
Two Girls Demonstrate Power Of School Meals
Daniel Craig In Drag for International Women's Day Ad
The 43-year-old English actor showed his support for International Women’s Day in the new short, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, scripted by Kick Ass‘ Jane Goldman, and narrated by Dame Judi Dench.
Source.
A Safe World For Women: 100 YEARS OF TALK
•100 years ago
International Women’s Day was launched, with women demanding the right to vote, work, hold public office and an end to job discrimination.
•66 years ago
The Charter of the United Nations was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right.
•63 years ago
the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
•18 years ago
the United Nations passed a resolution which said that States should condemn violence against women.
•17 years ago
the UN passed a resolution outlining a Platform for Action for States to eliminate violence against women and girls.
•8 years ago
the UN passed a resolution saying that States should implement the commitments made in the platform for action.
•6 years ago
at the World Summit, world leaders declared that ‘progress for women is progress for all’.
•5 years ago
Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General, said… “There is no policy more effective in promoting development, health and education than the empowerment of women and girls.
•3 years ago
UNIFEM began a public campaign to ‘inspire’ the member states to act by 2015.
•Two years ago
current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “Violence against women is… an attack on all of us, on the foundation of our civilization. It destroys health and perpetuates poverty. It strikes against equality and empowerment.”
•18 months ago
the UN adoped the Resolution to End Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones
MEANWHILE...
Women as a commodity:
Trading in women and girls is fast becoming more lucrative than the drugs trade - and just as corrupt.
In adition to March 8, being International Woman's Day, March is Women’s History Month. The White House has released a new report entitled Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being
a portrait showing how women are faring in the United States today and how their lives have changed over time.
Women in America focuses on five critical areas: people, families and income; education; employment; health; and crime and violence. The administration will be honoring Women’s History Month throughout March, and will highlight a different section of the report every week.
“The Obama administration has been focused on addressing the challenges faced by women and girls from day one because we know that the success of women and girls is vital to winning the future,” said Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls Valerie Jarrett. “Today’s report not only serves as a look back on American women’s lives, but serves as a guidepost to help us move forward.”
Highlights from the report include:
• Women have not only caught up with men in college attendance but younger women are now more likely than younger men to have a college or a graduate degree. Women are also working more and the number of women and men in the labor force has nearly equalized in recent years. As women’s work has increased, their earnings constitute a growing share of family income.
•Gains in education and labor force involvement have not yet translated into wage and income equity. At all levels of education, women earned about 75 percent of what their male counterparts earned in 2009. In part because of these lower earnings and in part because unmarried and divorced women are the most likely to have responsibility for raising and supporting their children, women are more likely to be in poverty than men. These economic inequities are even more acute for women of color.
•Women live longer than men but are more likely to face certain health problems, such as mobility impairments, arthritis, asthma, depression, and obesity. Women also engage in lower levels of physical activity. Women are less likely than men to suffer from heart disease or diabetes. One out of seven women age 18-64 has no usual source of health care. The share of women in that age range without health insurance has also increased.
•Women are less likely than in the past to be the target of violent crimes, including homicide. But women are victims of certain crimes, such as intimate partner violence and stalking, at higher rates than men.
Egyptian million woman march ends with a gunshot
Earlier today as I began to compile this diary I searched for photos of the Million Woman March scheduled for today in Egypt. Via twitter I learned that the Egyptian million woman march ends with a gunshot
as a group of activists stood side-by-side holding banners of the movement calling for equality, another group of male protesters came from the other side to disrupt the march. As males and females activists chanted “Men and women, one hand,” “Muslims and Christian, one hand,” the other group described as “thugs” chanted “No, no, the people want women to step down,” and “The Quran is our ruler.”
It was a shouting match more than a dialogue, with neither side hearing the other. The thugs became insulting and aggressive, but the majority of the activists insisted on staying. The thugs then became violent and started pushing and harassing some women. Activists ran away to Qasr El Aini street, thugs running after them until they reached a point where the army was stationed. The army fired in the air, and the thugs ran away. The army sent soldiers to accompany home girls who had been harassed. “I got harassed by those thugs, I don’t know what to say,” said an activist female who preferred to remain anonymous. She was very angry and called on everyone to leave Tahrir Square and not to return, at least for today.
Indeed, women around the world still have a long way to go.
Photos:
After selling her home, English activist Emmeline Pankhurst travelled constantly, giving speeches throughout Britain and the United States. One of her most famous speeches, Freedom or death, was delivered in Connecticut in 1913.
U.S. women suffragists demonstrating for the right to vote, February 1913.
Woman modelling marching costume for Chicago's suffrage parade.
Handicapped! Propaganda poster for the Artists' Suffrage League shows a woman in a rowboat, struggling in high waves, while a man relaxes on a sailboat with a sail labeled "votes". Westminster Palace can be seen in the background.
The first public act performed by Delta Sigma Theta's Founders involved their participation in the Women’s Suffrage March in Washington, D.C. in March 1913.
The cartoon above has President Grover Cleveland, carrying book "What I know about women's clubs," being chased with a "Women's Suffrage" umbrella by Susan B. Anthony, as Uncle Sam chuckles in background. The cartoon was created by Charles Bartholomew sometime between 1892 and 1896. By then, Anthony and her crusade for social justice was recognized throughout the world.
(All photos via Wikipedia.)