International Women’s Day — Women’s Solidarity Across the World

But How True Is This Today

International Women’s Day — a day when we celebrate women’s achievements and call for action. It is a day to reflect on how far we have come and how far we haven’t.

IWD is supposed to be about solidarity among all women, but this year, more than ever, I am questioning how true this really is.

A Brief History of IWD

The IWD has a longer history than many realise, dating back over a century. In 1910, when over 100 women from 17 countries gathered in Copenhagen for the second International Conference of Working Women, Clara Zetkin (Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) proposed the idea of IWD. She suggested that every country should celebrate women on the same day every year, and the members of the conference agreed unanimously.

Following the decision made in Copenhagen, IWD was marked for the first time on March 19, 1911, in Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Over a million women and men took part in IWD rallies, calling for equal rights to work, vote, hold public office, and end discrimination against women.

In 1913, Russian women campaigned for peace and honoured their first IWD on February 23 on the…