What is the importance of Women’s day? – International Women’s Day 2022
Women are the building blocks of every household and nation. Their courage, support, and effort help improve and improve the country. In this regard, the importance of women’s day is tremendous and considerable because, on this day, several groups came together in the form of a rally to dedicate this day to women and celebrate their achievements. A globally united moment is formed by the collaboration of different groups from all over the world for appreciating women and providing them equal rights and opportunities.
According to W.E.B. Dubois, an American sociologist, socialist, and civil rights activist, No force is more powerful than a woman who is determined to rise.
Not only is a single country or an organization or NGO is concerned with this national women’s day, but it is celebrated worldwide. And it is a holiday on International women’s day in different countries, including Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Uganda, Vietnam, China, Moldova, and many more. This global focus describes the importance of women’s day and shows why is it necessary now?
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When is women’s day? — International Women’s Day
International women’s day is celebrated on 8 March every year worldwide. This day is celebrated for women’s empowerment, equal rights, gender equality at work, and encouraging non-discriminating measures. It is the importance of women’s day that this day celebrates women’s achievements and spreads awareness about women’s role in society.
National women’s day describes the social, economic, cultural, political, and financial achievements of women and provides an appreciation for their contributions.
On International Women’s Day, it is described that until women face inequality, harassment, deprivation, oppression, and discrimination, we all will suffer it.
Importance of women’s day
Women have always played an important and active part in leading activities and development purposes throughout history. They worked visibly and invisibly for equality, growth, and welfare. This International Women’s Day is commemorated for women to empower them. The importance of women’s day is enormous because it provides a powerful and influential platform for women’s justice, rights, respect, equality, dignity, and gender parity.
A six-country survey was conducted on the impacts of Covid-19 regarding gender inequality, and the findings show that due to the outbreak, women are 24% more likely to lose their job permanently than men. Women also face a fall in income by fifty percent compared to men.
National women’s day is celebrated to empower and motivate women, and thus, there is a huge importance of women’s day in this world. Women are always mistreated, abused, suffer violence, discrimination and bias, inhumane treatment, and are considered vulnerable and powerless entities. National Women’s Day voices their rights and needs and allows them to speak up and live without any fear. Most of the poor communities deprived of rights and basic needs of life are women who suffered a lot in every aspect.
According to UN Women, it is a fact proved by research that gender inequality leads to poverty. Estimations show that almost 60% of chronically hungry people are women.
The thing that highlights the importance of women’s day is that it spreads awareness about developing equivalence and parallelism in this world regardless of gender.
According to a multi-country study by the World Health Organization (WHO), More rural women suffer and face domestic violence, and still only a few seek help.
In every field of life, women have participated courageously and evolved a huge part of the active workforce. They provide services in approximately every domain like technical industries, education systems, health departments, Military soldiers, physicians and doctors, fashion designers, Judicial workforce, head of the states, etc. But still, they are suffering from discrimination and inequality and are considered fragile.
Research proved that men’s average wages are higher than women’s. For instance, only talking about the agricultural sector, if women are provided the same opportunities to work as men, it would increase the yields up to 20 to 30 percent.
So, if you think that why is this National women’s day necessary? Then, understanding the importance of women’s day by perceiving the hardships and criticism women faced in the past and their efforts for procuring their rights.
History of women’s day
The history of women’s day goes back to the early 90s, and the initial step in this concern was taken in 1907 when 15,000 textile workers marched in New York. Later on, on 28 February 1909, the first National woman’s day was celebrated in the United States.
In the next year, 1910, the Second International Conference of Women was held in Copenhagen, and 100 women attended this. At this conference, German Socialist Luise Zietz recommended that ‘International Women’s Day be celebrated.
Different people try to describe the condition and sufferings of women, and on 19 March 1911, First International Women’s Day was celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Many rallies and tragic happenings occur in the upcoming time, including the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and campaigning was done to convey women’s solidarity and peace. In 1913 and 1914, the first women’s day was observed by the women of Russia.
After all the struggles and demonstrations, 1975 was called International Women’s Year because, in this year, International Women’s Day was officially celebrated in the United States. This whole struggle and several happenings and hardships illustrate the importance of women’s day.
Today, Women’s day is celebrated in more than 100 countries and empowers women to move forward for their betterment.
Colors of international women’s day
Talking about women’s day 2022 now, the vision goes back to the early 90s. But do you know about the colors of International Women’s Day? Or are you aware of which colors symbolize what? So, along with comprehending the importance of women’s day, get yourself aware of the colors of Women’s day. The Women’s Social and Political Union in the UK commenced purple, green, and white for signifying women’s equality.
Among these colors, purple is the color of justice and dignity, Green stands for hope, and white symbolizes purity.
But today, the color of International Women’s Day 2022 is Purple. Purple is the official women’s day color, and it represents women, self-esteem, and honor. These colors and their meaning also intensify the importance of women’s day and their role in society.
The theme for women’s day 2022
Every year the IWD theme is established and for this year, the International Women’s Day 2022 theme is “Breaking the Bias.” This theme is selected to move towards a world free of bias and discrimination and supports equality and inclusiveness.
Women have faced bias in different fields of life, including workplaces, colleges, universities, and even in communities and societies, but we can altogether break it. IWD theme 2022 stands to break bias because women undergo a lot of difficulties, and severe actions are needed to be taken for this. Be a part of this International Women’s day by attending events, explaining the importance of Women’s day, spreading awareness among your friends and fellows, and sharing updates and posts on social media with different hashtags #breakthebias #IWDtheme. Cross your arms to show consent by breaking the bias.
Gender equality in the workplace
Women face a lot of discrimination and stereotypes at the workplace, and difference halts the growth of their successful careers. There should be equal job opportunities, pay, rewards, and resources for women and men. Gender equality promotes a positive work environment and good workplace culture, which is the basic need for any successful organization.
According to research by Harvard business review, women ask for a pay increase as often as men, but they get a positive response and an increase of only 15%, while it is 20% for men.
Men and women face a lot of aspects, including pay, job promotions, project leadership, and hiring issues due to gender inequality. International Women’s Day highlights the need to create an equality-based workforce, which illustrates the importance of women’s day. There is still a distinction in paying system, and equal pay has not become a verity.
In 2020, talking about unequal pay, women earn only 84% of what men earned for the same job. And this makes a huge difference; Black and Latina women earned less than this.
Leaders should support gender parity which is the purpose of Women’s day, and work to make employees feel comfortable at the workplace regardless of gender discrimination. Understanding the importance of women’s day means breaking the bias and standing up for women’s rights and equal opportunities to grow in life.
FAQ
I have shared here some frequently asked questions about the importance of women’s day.
Q: Why is women’s day important?
The importance of women’s day is enormous because it promotes women empowerment, equal rights, and opportunities, eliminates gender-based discrimination, and provides justice, support, respect to women. This day is celebrated worldwide to appreciate women for their contributions and achievements.
Q: What is the meaning of women’s day?
The meaning of women’s day is to honor and appreciate women for their achievements and attainments. This day signifies the importance and role of women in society and considers their needs and wants.
Q: What do you do on women’s day?
Different things can be done to celebrate women’s day 2022. According to the IWD theme, show solidarity by making a cross arms sign spread knowledge about the importance of women’s day, host an event to donate for the betterment of poor entities, attend events of women’s day or join online events to show solidarity with women’s equality.
Q: What is the color for women’s day?
Purple, green, and white are the colors that show International women’s day, which symbolizes justice and dignity, hope, and purity. Today, purple is the basic color used for International women’s day.
Q: Who invented women’s day?
In the early 90s, on 28 February first National women’s day was held in New York and arranged by the Socialist Party of America at the suggestion of activist Theresa Malkiel. Later on, in 1975, the United States officially celebrated International women’s day.
Final words
International women’s day supports women’s betterment and welfare, and everyone must understand the importance of women’s day. Hopefully, you will get a huge understanding of the history and importance of women’s day. Wishing you a happy International women’s day.