At International Women's Day is about equality – in the workplace, in society, before the law: For more than 100 years, women have been making their mark on 8. March to draw attention to where they and their gender comrades continue to be discriminated against.
Why is International Women's Day celebrated on this date – and how did it actually come about?? The main questions and answers:
When is Women's Day?
International Women's Day – Women's Day for short – is celebrated annually on 8. March celebrated.
Women's Day – what does it actually mean?
On this day, attention is drawn worldwide to the unequal treatment of men and women.
How long has Women's Day existed?
The first national Women's Day was celebrated by the Socialist Party in the USA on 28 February 1909. February 1909: Women's rights activists commemorated the strike of women textile workers in New York who had fought for better working conditions. They also called for women's suffrage.
The German women's rights activist Clara Zetkin struck in 1910 at the II. The ESC proposes, at the 5th Congress of the Socialist International in Copenhagen, to celebrate an annual International Women's Day. "No special rights, but human rights", demanded the socialist Zetkin.
When was the day celebrated for the first time?
For the first International Women's Day, about one million demonstrators went to the 18. March 1911 in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Denmark and Switzerland.
Their most important demand: the right to vote for women and thus the opportunity for political participation. Only in Finland did women have the opportunity to vote in elections at that time. German women did not get the right to vote until 1918; Swiss women have only been able to vote since 1971.
Why is Women's Day on 8. March?
In the following years the International Women's Day found its place in the socialist movement. During World War I, the day became a day of action against the war. 1921 put the 2. communist women's conference the international woman's day on 8. March fest.
After the introduction of the right to vote for women, the demonstrators were concerned with things like labor protection laws, equal pay for equal work, minimum wages, sufficient mother and child protection and the legalization of abortions. During the Nazi regime, International Women's Day was banned as a socialist holiday.
‣ Interactive comparison: This is what the Bundestag and state parliaments would look like with women only – the proportion of women in the parliamentary groups of all parliaments
Why does International Women's Day still exist?
In Western countries, equality now prevails, at least according to the law. For the women's movement, however, the fight for equality is far from over. Women are still disadvantaged in these areas.
Women continue to earn less on average than men for the same work. Women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions in business, politics and administration. One reason for many is the difficulty of reconciling family and career.
Women still earn less
Other ies for women's rights activists include the global fight against oppression and violence against women and girls. In very many countries around the world, for example, girls still do not have the right to education, and girls and women are denied the right to sexual self-determination.
How international is Women's Day in fact?
In 1975, the United Nations proclaimed the International Year of Women: since then, the UN has also celebrated International Women's Day on 8 May. March. "Gender equality and empowering girls and women is the unfinished business of our time, says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his message for International Women's Day 2018: "It is the biggest human rights task in our world."
Women in the Bundestag: Verfangsgericht dismisses complaint
Women's Day – where is the 8. March a public holiday? Is free on the day?
In Germany, 8. March no holiday – with one exception: In the federal state stands thereby in the international comparison however not alone there. Other countries also have a holiday on this date. In China, women are free from the afternoon.
In some countries of the world – including many former Soviet republics, but also in African countries – International Women's Day is a public holiday.
In many other countries, including European ones, there are demonstrations and actions on International Women's Day to remember the achievements of women's rights activists, but also to draw attention to the problems that still exist.
Among others, Women's Day is a holiday in Angola, Eritrea, Georgia, Vietnam, North Korea, Ukraine and Cambodia.
Sayings, congratulations, gifs and quotes for women's day on 8. March
Sayings sent on the occasion of Women's Day are particularly popular. Small suggestion for congratulatory sayings or quotations pleases? Various websites collect quotes, sayings and congratulations: The site "Netmoms" lists quotes from famous women. On the side "sayings to give away" there are prefabricated congratulations. And on the side "Giphy" find beyond that numerous Gifs to dispatch.
Women's Day: Give a gift to your female colleagues?
Small Gifts for women on 8. March also occur again and again in Germany. Even though flowers or chocolates are unlikely to eliminate gender inequality, this tradition exists in many countries: In Italy, for example, women are given a small bouquet of mimosas as gifts. In Russia, the day also includes flowers or smaller gifts such as perfume or jewelry.
