Posted On: 2024-03-08 11:11:39
To address the challenges faced by women, especially relating to gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women, 8th March is annually celebrated as International Women’s Day.
While some form of Women’s Day has been around since 1909. It was in 1914 when Women’s Day was first celebrated on the 8th of March in Germany. In 1917, it got legal recognition in the USSR, when Alexandra Kollontai and Vladimir Lenin declared 8th March as International Women’s Day and it was also declared a holiday. It was in 1975 when the day got international recognition when it was formally recognized by the United Nations.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we will look at some achievements made by women in the previous year. While challenges still remain, these developments give us hope.
In October 2023, Claudia Goldin became the third woman and the first solo woman to win a Nobel Prize in Economics. Her research outlined the intersection of social norms, labour force dynamics and policy interventions in shaping gender outcomes. Claudia’s research pointed out that half of women participate in the global workforce compared with 80% of men; they earn less and are also less likely to advance in their careers.
In December 2023, Prerna Deosthalee became the first woman to be appointed by the Indian Navy to command an Indian Naval Ship. She became the commanding officer of INS Trinkat, which carries out fisheries protection, anti-poaching, counter-insurgency and search-and-rescue operations in coastal areas and in the exclusive economic zone.
In 2023, women’s sports saw a staggering increase in viewership. The 2023 Women’s Football World Cup saw two million fans attending the event throughout the tournament, with over two billion people watching from the television sets. Coco Gauff's US Open final victory over Aryna Sabalenka was watched by 3.4 million viewers on ESPN, which marks the network's largest-ever TV audience for a women's tennis Grand Slam final.
Countries all over the world introduced progressive laws when it came to women. Spain became the first European country to introduce menstrual leaves for women and Mexico decriminalised abortions. In India, a Women’s Reservation Bill was passed, promising 33% of seats reserved for women.
Women made strides even in the entertainment industry giving us hope that the future would give us more women-centric films. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie became the first film directed by a female director to gross a billion dollars. The film says a lot about what it means to become a woman and the audience primarily consists of women, with female viewers making up to 65% of the audience.
Filaantro, along with Child Help Foundation, believe in gender equality and has helped 53,426 people with its gender equality programme.
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AUTHOR: Adil Sayyad
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