8th of March is celebrated every year as International Women’s Day. This year, 8th of March 2011, marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.
International Women’s Day was established by the Socialist International in 1910 in a meeting held in Copenhagen. The proposal to honour the movement for women’s rights by marking a day in March as International Women’s Day was approved by over 100 women from 17 countries attending the meeting.
Though Women’s Day had been previously celebrated in some countries, it was only in 1911 that it was observed by a group of countries together, namely Australia, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Over the century, Women’s Day has become more widely celebrated. In some countries, such as China, Russia and Vietnam, it is marked as a public holiday. In the UK, it is commemorated by organising various events including rallies, marches and literary and cultural events.
International Women’s Day is marked to celebrate more than a century of the women’s movement for rights, equality and justice. The day is about recognising and revelling in the progress and achievements made by the women’s movement without losing sight of the mammoth goals and tasks that lie ahead.
To mark International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, the Equality and Diversity blog will be publishing a series of posts on where the movement for women’s rights stands today, the relevance (or not) of feminism, women pioneers associated with LSE and much more. So, watch the space!