8 March is International Women’s Day, now in its 100th year. Sarah Blakemore looks back on the history of the day and also why the campaign for women’s rights remains vital.
This 8 March is the 100th anniversary of the declaration of International Women’s Day (IWD). When we celebrate the political, social and economic achievements of women and the campaign for women’s rights.
This year I’ve been helping to organise an event where dozens of campaigners and celebrities will be laying white roses outside Parliament. We’re doing this to urge the UK government to keep its promise to help provide free healthcare for pregnant women in poor countries.
Strong tradition of political activism
While this isn’t as radical as some of the things that have been done (and achieved) on IWD, it does fit within the strong tradition of political activism. The idea for this day is thought to have first come in 1910 in recognition of a strike by women garment workers in the USA and in support of the movement for universal suffrage for women.
The following year, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland – over a million women and men took to the streets in a series of rallies demanding the right to vote and to hold public office, the right to work, and an end to job discrimination.
In these early days, IWD also became a focal point for women’s calls for peace. Across Europe on the eve of World War, on or around 8 March in 1914, women held rallies to demonstrate against the war which was looming on the continent and express solidarity with other women.
Maternal health care scandal
Despite 100 years of activism for women’s rights, the global commitment made through the UN Millennium Development Goals to reduce the rate of women dying in childbirth remains the most off target. The need to campaign for a women’s right to access to free health care around the world is still urgent.
In 1910, when International Women’s Day was first created, 355 women per 100,000 live births died as a direct result of childbirth or pregnancy-related causes in England and Wales. In Scotland the figure stood at 572 while in Ireland, the figure was 531. Today the number of maternal deaths stands at around 14 across the UK.
Meanwhile in developing countries 450 women per 100,000 live births die in childbirth. In Chad for each 100,000 babies born safely, 1500 mums don’t survive – almost three times the rate of 1910 Britain.
This IWD be part of the tradition of standing up for women’s rights around the world – take action to help end this scandal.