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Events
leading to INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
As
you perhaps all know, March 8 is dedicated to all women and
celebrated as International Women's Day. But it, of course,
didn’t come out of a void. It’s the fruit of an entire
saga of struggles by women against all odds to bring
equality, peace and justice to a male-dominated world.
It
wasn’t too long ago that women began to take a stand
against injustice and inequality. In fact, the rumblings of
the earthquake we call the women’s movement can be traced
to the end of the 19th century—the era that was
witness to the massive industrialization around the world.
Women had until then lived under the “a woman’s place is
in the home” label. But this time round, there were jobs
of all kinds for the taking, and women left their homes to
join the workplace by the hundreds.
Life
didn’t turn out to be a bed of roses !
In
the textile and manufacturing industries, not only were the
jobs sex-segregated, women were also paid lower wages, had
long working hours and worked in such appalling conditions
that their places of work were called ‘sweat-shops’.
What could be worse ? They put up with these for quite some
time, but then determination and courage got the better of
their vulnerabilities. Women workers were forced to rise up
against this injustice, and the struggle for equal rights
was born !
Today
the world celebrates International Women's Day as an
acknowledgement of these struggles, and though the battle
continues into the 21st century, International
Women's Day stands as a flame of inspiration for all women
to strive to achieve equality—social, political, economic
and cultural.
Women’s
Day was not what it is today. It took ‘ordinary women’
‘extraordinary’ courage to achieve what women enjoy
today and to bring about the establishment of International
Women's Day on March 8. In case you’re interested to know
the major events which led to today’s celebration of the
International Women’s Day, here they come:
1789:
The first mentioned women’s
uprising was in Versailles, France, where women calling for
“equality, liberty and fraternity” demanded women’s
suffrage for the first time.
1857:
The first recorded organized
action by women took place in New York City on March 8, when
hundreds of women workers of the textile and garment
industry staged a protest strike against low wages, long
working hours, inhuman working conditions and the lack of
voting rights. They were attacked and dispersed by the
police.
1859:
These women formed the first labor union for their protection and a platform from which
they could campaign for basic women’s rights.
1866:
The first Congress of
the International Workers Association adopted a resolution
on women’s professional work, challenging the tradition
that a woman’s place was at home.
1889:
Clara Zetkin, staunch socialist, feminist and campaigner for
women’s suffrage, delivered her first speech in Paris
advocating women’s right to work and their participation
in national and international events. She also spoke for the
protection of mothers and children.
1899:
A women’s Conference against war at The Hague was the
starting point of the anti-war movement that gathered
momentum into the 20th century.
1907:
On February 28, American women socialists observed a day for
the working women in New York City to demand political
rights, suffrage, a decent wage and an end to the
‘sweat-shops’ and child labor. This day is seen as the first
observance of any kind of day for women and is widely
regarded as the first “Women’s Day”.
1908:
In the US, large demonstrations by socialist women convinced
their party to designate the last Sunday in February as a
day for women or Women’s Day, to campaign for their
political and economic rights.
1909:
The following year some 2000 women attended a “Women’s
Day” rally in Manhattan again on the last Sunday in
February.
By now, the last Sunday in February was known as
“Women’s Day”, and “Women’s Day” continued to be
celebrated every year on the last Sunday in February, till
the year 1913.
1910:
At the 2nd International Conference of Socialist
Women in Copenhagen, women activists proposed that
“Women’s Day” become an international event.
The idea seemed too far-fetched, but this conference was
attended by Clara Zetkin, who, inspired by their commitment
and activities seconded the proposal saying that women
throughout the world should focus on one day to voice and
press for their demands.
The 100 women from the 17 countries at this Conference then
voted to establish an “International Women's Day”.
1911:
As a result of this decision, International
Women's Day was observed for the first time on March 19 in
Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland with over a
million men and women attending the rallies. Besides their
demands for the right to vote and hold public office, they
demanded vocational training, the right to work and an end
to discrimination on the job.
Not even a week later, on March 25, the tragic “Triangle
fire” of New York City killed over 140 women workers at
the Triangle Shirtwaist Company–the causes—unsafe
conditions and locked fire escapes (to prevent workers from
sneaking breaks).
What followed isn’t too surprising ! Eighty thousand
marched through the streets to attend the mass funeral and
the following year, over 14,000 textile workers went on
strike for nearly 3 months. Their cry—“better to starve
fighting than to starve working”. It is these women whose
courage inspired the International Women's Day song ‘Bread
and Roses’.
1912:
Observance of International Women's Day spread to the
Netherlands and Sweden.
1913:
World War I was inevitable, and the peace movement led by
women was gathering momentum. Russian women observed their
first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in
February, striking for “bread and peace” and mourning
the 2 million Russian soldiers who had already given up
their lives.
This was a historic event, and despite police intimidation,
the strike went on, culminating in the historic abdication
of the Czar–the provisional government granted women the right to vote !
This last
Sunday fell on February 23 on the Julian Calendar then used
in Russia, but elsewhere in the world it was March 8 on the Gregorian Calendar.
March 8
was also the day the first recorded strike of women workers
took place in 1857–seen as the beginning of the struggle.
March 8
has since been observed the world over as International
Women's Day.
90
years on and the struggle continues ! Isn’t this worth
pondering upon ? It took nearly a century to acknowledge the
efforts made by women ! And in establishing the need to pay
tribute to their unflinching courage and determination ! But
nonetheless, in keeping with the old saying, it’s better
late than never !
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