International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day was recognised by the United Nations in 1975 during its International Women’s Year, however, International Women’s Day has actually been around since the early 1900s.

The event has grown out of protests against poor working conditions for women as fa back as 1908, when, a15,000 female workers in the garment industry went on strike in New York City.

They wanted shorter working hours, improved working conditions, and also demanded better pay.  A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Women’s Day in honour of these workers.

It became an international celebration in 1910, when a German women’s rights activist, organised an international conference of working women in Copenhagen. A hundred women from seventeen different countries attended.

The first official international day, took place in 1911.  It wasn’t until 1917 that the date was set to 8th March, and it has now grown to become the celebratory day it is now.

The theme of this year’s International day is #BreakTheBias.

• Imagine a gender equal world.
• A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
• A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
• A world where difference is valued and celebrated.
• Together we can forge women’s equality.

Creative Nature Team’s thoughts on why International Women’s Day is so important:

Caitlyn:

International women’s day is still needed because despite the huge improvements over the years, there’s still a long way to go in terms of gender equality. There are still issues around reproductive rights, about luxury taxes on menstruation products, and the huge gaps that still exist in pay just to name a few.

Dale:

A day to recognise the achievements, importance and struggles of women across the world.

Josh, Ryan, Matt and Phoebe all agree:

We have come so far for Women’s equality especially in the last 100 years, but we’ve still not achieved the goal. We still have gender pay gaps, discrimination, and misogyny and therefore until men and women are treated completely as equals, we need International Women’s Day.

Trudi:

We have come a huge way in the last 10-15 years. However, I am from the generation where if you didn’t play golf you missed promotions. I do feel there is still far more to do but we are on the journey. Women are a huge asset to all businesses as we bring different skill sets, attributes, and cultural outlook.

Ellen:

We have come such a long way as women, but international women’s day is definitely still needed. Women deserve to be equal to men and nothing less. There is still some way to go until we get to this point. However, as women we have come so far to get to where we are now. We have created a world for little girls to grow up in believing that they can be or achieve whatever they want. Alongside this women have been taking the business industry by storm and Julianne is a prime example of this. Women are beginning to be recognised by their achievements and talents instead of not being taken seriously purely because they are a woman. International Women’s Day is a day that should always be here as Women deserved to be recognised for everything they are doing.

Julianne:

International Women’s day has become an iconic day to showcase how far Women have come. I love seeing so many women from different backgrounds making huge strides in their industries, it is a chance to hear the stories of the challenges they have overcome, as well as highlighting those still essential conversations.

For me International Women’s day is about celebrating the incredible things women are doing in the world today.

There is still work to be done for equality as till today there is only 2% of VC funding going to women-led businesses.

I personally have been called a ‘little girl’ and laughed at when seeking investment earlier in my journey. Things like this need to stop!

Join us and #BreakTheBias

Phoebe

View all posts by Phoebe