In case you missed it during your morning stroll through the blogosphere, today is International Women’s Day. In fact, it is the 100th anniversary of when the IWD started to be celebrated as a global day of recognition and appreciation for the role that women play in our societies, as well as a day of activism for the campaign to achieve greater gender equality throughout the world.
Every year, the UN puts out a theme for IWD; this year it is “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunity: Progress for All.” This is incredibly appropriate given that the Commission on the Status of Women is currently meeting in New York to review the progress (or lack thereof) made on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that was adopted in 1995. Cassandra Clifford over on the FPB Children Blog has more background and links on the “Beijing + 15” conference going on, and I encourage you to check out her post on IWD for more information.
This year’s theme is also more fitting than previous years because it captures what the day is supposed to be about. In the beginning, IWD was linked to the labor rights and suffrage movement in the US and Europe. While women have since earned the right to vote in those countries, equality gaps still exist. In other countries, women still face socially accepted abuse and marginalization from their governments and within their families.
Women’s rights organizations around the world have planned plenty of events to mark the day and the struggles they still face. One of the most talked about events this year is the bridge demonstrations hosted by Women for Women International on more than 70 bridges throughout the world to highlight the need for peace and the disproportionate effect that war has on women. Plenty of journalists and bloggers have also used the occasion to reflect on women’s rights, from Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times to the feminist blog Gender Across Borders who is hosting a live-blog directory for those participating in blogging on IWD.
Many local communities are hosting their own IWD events today, and I encourage you to get involved. If that isn’t possible, still take a moment to read about some of the IWD activities going on and reflect on how much better we would all be if the goals of equality and egalitarianism sought by the first IWD planners 100 years ago were achieved in our lifetime. Although IWD is only one day, it is a day that highlights our best ambitions and aspirations for women, and should galvanize us to act year-round towards the goal of full and unqualified gender equality.
