Celebrate International Women's Day

March 6, 2009 - Posted by The Leadership Conference

Women in Bangladesh holding signs at a rally

Women in Dhaka, Bangladesh at an International Women's Day rally, organized by Jatiyo Nari Shramik Trade Union Kendra (National Women Workers Trade Union Centre).

March 8 is International Women's Day, a holiday to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

Though many countries celebrate the holiday differently, the United Nations' theme this year is "women and men united to end violence against women and girls." According to the U.N. Development Fund for Women, violence against women has reached "pandemic proportions," as at least one in every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused at some point in her life.

The International Trade Union Confederation released a report yesterday that found that the global pay gap between men and women rose from 16.5 percent to 22 percent since March 2008.

International Women's Day is an official holiday in several countries around the world including Australia, China, Vietnam, Russia and Kazakhstan, but not in the United States.

The holiday has its roots in the women's labor movement in the U.S. and around the world. The first National Women's Day was held in the U.S. in 1909 to commemorate the 1908 garment workers strike in New York, where 15,000 women workers marched and rallied for better working conditions, equal pay and voting rights.