Women’s Day
On the occasion of “International Women’s Day” today, Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 10 am, gifts were distributed to honor and encourage women through “Bandh Foundation” Kolhapur at Mahalaxmi Temple, Dakshin Darwaza area.
“Bandh Foundation” women volunteers Mrs. Rohini Dixit, Ruchal Dixit, as well as Omkar Patil, and President Arun Patil were present.
Every year, March 8 is celebrated as Women’s Day to commemorate the struggle for their rights. International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This day also calls for action to accelerate gender equality. Until the end of the nineteenth century, women were treated as second-class citizens. The general perception was that women were the means of consumption and labor. Therefore, women were deprived of rights such as equality in society, property rights, and education or voting. However, after the middle of the nineteenth century, women began to become aware of the injustices they faced and their rights. From this, feminism was born. Basically, women who left home voluntarily or due to circumstances for work began to experience gender inequality in the workplace. Even though they worked as much as men, there was no equality in pay or equal opportunities. And then women began to become aware of their rights. It is important for you to know about the contributions of some of the women who have done valuable work in awakening women’s self-awareness.
1) The first public statement of feminist thought was in the book ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)’ written by the philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft. In the year 1792, she wrote very clearly that, “The education and formation of woman is basically done with the thought of maintaining male dominance. Therefore, what men like is impressed on her mind under the name of ‘culture’, but she loses the power to even think about what she likes, let alone decide and decide.” To express such thoughts in the year 1792 was like swimming against the current. Mary had to face a lot of criticism for these strong and bold thoughts.
Last year 2) Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the first ‘Women’s Rights Convention’. Apart from this, Marian Heinisch, an Austrian woman, was the first to fight for women to be able to work and enter universities. Kate Shepherd, under the guidance of a New Zealand suffragette activist, fought for women to have the right to vote. In the national elections held in New Zealand in 1893, women were able to exercise the right to vote for the first time. Later, fights were organized for the right to vote in many countries. In Britain, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the feminist movement for women’s voting rights. Caroline Egan is a name that every woman should remember. Because she was the first champion of the fight that is still ongoing for women to be able to exercise their right to have children. It would be appropriate to look at some of the events related to Women’s Day in chronological order. Date. The first Women’s Day, organized by the Socialist Party of America under the leadership of Theresa Malkiel in New York on February 28, 1909, is considered to be the first Women’s Day. In 1910, the International Women’s Conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. A resolution was passed to celebrate an annual International Women’s Day, but no date was set at the conference. The delegates (100 women from 17 countries) who gathered for the conference gave strategic approval to the concept of promoting equal rights, including the right to vote. The following year, International Women’s Day on March 8, 1911, was particularly notable, with more than a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland participating. There were nearly 300 demonstrations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone. In Vienna, women marched with placards on the Ringstrasse in memory of the martyrs of the Paris suffrage movement. They demanded that women be given the right to vote and government jobs, and they protested against gender inequality in employment. After that, the United States began celebrating National Women’s Day on the last Sunday of February. According to the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, in 1913, Russian women celebrated Women’s Day on the last Saturday of February. Thus, by 1914, women were striking, marching, or protesting, but none of these events took place on March 8. So why March 8? So, in 1914, March 8 was a Sunday. Perhaps for this reason, International Women’s Day was organized on March 8 and later that custom fell into disuse. However, March 8, 1917, has special significance. On March 8, 1917 in the Gregorian calendar, in Petrograd, the capital of the Russian Empire, women workers in the textile industry demonstrated throughout the city. This is considered the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Women in St. Petersburg went on strike for ‘bread and peace’. They demanded an end to World War I, an end to the food shortage in Russia, and the end of Tsarism. Leon Trotsky wrote, ‘February 23 (March 8) was International Women’s Day. Although women’s meetings and actions were anticipated, no one had the slightest idea that this Women’s Day would be the beginning of the Russian Revolution. On this day, going against the system, defying all orders, many women workers in textile factories left their jobs and walked out of the factories. To gain support for the strike, they sent representatives from different places; it resulted in a collective strike. All women workers took to the streets to fight. Seven days later, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II had to step down. The Provisional Government that came to power granted women the right to vote.’ After the Russian Revolution in 1917 and its adoption by Russia, this day began to be celebrated in communist countries and movements around the world. Communists in China have been celebrating it since 1922. The United Nations started celebrating International Women’s Day from 1975, i.e. International Women’s Year. In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly invited member states and declared that March 8 would be the United Nations Day of Women’s Rights and Peace. In the nineteenth century, the feminist movement gained momentum around the world, while many social leaders in India also spoke out against the injustice done to women. Among them, the names of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Maharshi Karve, Mahatma Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar, Ramabai Ranade cannot be forgotten. There were successful attempts to stop many bad practices like Sati, Keshavpan, and child marriage. Many issues like women’s education, widow premarital marriage and adult marriage started to be presented before the society. As a result of this, a provision was made that the minimum age of a boy at the time of marriage should be 16 to 18 and the minimum age of a girl should be 10 to 12. The movement for women’s education also gained momentum. The contribution of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule, who had the honor of becoming the first woman teacher in India, is very great in Maharashtra. Facing strong opposition from the society and the endless difficulties that arose from it, this husband and wife laid the foundation of women’s education in Maharashtra. Women started participating in various social, political and religious issues and expressing their opinions. In 1902, Ramabai Ranade founded the ‘Hindu Ladies Social and Literary Club’ and in 1904, the ‘Bharat Mahila Parishad’ was established. These organizations started pursuing many problems and demands of women. From there, first, the right to vote for wealthy women, then the right to stand for election along with voting for women, such reforms were made till 1935. The first Women’s Day was celebrated in India in 1943. After independence, since 1950, the Indian Constitution has given women the right to equality. The United Nations declared 1975 as the International Women’s Year, which was also celebrated in India. March 8, Women’s Day, is celebrated in India as well as in many countries around the world. This fight, which started in 1792 with Mary Wollstonecraft, has been going on for the past 225 years. During this long period, women have got different rights like education, property, voting. The issue of women’s equal rights has been accepted by the whole world. Therefore, today it is also seen that women are at the forefront in all fields. But in reality, even today, movements like ‘Me Too’ are taking root all over the world, and it seems necessary to think on this occasion that atrocities against women are increasing.
