What is International Women’s Day?
The International Women's Day movement is the day to celebrate the achievements and rights of women worldwide. Officially, March 8th was recognised by the United Nations in the International Women’s Year of 1975 (UN Women National Committee Australia, 2019). This was later proclaimed as the UN Day for women’s rights and world peace.
However, much before this, there were waves of protests and demonstrations in relation to the Women’s Day proposal. Clara Zetkin in 1910 proposed the International Women’s Day. Zetkin was the leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany at the time. There was huge support for Zetkin from over 100 women around the world. According to the UN, over 30,000 women took part in protests and demonstrations across several countries.
An interesting fact is that the International Women’s Day coincides with the voting ability for women in Russia. In 1917, the women in Soviet Russia gained the right to vote and as a result March 8th was declared a national holiday.
Australia celebrated its first International Women’s Day in 1928 starting with Sydney. Brisbane celebrated the day the next year in 1929 with annual marches around the country starting in 1931.
Colour of International Women’s Day
The colour for International Women’s day is purple. Purple has long been associated with women’s fight for equality. The women fighting for the women’s liberation movement also used the colour purple in the 1960s and 1970s.
"Here's to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them." - Unknown
1975 (UN Women National Committee Australia, 2019). URL: https://unwomen.org.au/about/about-international-womens-day/