March 8th has been recognized as the central point and focal point of women’s struggles and celebration of its achievements since the early 1900s in the world. A review of the key points of the hundred-year history of March 8th reminds us of the importance of this day in the global women’s movement and the preservation of its historical legacy of struggles.

In 1908, the voices of a group of women became louder than ever before, demanding equal rights and economic, political, and social participation. Fifteen thousand women participated in a widespread strike on the streets of New York, demanding better wages, shorter working hours, and the right to vote. In 1909, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Women’s Day on the last Sunday of February. The following year, in 1910, Clara Zetkin, the head of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, proposed the idea of International Women’s Day, to recognize and unite women around the world in their struggles for political, economic, and social rights and to continue to push for gender equality.

The first International Women’s Day was held in 1911 and more than one million people participated in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Denmark. After that year, women’s struggles continued in various forms throughout countries around the world and another significant turning point may be considered the year 1917 when Russian women, under the title of “Women and Peace”, organized a strike on International Women’s Day as a protest against war and for gender equality. Tsar Nicholas II ordered the military forces in Petrograd to suppress and shoot any resisting women, but the women did not give in to fear and continued their protests, forcing the temporary government to grant women the right to vote in Russia. Women’s struggles on a global level never ceased and in different countries around the world, especially working women, continued to fight for their economic, political, and social rights.

For the first time, the United Nations declared 1975 as the “Year of Women” and the first World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City, and March 8 was declared International Women’s Day. In the General Assembly resolution, this day was mentioned with appreciation for “the courageous and determined actions of ordinary women and their extraordinary role in the history of their country.” This action by the United Nations led to the official holiday being declared in some countries. Cuba, Vietnam, Uganda, Armenia, Belarus, Mongolia, Georgia, Laos-Cambodia, Russia, and Ukraine are among the countries that have declared March 8 as an official holiday. In January 2019, the parliament of Berlin in Germany passed a bill declaring March 8 as a public holiday.

Since 1996, the United Nations has declared a theme for March 8th, International Women’s Day, every year. The themes from that year until now are as follows: 1996 “Celebrating the past, planning for the future”, 1997 “Women at the peace table”, 1998 “Women and human rights”, 1999 “World free of violence against women”, 2001 “Women and peace: women and conflict management”, 2002 “Afghan women today: realities and opportunities”, 2003 “Gender equality and the Millennium Development Goals”, 2004 “Women and HIV/AIDS”, 2005 “Gender equality beyond 2005; building a safer future”, 2006 “Women in decision-making”, 2007 “Ending impunity for violence against women and girls”, 2008 “Investing in women and girls”, 2009 “Women and men united to end violence against women and girls”, 2010 “Equal rights

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which is one of the most active commissions of this international organization, holds its annual conference in March every year with the participation of government representatives. Alongside this conference, a forum for non-governmental organizations is also held, where feminist, human rights, gender equality, and sexual justice organizations come together to raise women’s demands and hold governments accountable. This process has not only been held annually, but has also seen significant growth since the Second UN Women’s Conference in Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in 1985, and Beijing in 1995. In 2022, civil society organizations are seriously calling for participation in the official government conference, as despite resolutions and promises, the rise of right-wing political forces and religious extremists who have taken hold of power in various countries have posed serious challenges to achieving gender equality goals.

It should be reminded that in 2001, the “Global Platform for Women’s Day” was created with the support of the private sector and the use of new technologies. This institution, which has continued its work actively over the past twenty years, also determines each year a theme that is attractive to the global community, especially Western countries and many other countries, along with trending hashtags such as #Eachforequal or #Makeithappen for International Women’s Day. The theme of this institution is also chosen by many civil institutions as the focus of activities surrounding International Women’s Day.

In 2022, the United Nations has chosen the theme “Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” for International Women’s Day. This theme aims to highlight and recognize the role of women in preserving the environment and managing the risks and disasters that are one of the biggest global challenges of the 21st century. The reality is that climate change has long-term damaging effects on the economy and social development. Marginalized communities experience the harshest and most severe impacts of this crisis. Women, as the poorest of the poor, with the least representation in environmentally harmful policies, bear the greatest burden and cost of the resulting hazards. The “sustainable” and “better” tomorrow that this year’s theme refers to cannot be achieved without the participation of women in managing this crisis. The precondition for women’s management is closing the gender gap, women’s political, economic, and social participation, and the presence of women who are committed to a sustainable future and gender equality in decision-making positions. The

But the reality is that beyond the slogans of the United Nations and attractive hashtags of International Women’s Day, gender equality and respect for women’s human rights today face a much longer path than what feminist women and women’s rights activists – who initiated International Women’s Day a hundred years ago – have taken. Both global and major trends hinder the growth of fundamentalism in all religions and the rise of right-wing and populist movements, both of which are focused on defining and redefining the role of women in the home and society, preserving and strengthening unequal power relations of patriarchy, and reclaiming the gains of women’s struggles that are highlighted every year on March 8th. From reclaiming women’s rights to abortion in Texas, USA, to gender engineering policies in Iran and misogyny in medieval Afghanistan by extremists, from diminishing women’s rights in the labor market in Eastern European countries to eradicating support for women’s organizations. Today’s achievements in gender equality are more at risk than ever before

The growth of these two trends, alongside global trends and crises, deepens social and economic divides and demonstrates the instability of gains made by women. Research and studies over the past two years have sounded an alarming warning about how violence against women has increased with the COVID-19 pandemic in all countries around the world, how the gender gap in primary education is widening and girls’ education in the poorest parts of different countries is at risk, how honor killings and femicides have increased, and how millions of women in the informal economy are pushed into poverty and to what extent positive steps have been taken to address persistent gender discrimination.

Despite the small and large challenges in today’s world and the difficult path towards achieving gender equality, March 8th is a day when women in Iran and around the world renew their commitment to fighting against multiple forms of oppression and achieving gender equality, relying on the tradition of this day’s struggles. March 8th is a day for resistance and perseverance in preserving the achievements and continuous struggle against inequalities, intertwined layers of class, gender, race, religion, gender identity, and other issues. Women around the world are aware that collective and organized movements of women at national and international levels, social and political participation despite difficulties and limitations, presenting demands on the streets and in virtual spaces, raising awareness and future-oriented strategies, and holding those in power accountable are the only way to confront anti-women policies and disregard for women’s human rights. It is up to us to honor the historical legacy of March 8th, which is a fight for gender equality, more powerfully than ever before.