Sunday, March 8 we will celebrate International Women’s Day 2020. This is a date of great importance for women, and during the day they will defend their rights, while also paying tribute to those who fought for their freedom and for being equal to men.
International Women’s Day was initiated by the United Nations, but it is now celebrated in many countries. The main idea is to come together and remember the struggle, but also the progress that was made over the last 100 years. Today’s blog article by ShBarcelona will tell you more about Women’s Day 2020.
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Women’s Day 2020; what is the history and meaning of it?
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The basis for International Women’s Day emerged in the late 19th century. At that time, society was in the midst of an industrial revolution and labour movements were rising.
If you want to know about the origin of this special day, then you have to go back to the year 1910, and more specifically the date the International Socialist Women’s Conference took place. This is where they unanimously decided to commemorate International Working Woman’s Day on March 8.
The conference was organized in Copenhagen and advocated for equality between both men and women. Women were not allowed to vote at that time, and one of the fundamental rights they fought for was precisely that: the right to vote.
Years later the UN declared March 8 as the International Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace. Ever since then, this day also commemorates the women who had been prominently involved in the development of the movement.
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Photo via Pixabay
Upon discussing the history of International Women’s Day, one must not forget to mention the historic strike in 2017. Millions of women, from every corner of the world, gathered to fight for their interests on different subjects. So this was not just a labour strike, it was actually also a student, consumer and health care strike.
Over time, the feminist movement managed to make an impact, and they started to appear on public agendas of several organisations. They were responsible for organizing strikes on March 8, and they carried out different activities and protests.
Women will once again take to the streets of Barcelona (and other Spanish and European cities) on March 8, and they will continue to fight for what they strongly believe in. Generally speaking, the feminist movement stands up for the following rights:
- Fighting against inequality and male violence
- Fighting to be free women, without having to suffer abuse
- Fighting many women’s poor wages and wage differences (also reflecting in pensions)
- Fighting for the right to decide on your own body, without being discriminated on the grounds of sexual orientation, identity or gender
- Fighting for the recognition of domestic work
- Fighting for migrant women, that are in a more vulnerable situation (institutionalized, racist and gender-specific violence)
- Fighting against cutbacks in health, social services and health care at the expense of women’s work
- Fighting against discrimination of lesbians, bisexuals, gays, intersexes, transgenders, etc.
Now that we are on the subject of International Women’s Day, you might want to know if there is also such a thing as Men’s Day. And although this is not socially relevant, we actually celebrate it every November 19.
Do you know other interesting facts about Women’s Day 2020?
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