Everything to know ahead of March 8, International Women’s Day 2017

A very important day and event is taking being celebrated this week!

International Women’s Day is held on March 8 every year to celebrate women’s economic, political and social achievements.

On this day each year, women are recognized and celebrated all around the world. 

How did it all start? Why do we celebrate Women’s Day? It is important to remember that the spirit of love and liberation inspired this annual event.

According to the United Nations, International Women’s Day first began in just the United States in 1909. as National Woman’s Day on Feb. 28. The day, designated by the Socialist Party of America, was created to honor the garment workers’ strike of 1908 where women demanded better working conditions.

From the 1910s until the 1970s, International Women’s Day was mostly celebrated in the communist countries like the Soviet Russia and China. The day reached a wider global audience after the U.N. adopted it in 1975 to focus on gender inequalities throughout the world.

This year, Women’s March organizers in United States plan to stage a “Day Without A Woman” protest on International Women’s Day. It is a stand against president Donald Trump.

How can you join this movement and make March 8th A Day Without a Woman? You can participate in one or all of the following ways:

1. Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor

2. Avoid shopping for one day

3. Wear red color in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman

The United Nations has led the charge to create themes for each year’s International Women’s Day.

Last year the International Women’s Day theme for 2016 is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. The Google Doodle of IWD 2016 (March 8, 2016) featured an International Women’s day campaign, #OneDayIWill. 

Google users were able to watch a short video in which some women are seen sharing their aspirations, completing the sentence “One day I will…” by clicking on the play button on the Google Doodle.

The theme for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017, focuses on “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”. The government departments are working for protection of women rights and legislation to provide women with a more secure working environment in the country.

The U.N. released the following details that inspire the theme:
The world of work is changing, and with significant implications for women. On one hand, we have globalization, technological and digital revolution and the opportunities they bring, and on the other hand, the growing informality of labour, unstable livelihoods and incomes, new fiscal and trade policies and environmental impacts — all of which must be addressed in the context of women’s economic empowerment.