- By Bornika Das
- Thu, 06 Mar 2025 01:27 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year to honour women’s achievements across various fields and promote gender equality worldwide. It is a day to celebrate the contributions women make as mothers, sisters, wives, colleagues, or friends. Celebrate this day by showing gratitude, appreciation and respect for women. International Women’s Day 2025 calls for action to create a feminist future where everyone is treated equally, focusing on the role played by young women and adolescent girls in promoting lasting change in society.
International Women’s Day provides a platform to discuss issues faced by women and the uphill battles they fight daily and in establishing their rights in several aspects, namely political involvement, work and education. This day serves as a reminder to create a society free from bias and discrimination, especially against women, to create a safer place and celebrate and value women’s autonomy and agency. People are busy gearing up to celebrate the day, but little do they know why International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8. Here’s all you need to know.
Origin Of International Women’s Day
The United Nations (UN) in 1977 officially assigned March 8 as International Women’s Day, following their initial observance in 1975. As per the UN, the first National Women's Day was observed on February 28, 1909, in the United States. The Socialist Party of America identified this day to honour the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against the poor working conditions. The IWD website states that around 15,000 women marched for shorter working hours, better wages and voting rights.
The Second International Conference of Working Women was held in the year 1910 in Copenhagen, where the German socialist Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office in the Social Democratic Party, proposed International Women’s Day to be a global celebration to meet women’s demands for equal rights.
The idea was accepted, with over 100 women from 17 countries attending the conference. In 1911, more than one million people attended IWD rallies throughout Europe, demanding the right to work, vote, be trained, hold public office, and end discrimination. Revolutionary activist Zetkin believed that workers’ movements were the backbone in securing women’s rights. Later, the Manchester Guardian described her as the “grandmother of communism".
Clara Zetkin Proposed International Women's Day To Be A Global Celebration (Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons)
Why Is International Women’s Day Celebrated On March 8?
March 8 has its roots in Russian history. On February 23, 1913, Russian women protested against World War I under the Julian calendar, which corresponds to March 8 in the Gregorian calendar that is widely used in other parts of the world. This became one of the criteria for Women’s Day rallies. Another protest was held on February 23, 1917, when the Russian women demanded an end to war, food shortages and the rule of Czar Nicholas II.
These protests initiated the Russian Revolution. Within a short time, the Czar was overthrown, which led to the formation of a communist state, and women won the right to vote in Russia. The white women in the US gained suffrage in 1920, while women of colour also secured voting rights after the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
