Happy International Women’s Day!

A day that is now recognised worldwide each year on 8th March, celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

We are so lucky to have a team of fantastic ladies surrounding us, here at the Volleyball England Foundation.

But, how much do we actually know about this special date?

In a nutshell…

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900’s , when thousands of women marched through the streets of New York, campaigning for shorter working hours, better pay and voting rights.

In 1909, the first Woman’s Day was honoured across the USA, however in 1910, Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany), put forward the idea that every year, in every country, there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day. A conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs - and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament - greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and International Women's Day was the result.

Following this decision, IWD was honoured for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day.

In 1914, further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity, and then in 1975, International Women's Day was marked for a first time by the United Nations.

By the early 2000’s, it had become apparent that IWD had almost fizzled away. No-one really spoke, or campaigned about it any more. So, various groups of women, organizations and charities took it upon themselves to reignite the flame, reminding the world why International Woman’s Day is such a significant day, and the fight it took to get it recognised originally.

Now, in 2024, the world celebrates IWD, and it is an official holiday in many countries. The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries, IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

Year on year, International Woman’s Day is certainly a powerful moment increasing in status. 

If you’d like to find out more about IWD, including lots more in-depth information, head to https://www.internationalwomensday.com .