The International Women's Day is observed every year on 8 March. The day is celebrated to create awareness among people about gender equality, effects of gender bias, role of women in the society, abuse against women, equal rights of women, reproductive issues faced by women, and much more.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), "International Women's Day emerged from the activities of labour movements in North America and Europe in the twentieth century."
What Is the Theme of International Women's Day 2023?
Every year, Women's Day is observed under a specific theme. This year, the theme of Women's Day 2023 is "DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality". The purpose of this theme is to make people aware about the importance and contribution of digital technology in unveiling the Issues of gender inequality and discrimination.
15 Interesting Facts About Women’s Day
We all know that Women's Day is celebrated to create awareness about women's problems, discrimination faced by women at home and the workplace, reproductive issues of women, sexual abuse of women, and many more women centric issues.
But do wo know that there are some interesting facts that people still do not know about Women's Day? Check out below 15 facts about Women's Day.
1. The first ever Women's Day was observed in the United States on 28 February 1909 in commemoration of the 15,000 women who protested in New York against harsh working conditions, more working hours, and lesser wages.
2. Clara Zetkin, a women's rights advocate, activist, and supporter of women's rights first came up with the idea of celebrating Women's Day as a holiday worldwide.
3. Some people dress in purple, green, and white on the occasion of Women's Day. The purple color stands for honour and justice, green for optimism, and white for purity. Although the main idea behind colors is still not clear, reports suggest that Social and Political Union (WSPU) created the concept of colors in 1908.
4. Women's Day is observed as a national holiday in many countries, including Russia. According to the State Council's recommendation, a lot of women in China receive a half-day off of work on 8 March.
5. There are five fundamental rights for women in the Indian Constitution Including Right to Education, Right to Healthcare, Right to Work, Right To Participate in Politics, and Right To Live With Dignity. This Women's Day let us spread awareness about the basic rights of Women in India.
6. In certain countries like Serbia, Albania, Uzbekistan, and Macedonia, Women's Day has been clubbed with the Mother's Day to signify the importance of women as mothers.
7. In the United States, March is also celebrated as Women's History Month.
8. According to an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report, as of 2022, only 63% of women use the internet, compared to 69% of men.
9. As suggested by a study of 51 countries, 38% of women had personally experienced online violence, according to Gender Snapshot report in 2022.
10. A World Economic Forum (WEF) report said that by 2050, 75% of jobs will be related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) areas. Yet today, women hold just 22% of positions in artificial intelligence, to name just one.
11. The other name of Women's day is "The United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace."
12. In 1975, the United Nations officially adopted International Women’s Day. They also declared the year as International Women's Year.
13. In 1917, the celebration of Women's Day in Russia got them the right to vote in the country.
14. The origin of celebrating the International Women's Day is reported to be 100 years ago. According to sources, the first International Women's Day was observed on 19 March 1911, in which more than 1 million people participated from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Denmark.
15. According to Guinness World Records, a woman named Marilyn vos Savant is the person with the highest recorded IQ of all time. She holds the record with an incredible score of 228.
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