Every year, 8 March is celebrated as International Women’s Day, and millions of people take to the streets all over the world, including Spain, to demand the rights of women, their importance and development in society and their equality with men.
The date of 8M has several antecedents, with other different dates that have been milestones in history that have marked the emergence of this feminist movement that has come to the present day and has evolved over time.
The antecedents of 8M
One of the beginnings of the feminist movement and International Women’s Day took place in the United States, when in 1848 various protests led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott took place because of the ban on women speaking at an anti-slavery convention.
In Europe, the feminist 8M movement may have its roots in Denmark, when the second international conference of socialist women was held in 1910 and it was decided to hold an annual day as part of the struggle for universal women’s suffrage.
The date chosen was 19 March, in commemoration of the 1848 revolution and the Paris Commune, as can be seen in the compilation by the United Nations.
In 1917, Russian women gained the right to vote in a country scarred by the consequences of the First World War. This step was taken on 23 February, according to the Julian calendar then used in Russia, or on 8 March, according to the Gregorian calendar used in other countries.
After the Second World War, 8 March began to take centre stage, until it was recognised by the UN in 1977 as International Women’s Day. In 1975, on the occasion of the International Women’s Year, the UN commemorated the date for the first time on 8 March.
Source: www.20minutos.es