Tag Archives: Women

International Women’s Day

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International Women’s Day (IWD), celebrated annually on March 8, is a global occasion dedicated to recognising the achievements of women and advocating for gender equality. This day has its roots in the early 20th century, emerging from labour movements and the suffrage movement in North America and Europe. Its significance has evolved over the years, becoming a focal point for women’s rights and empowerment across various sectors.

The origins of International Women’s Day can be traced back to February 28, 1909, when the Socialist Party of America organised the first National Woman’s Day in New York City. This event responded to the growing unrest among women regarding their working conditions, pay disparities, and voting rights. The following year, Clara Zetkin, a German activist, proposed the idea of an international women’s day during the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. Her proposal aimed to unify women across nations in their struggle for equal rights, and it was met with unanimous approval from over 100 women representing 17 countries.

The first official International Women’s Day was celebrated on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, where more than one million people participated in rallies advocating for women’s rights to work, vote, and hold public office. However, it wasn’t until March 8 became established as the global date for IWD after a significant event in Russia in 1917. On this day, women in Petrograd staged a strike demanding bread and peace amid World War I. This protest marked a pivotal moment that contributed to the Russian Revolution and solidified March 8 as International Women’s Day.

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The United Nations theme for 2025 IWD is “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” This theme underscores the urgent need to create a world where every woman and girl, regardless of background, has access to equal rights, opportunities, and empowerment. Marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, this year’s theme reflects on the progress made since 1995 while emphasising the unfinished work in achieving gender equality. The Beijing Declaration remains a landmark global commitment to advancing women’s rights, yet systemic barriers such as violence, discrimination, and economic disparities continue to hinder progress. The UN’s campaign calls for action in three critical areas: advancing women’s rights by fighting all forms of violence and exploitation, promoting gender equality by dismantling patriarchal systems and amplifying marginalized voices, and fostering empowerment through inclusive access to education, leadership roles, and economic opportunities. With just five years left to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this theme serves as a rallying cry for governments, organizations, and individuals to accelerate efforts toward building a feminist future where no one is left behind.

The International Women’s Day (IWD) organisation has chosen #AccelerateAction as its 2025 campaign theme. This theme highlights the pressing need to hasten progress toward gender equality in light of persistent inequalities across various sectors. According to recent data from the World Economic Forum, at the current pace, it will take over 130 years to achieve full gender parity globally—a timeline that is unacceptable for millions of women facing systemic challenges today. #AccelerateAction focuses on driving bold and decisive interventions at all levels—political, corporate, and grassroots—to dismantle barriers such as unequal pay, limited educational access, and underrepresentation in leadership roles. The campaign also emphasises recovering lost ground caused by crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately impacted women through job losses and increased caregiving burdens. By calling on individuals and institutions to step forward in solidarity, this theme seeks to inspire collective action that not only addresses immediate challenges but also fosters long-term systemic change. The message is clear: gender equality cannot wait another century; it requires urgent action now.

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The theme of ‘March Forward’ serves as a reminder that progress is not merely about reflection but about taking actionable steps towards achieving a truly equal future for all women and girls. This theme calls for collective efforts to dismantle persistent barriers to gender equality and to ensure that commitments translate into real change. The IWD 2025 theme encourages everyone to take bold steps in the ongoing fight for gender equality.

International Women’s Day is not only a celebration of women’s achievements but also a vital reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality worldwide. As we look toward, it is crucial to continue advocating for women’s rights across all sectors. By investing in women and girls today, we pave the way for a more equitable future for generations to come.

In My Hands Today…

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Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide – Hawon Jung

Since the beginning of the #MeToo movement, tens of thousands of people in South Korea have taken to the street, and many more brave individuals took a stand, to end a decades-long abortion ban and bring down powerful men accused of sexual misconduct—including a popular presidential contender. South Korean feminists know that the revolution has been a long time coming, between battles against its own patriarchal society as well as challenging stereotypes of docile Asian women in the Western imagination.

Now, author Hawon Jung will show the rest of the world that these women are no delicate flowers—they are trailblazing flames. Flowers of Fire takes the reader into the trenches of this fight for equality, following along as South Korean activists march on the streets, navigate public and private spaces where spycam porn crimes are rampant, and share tips and tricks with each other as they learn how to protect themselves from harassment and how to push authorities to act.

Jung, the former Seoul correspondent for the AFP, draws on her on-the-ground reporting and interviews with many women who became activists and leaders, from the elite prosecutor who ignited the country’s #MeToo movement to the young women who led the war against non-consensual photography. Their stories, though long overlooked in the West, mirror realities that women across the world are all too familiar with: threats of defamation lawsuits to silence victims of assault, tech-based sexual abuse, and criminal justice systems where victims’ voices are often met with suspicion and abusers’ downfalls are met with sympathy. These are the issues at the heart of their #MeToo movement, and South Korean women have fought against them vigorously—and with extraordinary success. In Flowers of Fire, Jung illuminates the strength and tenacity of these women, too often sidelined in global conversations about feminism and gender equality.

In My Hands Today…

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Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution – Cat Bohannon

How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution?

  • Why do women live longer than men?
  • Why are women more likely to get Alzheimer’s?
  • Why do girls score better at every academic subject than boys until puberty, when suddenly their scores plummet?
  • Is sexism useful for evolution?
  • And why, seriously why, do women have to sweat through our sheets every night when we hit menopause?

These questions are producing some truly exciting science—and in Eve, with boundless curiosity and sharp wit, Cat Bohannon covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex: “We need a kind of user’s manual for the female mammal. A no-nonsense, hard-hitting, seriously researched (but readable) account of what we are. How female bodies evolved, how they work, what it really means to biologically be a woman. Something that would rewrite the story of womanhood. This book is that story. We have to put the female body in the picture. If we don’t, it’s not just feminism that’s compromised. Modern medicine, neurobiology, paleoanthropology, even evolutionary biology all take a hit when we ignore the fact that half of us have breasts. So it’s time we talk about breasts. Breasts, and blood, and fat, and vaginas, and wombs—all of it. How they came to be and how we live with them now, no matter how weird or hilarious the truth is.”

Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it’s an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Picking up where Sapiens left off, Eve will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens has become such a successful and dominant species.

In My Hands Today…

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The Furies: Women, Vengeance, and Justice – Elizabeth Flock

In The Furies, Elizabeth Flock examines how three real-life women have used violence to fight back, and how views of women who defend their lives are often distorted by their depictions in media and pop culture. These three immersive narratives follow Brittany Smith, a young woman from Stevenson, Alabama, who killed a man she said raped her but was denied the protection of the Stand-Your-Ground law; Angoori Dahariya, leader of a gang in Uttar Pradesh, India, dedicated to avenging victims of domestic abuse; and Cicek Mustafa Zibo, a fighter in a thousands-strong all-female militia that battled ISIS in Syria. Each woman chose to use lethal force to gain power, safety, and freedom when the institutions meant to protect them—government, police, courts—utterly failed to do so. Each woman has been criticized for their actions by those who believe that violence is never the answer.

Through Flock’s propulsive prose and remarkable research on the ground—embedded with families, communities, and organizations in America, India, and Syria—The Furies examines, with exquisite nuance, whether the fight for women’s safety is fully possible without force. Do these women’s acts of vengeance help or hurt them, and ultimately, all women? Did they create lasting change in entrenched misogynistic and paternalistic systems? And ultimately, what would societies in which women have real power look like?

Across mythologies and throughout history, the stories of women’s lives frequently end with their bodies as sites of violence. But there are also celebrated tales of women, real and fictional, who have fought back. The novelistic accounts of these three women provoke questions about how to achieve true gender equality, and offer profound insights in the quest for answers.

In My Hands Today…

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Femina – Janina Ramírez

“I am the fiery life of divine substance, I blaze above the beauty of the fields, I shine in the waters, I burn in sun, moon and stars” – Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 1179)

The middle ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, saints and kings: a patriarchal society which oppressed and excluded women. But when we dig a little deeper into the truth, we can see that the ‘dark’ ages were anything but.

Oxford and BBC historian Janina Ramirez has uncovered countless influential women’s names struck out of historical records, with the word FEMINA annotated beside them. As gatekeepers of the past ordered books to be burnt, artworks to be destroyed, and new versions of myths, legends and historical documents to be produced, our view of history has been manipulated.

Only now, through a careful examination of the artefacts, writings and possessions they left behind, are the influential and multifaceted lives of women emerging. Femina goes beyond the official records to uncover the true impact of women like Jadwiga, the only female King in Europe, Margery Kempe, who exploited her image and story to ensure her notoriety, and the Loftus Princess, whose existence gives us clues about the beginnings of Christianity in England. See the medieval world with fresh eyes and discover why these remarkable women were removed from our collective memories.