’ CategoryInternational Women’s Day
Posted in News, Spiritual Growth on March 6, 2010 by admin
International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early
1911 Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women’s Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic ‘Triangle Fire’ in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women’s Day events. 1911 also saw women’s ‘Bread and Roses‘ campaign.
1913-1914 On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women’s Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Wommen’s Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women’s solidarity.
1917 On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for “bread and peace” in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women’s strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.
1918 – 1999 Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women’s Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women’s rights and participation in social, political and economic processes.
With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.
However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.
Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements.
In this opportunity, WiA congratulates and celebrates every woman in South Africa and throughout the world.
Many women live their life wondering what others think of her. Some go to the point of changing what they really are just to match other people’s opinion on how she should be.
My husband makes a remark how we behave when we buy something new but still we want to keep the old one just in case. When we buy a new set of pots, we tend to keep one or two of the old set, which do not look good anyway, just in case we need that later.
When we first came to Jesus, we did so seeking for a solution to a series of problems and frustrations that we were living with, but gradually we understood the great need of considering where we want to spend eternity and salvation then should have been our priority seeking purpose.
It’s far easier to look at all the bad things that have happened in our lives. All the words you’ve heard that hurt you so deeply, the affection you didn’t get, the appreciation you never received and all the bad stuff that is engraved in the way you react to people and situations.
As we women are so much led by what we feel, we think, we imagine, we constantly face internal conflicts when it comes to forgiveness.
Ligia asked me a question a few weeks back about when to tell an adopted child the truth about their origins. I know quite a few adoptive families, grew up among some, and know some now. I’ve seen parents who have tried different methods of dealing with the subject, but the families that I saw with the happiest, most well-adjusted children were those that were completely honest from the beginning.
Back in 1857, when women practically didn’t have any rights in society, a group of women in a clothing factory in the US decided to protest against the unfair conditions they worked in… no, I don’t mean, the dirt of the place or even the load of work, but simply the 16 hours they were demanded to work daily for a third of the salary that the men, in the same factory and with the same duties earned – not much to ask right?
Few Saturdays ago I had a wonderful surprise of having the sun back into our life, so strong, so bright, so warm after this dreadful winter with low temperatures and bad weather.