In
1975, The United Nations proclaimed March 8 to be the day
on which women around the world should commemorate their
struggles and celebrate their achievements.
But
its history actually goes back more than a century before
that day. In 1857, women garment workers in New York staged
a massive street protest about the 12-hour work days, poverty
wages and sexual harassment that were common in their jobs.
Fifty-one years later, they held the same massive demonstration
in New York, adding the problems of the lack of women's
suffrage and continuing child labor to list of women's burdens.
In
1910, women in 17 countries, attending the Conference of
Socialist Women in Denmark, vote to establish an International
Women's Day March.
Continuing
outrage at the plight of women, fueled by the tragic loss
of young women in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of
1911 and the Textile Workers strike in 1912 that inspired
the song "Bread and Roses" (bread symbolizing
wages, and roses, quality of life) helped to create a common
bond across countries and industries for women workers.
March
8 became known as the day that marks women's efforts to
attain justice and equality for themselves and their children.
The
theme for this year's International Women's Day/Week is
"Working in Solidarity: Women, Human Rights and Peace."
Websites can be examined around the world to look at how
the day and this theme of empowering women are treated:
