International Women’s Day
On March the 7th, Women in Morecambe celebrated International Women’s Day in the Polish tradition, with men handing out flowers to women friends, family and colleagues. Called the Flower of Ewa, this celebration dates back to the days of communism and is seeing a revival amongst the younger generation.
NCBI Lancashire, handing out sweets with messages talked with women about what was good being a woman and what was hard.
History of International Women’s Day
What is International Women’s Day?
March the 8th is a day for women worldwide to celebrate their achievements, whilst continuing to press for the eradication of the inequalities that still exist. In some countries, ut us even a national holiday where traditionally men honour the women in their lives with small gifts.
Why do we celebrate International Women’s Day?
On average women still earn between 30 and 40 per cent less than men, for similar work*.
Most work traditionally done by women is less well paid than work traditionally done by men, and the majority of the world’s poorest people are women*.
* = Based on United Nations Statistics
A Brief History of International Women’s Day
A National Women’s Day was first celebrated in the USA on the 28th of February 1909. On March the 8th 1908, 1500 women had marched through the streets of New York City, demanding suffrage (Voting Rights), better working conditions for women and the end of child labour.
In 1910, a German socialist named Clara Zetkin proposed that there be an International Women’s Day, at a conference of international socialists. It was to commemorate the strike (in 1857) of New York’s women garment workers. This strike led to the formation of the first textile workers trade union for women.
The proposal was approved, and the following year the first International Women’s Day was celebrated on the 19th of March 1911.
Source: Wikipedia