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Marking International Women’s Day
Barbara Keeley
This week International Women’s Day was celebrated in Parliament by two debates. The debate in the Commons is a general debate on International Women’s Day while the debate in the Lords is on the motion “to call attention to the impact of Government policy on the lives of women and girls, and their priorities for the future”.
The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911. Three years before in 1908, 15,000 women had marched through New York City demanding better pay, conditions and voting rights – a march that led to the establishment of International Women’s Day. In celebrating the centenary of this historic march, we can look at both what International Women’s Day has meant historically and what significance it holds around the world today.
The day was proposed in 1910 and first celebrated in 1911 to promote universal female suffrage and to celebrate the achievements of women in social, political and economic spheres.
In the UK, this year marks the 90th anniversary of the introduction of suffrage for women aged 30 years and over and the 80th anniversary of equal voting rights for women. Besides celebrating the achievement of female suffrage here, many women feel that it is important that International Women’s Day is celebrated in a way that is true to the original aims. This also enables us to focus on the situation in countries across the world of women’s rights to vote and conduct their professional and personal lives in equal status with men.
In the UK, only a minority of people mark International Women’s Day despite having much to celebrate on women’s achievements and also still having much to work towards to achieve full equality for women. In the hundred years since the march which led to International Women’s Day we have seen women enter every sphere of public life and achieve personal freedoms unimaginable to our grandmother’s generation.
The former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, once said that “…no tool for development is more effective than the empowerment of women”. International Women’s Day campaigns and events help to empower women and can carry important messages about issues such as maternal mortality and the fight against HIV/Aids.
There are now great contrasts in how International Women’s Day is marked in different countries. In India and Pakistan, International Women’s Day is a much bigger and a more political occasion than in many countries. It is marked by women marching and lobbying for causes such as the conditions for women workers. India recently passed landmark legislation against domestic violence; something to be proud of and to celebrate but as in many countries, domestic violence against women is an issue which is not yet solved in India.
By contrast, in other countries, International Women’s Day has become little more than a marketing tool for companies selling products targeted at women. The day has become de-politicised and its original meaning has been lost. In many of the former Soviet states the day is a public holiday, however it has become an occasion combining features of Valentine’s Day with Mother’s Day.
In Armenia, International Women’s Day was abandoned in favour of a non-political celebration of beauty and motherhood. Presents of flowers and perfume are given to thank women for their work and care. Such an occasion does nothing to celebrate the achievements of women socially or politically and seems far removed from the vision of the early twentieth century suffragists and campaigners.
This is particularly sad when we consider that Russian women were among the first to make International Women’s Day a significant occasion. In 1917 the marches as part of International Women’s Day contributed towards the early stages of the Russian Revolution. They helped gain voting rights from the provisional government for women.
Today, Russian women have only a small presence in politics, rarely in the upper ranks of government or political parties. This is despite Russia having a well-educated female electorate and many women who take on managerial roles in business. Domestic violence is serious issue - Amnesty International report that one woman is killed every hour by her partner within the Russian Federation. With such a record on domestic violence and a significant gender pay gap, it seems that International Women’s Day could have a more useful function within Russia than it currently does.
At Westminster, women MPs and Peers from all parties gathered at the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst this week to lay flowers in tribute to her work and campaigns. The campaigns of the suffragettes were vital to the status of all women but are particularly relevant to women politicians. UK women who are involved in politics seem to appreciate the relevance of International Women’s Day as a celebration which has political significance. For women all over the world, the need to focus on achieving and maintaining an equal status for women should not be forgotten. International Women’s Day is a day for celebrating what has already been achieved, but also of remembering that we have some way to go to achieve all the dreams of the original campaigners for Equal Rights for women.
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Published:
Fri, 7 Mar 2008 00:01:00 GMT+00
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