Moving Forward Together!

Dami Adedoyin-Adeniyi fills us in with a global history of International Women’s Day.

Women’s History Month is a time to both celebrate women’s history, but also continue the fight for gender equality across the globe. Initially Women’s Week, Women’s History Month had its start in 1981 when Congress authorised ‘Women’s History Week’ at the request of President Reagan. The first Women’s History Week took place on the week beginning March 7, 1982. Eventually in 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress agreed to designate March as ‘Women’s History Month’. 

Despite the 1980s being the origin of the official designation of March as women’s history month, the month actually has a long standing history as a time for women’s activism. March 19th in 1911 was the first International Women’s Day, observed by over a million in Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In Austria-Hungary alone, there were 300 demonstrations, with women parading on the Ringstrasse in Vienna carrying banners to honour the martyrs of the Paris Commune. Across Europe, women demanded the right to vote and to hold public office, and protested against employment sex discrimination. 

Technically speaking, International Women’s Day had no set date, typically being celebrated in late February or early March. American’s at the time observed ‘Woman’s Day’ on the last February, whereas Germany’s observance took place on March 8th and was dedicated to women’s right to vote (a right German women did not win until 1918). At the same time this was happening there was a march in London in support of women’s suffrage, during which Sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross Station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square. Russia began to celebrate International Women’s Day in 1913 on the last Saturday of February (although in their Gregorian calendar this was March 8th). 

Russia actually has a very interesting history concerning this time of year. On March 8th 1917, in Petrograd (St Petersburg), women textile workers began a demonstration that eventually took over the whole city. They wanted ‘Bread and Peace’, something that had been sorely missed since the beginning of the country’s involvement in the First World War. On top of that they also called for an end to Tsarism, a system of rule that was damaging their country and preventing them from living freely. 

This event, started by women, actually marked the beginning of the February Revolution, which would be the trigger for the October Revolution, essentially beginning the birth of a new Russia. In fact Leon Trotsky (a prominent communist during this time) once attributed the birth of the revolution to the unexpected acts of these women. Seven days after these women took to the streets, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and the provisional government granted women the right to vote. After the Russian Revolution, Bolsheviks began to celebrate the International Women’s Day, honouring it as the beginning of revolutionary changes in 1917. 

In China, communists started to observe the holiday from 1922. Although it soon gained attention across the political spectrum. In 1927, Gunagzhou saw a march of 25 000 women and male supporters, including the representatives of the Kuomintang, the YWCA, and labour organisations. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the State Council proclaimed that March 8th would be made an official holiday, with women being given half a day off.

Looking forward a bit, in 2008 Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi Arabian woman, was shown in a film driving on International Women’s day. To understand why this is revolutionary, it should be known that until June 2018, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world in which women were forbidden to drive motor vehicles. In fact, before that women could risk arrest should they be caught driving in public. Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi activist and writer, who played a key role in the anti-male guardianship and women driving campaigns at this time. She is also a co-founder of the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia. Despite the fact that her work has caused her to face significant legal prosecutions in Saudi Arabia, Wajeha al-Huwaider still goes out of her way to fight for the rights of women. 

Women like her help to signify the importance of International Women’s Day and Women’s History of the Month. While this time should be spent in celebration of how far women have come, we should also consider what still needs to be done to improve the lives of women around the world now.

For example, in August 2021, the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Since then women’s rights have been systematically taken away. The country’s female population stands around 20 million, and currently those 20 million can no longer take part in education after the age of twelve. Additionally the Tabilan’s leader Mullah Hibatullah has initiated a ban that prohibits women from speaking in public. Women are no longer allowed to work in government offices, go to parks, or even travel without a male companion. Furthermore singing has been forbidden for women and girls. 

In Sudan, the people there currently face one of the largest internal displacement crises in the world. With over half of those people being women and girls, and additionally there is a growing risk that the violence there will create the world’s largest hunger crisis. This means that more than 7000 new mothers could die if their nutritional and health needs remain unmet. Moreover, more than 6.7 million people are at risk of gender based violence, and reports of intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and trafficking are widespread and increasing. Survivors have reported being unable to access services or report to authorities. The economic impact of the conflict has also further marginalised women, stripped them of livelihood opportunities and pushed many towards extreme measures and the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse as they seek to support their families.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently undergoing a humanitarian crisis, and as a result sexual and gender based violence is on the rise. According to UNICEF, more than 38,000 cases of sexual violence were reported in Nord-Kivu province alone during the first quarter of 2023, and increase of 37% when compared to the same period in 2022. In May 2023, Doctors Without Borders said that levels of sexual violence in internally displaced people’s camps in and around Goma reached an unprecedented ‘catastrophic scale’. 

Additionally, in the United States of America, on 24th June 2022, Roe v Wade was overturned, a ruling which had guaranteed women the right to an abortion up till 24 weeks. Since then 14 states, including most of the South, have enacted near total bans from the moment of conception. Meaning that about 22 million women of reproductive age live in a state that has banned abortion, which represents roughly about a third of the total childbearing population. Women are now having to travel farther to get abortions, which significantly impacts lower class women who may not have the option to do so. 

The theme of this Women’s History Month is ‘Moving Forward Together!’, an apt phrase which captures what this month should be about. Women’s History Month is a time of celebration and acknowledgement of how far women have come over in terms of increased rights and freedom. However, knowing this history is powerful as it can also show us the ways women’s rights can improve. Hopefully inspiring us on how to move forward, not just considering our own rights and the rights of those around us but also trying to help those who can’t necessarily stand up for themselves. So happy women’s history month and remember that the fight for women’s equality is far from over.