What is International Women's Day?
International Women's Day, on 8 March, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and campaigning for gender equality. It is marked with marches, conferences, workplace events and campaigns. The United Nations began observing it in 1975, and in 1977 the General Assembly invited member states to proclaim a day for women's rights and international peace. Its colours, purple, green and white, were used by the suffragette movement in Britain in the early twentieth century.
In Russia, Moldova and several other former Soviet countries the day is a public holiday with a festive character, when men give women flowers, especially mimosa and tulips, and small gifts, much like Mother's Day elsewhere. In Italy the day is the Festa della Donna and mimosa is the traditional flower. In many other countries it is a day for demonstrations and for events on equality; in China it is a half day for women. Some groups also use it for strikes or marches.
Why it is observed
The day grew out of the socialist and labour movements. The Socialist Party of America held a National Woman's Day in New York on 28 February 1909, and in 1910 Clara Zetkin and other German delegates proposed an annual women's day at an international socialist women's conference in Copenhagen, without fixing a date. The first International Women's Day, on 19 March 1911, was marked in Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In Russia, women textile workers began a demonstration in Petrograd on 8 March 1917 (23 February in the Julian calendar), the start of the February Revolution. A 1965 Soviet decree made 8 March a non-working holiday.
How the date is set
International Women's Day is fixed on 8 March. It is a public holiday in a number of countries, including Russia, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia among those on this site, in two German states, and an observance in many others.
How it is observed
In Russia, Moldova and many other former Soviet states, 8 March is a public holiday, with banks, offices and schools closed and florists and restaurants very busy. In Germany it is a public holiday in Berlin (since 2019) and in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (since 2023), and elsewhere it is a normal working day, often with events in the evening. Pay and time off depend on the country, the region and the contract.
Sources
Moldova
Russia