International Women's Day (IWD) falls on March 8. Every year, International Women's Day is always a historic witness of every step of women's struggle.
Women change, women change, it seems that it has become a word that is inherent in women. How come? These words seem to be a source of strength for women in fighting for the rights they should get.
Various kinds of women's struggles from time to time have been passed. Well, here are the facts about women's struggles from time to time that you should know.
Striving for Shorter Working Hours
The beginning of International Women's Day was when a number of women became aware of the many pressures and violations concerning women's rights. Launching from CNN, in 1908, about 15 thousand women took action by marching in New York, United States.
The action is a form of protest from women who demand a reduction in working hours. Thanks to this action, women began to be in the spotlight. A year later, the American Socialist Party established the first National Women's Day to fall on February 28, 1909.
On March 8, 1975, the United Nations (UN) recognized International Women's Day as an annual celebration. Subsequently, in 1996, the United Nations adopted the first theme of International Women's Day, namely "Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future".
Fighting For Better Wages
In 1908, women also fought for their right to an increase in wage standards. This struggle is one of the protests from women regarding gender equality which is still unequal.
CNN quoted from the World Economic Forum, it will take another 100 years to make the gap between women and men disappear. This is evidenced by data in British companies that place the salaries of female employees at less than half that of men.
Fighting for Women's Right to Vote
In 1917, women in Russia went on strike. It is known that the strike took place on March 8 which is now celebrated as International Women's Day.
At that time, they went on strike during the war and demanded "bread and peace". Four days after the women's strike, Tsarist Russia was forced to abdicate and the interim government gave women the right to vote.
Fighting for Gender Equality
This year, the theme for the United Nations' International Women's Day is "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow".
2022 is an important year for gender equality. A year in which the contributions of women and girls were recognized worldwide. Women are able to lead the task of climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response to build a more sustainable future for all parties.
The theme for the IWD version of International Women's Day, as reported by the official International Women's Day website, is #BreakTheBias. The choice of this theme was not without reason, you know.
This theme invites all women in the world to be free from bias. It means that women around the world can eliminate bias, discrimination, and stereotypes between genders that exist around them.
This theme is very suitable to be raised this year because until now there are still many forms of discrimination that occur against women. One of them, as was the case in Indonesia.
In 2019, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia received many complaints regarding the CPNS selection process. The public often reports to the Ombudsman because there is still discrimination against women and persons with disabilities in the CPNS selection process.
Ninik Rahayu, as the Coordinator for Resolution and Monitoring of the Indonesian Ombudsman, revealed that many media called him regarding the potential discriminatory acceptance of CPNS. Especially discriminatory treatment of women.
Those are the facts of women's struggle from time to time that you should know. Happy International Women's Day 2022! Keep the spirit and keep fighting for your rights, ok!