The power of a date in women’s fight
‘8 March is a landmark date on all continents for the defence of equality and women’s rights.
The 2nd Conference of Socialist Women, held in Copenhagen in 1910, decided to declare 8 March International Women’s Day – IWD – at the proposal of Clara Zetkin, so that the struggle for the emancipation of working women and universal suffrage could be commemorated every year throughout the world.
The first commemoration took place in 1911 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark under the slogan ‘The right to vote for women workers and joining forces in the struggle for socialism’.
Until International Women’s Day was proclaimed, millions of women and multiple organisations intervened and fought, in different parts of the world and for more than a century.
There is a heritage of women’s courage, daring and persistence that runs throughout human history.
At the turn of the 20th century, the massive entry of women into the world of work, in situations of extreme exploitation, and the development of the socialist movement led to the intensification of women’s struggles for better working conditions, wages and political rights.
Historical contexts have changed and much has been achieved in the world and in Portugal.
The 20th century was a century of great struggles against the oppression of women, in building favourable conditions to break with the old ideas about women and to reclaim their dignified and just place in society.
In these two decades of the 21st century, what is emerging in every country with great audacity and pertinence is a struggle by women for freedom and democracy, against the destabilisation of their countries, for peace, to combat inequalities, discrimination and violence, for equality in law and in life in all areas.
In Portugal, even during fascism, the WID was marked in many places across the country, albeit intermittently, using a multitude of ways to publicise it, provoke discussion and action, through strikes, protests, debates and gatherings.
114 years on from the proclamation of International Women’s Day, 8 March continues to be a day of affirmation of women’s historical struggles, but it is also a day of commemoration, as we celebrate the achievements, the significant advances that make it possible to dream of days of more equality and more respect for the status of women, thus acting to build the future.
8 March is a day for commemoration, solidarity and the fight for social progress and peace.’
Organization: Movimento Democrático das Mulheres (MDM)
