Last week was Women’s Day, which we have celebrated for 109 years, but few people know why this day came into existence. I think it is important to know the real history about this date because every year we can hear a question like “Why does Women’s Day exist and there is no Men’s Day?” Maybe, after reading this blog post, you will see we don’t just celebrate the fact that women were born women but there is a deeper meaning behind it.

The origin comes from a fact that marked the history of women at work. In 1908, approximately 130 women died in a factory fire after they had declared a strike. They were fighting for the reduction of work hours to 10 hours per day and the equal pay that the men were getting for the same work. The owner of the factory tried to stop the women, closed the doors but the things took the wrong turn resulting in the death of the workers who were inside. Two years later, the women formed the first female labour union.
As this, we have different moments in the history that reinforces the idea of this day like:

·        1913, Russian women celebrated they first Women’s Day on the last Sunday of that year.

·        1914, Germany, Switzerland and Russia officially commemorated Women’s Day on 8 of March.

·        Since 1922 China has been celebrating this day and Spain since 1936.

Finally, in 1977, the United Nations officially proclaimed March 8 the International Day for the right of women and international peace. So now, you can find this celebration in many countries of the world, a day where all the women from all the continents are one.

Erika, Upper-Intermediate Class