Now that we enter the month of March, we must emphasize the importance of Women’s Day, and what is more, the meaning it has contributed by women to our history.

However, to understand the scope of this event, we must go back to the 19th century, based on the labor movement. That moment of struggle and the vision of a hectic world was what made women reconsider their situation: incredibly limited. This inequality, and, above all, the fact that women realized it, was what led to the promotion of the first national convention for the rights of women. women in the US, under the premise that men and women were equal, demanding all the rights that, until then, had been to them strong>denied.

In the first place, the echo from the population was in the spirit of mockery. However, after the New York Women’s March of 1908, the Socialist Party of America declared National Women’s Day, a strong>February 28, which led to Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburgo, who managed to commemorate the event at an international level in 1910. His proposal was also unanimously approved, despite the fact that the UN stressed that “it would also serve as a protest against World War I.”

It should be noted that the final date, March 8, was established based on the day on which the Russian government recognized the >right to vote for women. The color purple with which it is symbolized, for its part, was the representative color of the English suffragettes.

Why is Women’s Day important?

Over the last 100 years, it is evident that women’s struggle has not ceased, and has no intention of doing so, mainly because, Although it may sound unreal, today women still face and must overcome obstacles that, in an egalitarian world, they should not have to. the obligation to confront.

• Illiteracy: According to UNESCO data, two thirds of the population of illiterate people are women >.
• Genital mutilation: According to UN figures, more than 130 million have already suffered this practice, while more than 30 million girls are at danger of suffering from it.
• Prohibition of abortion: According to data from Amnesty International, approximately 39% of the female population lives in countries where abortion It is legally prohibited, or in some of them, only when the life or health of the woman is in danger.
• Forced marriage: According to Unicef data, a third of living women have been married before 15 years old.
• Rape and violence: This is a persistent phenomenon, whose criminalization has involved several years of struggle in the case of marital rape strong>, and with a rate of 35% of women who have suffered this type of violence.
• Spontaneous abortions: In some countries, women who suffer a spontaneous abortion are sentenced to prison.
• Forced sterilization: During the 90s, many women were subjected to this practice, which still exists today. Today they continue waiting for justice for the crime.

Women as leaders

This year 2021, the theme proposed by UN Women for Women’s Day is Women Leaders. We believe that it is important to highlight the most representative figures throughout history, whether recognized or not, to understand the reason for the tireless struggle that we continue to live.

In Antiquity

• Hypatia of Alexandria: the first female scientist in history.
• Cleopatra VII: was one of the most powerful rulers in the world.
• Enheduanna: poet and writer who lived more than two centuries BC, of whose songs 42 are preserved today (among them, those that talk about the mythological figures Inanna and Nanna).
• Fatima Al-Fihri: founded the world’s first university, Qarawiyyin University in Fez, which is still operational.

17th-19th century

• Sophie Germain: made important contributions to number theory and elasticity theory.
• Amelia Earhart: first female pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone.
• Virginia Woolf: British writer who, thanks to her novels and writings, became one of the greatest symbols of feminism and literary modernism of the century XX.
• Marie Curie: first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and first person to win a second Nobel.
• Emmeline Pankhurst: founded the Women’s Social and Political Union to achieve the parliamentary vote for women in the United Kingdom.
• Ada Lovelace: first computer programmer.
• Lise Meitner: participated in the discovery of nuclear fission and carried out important research in atomic theory and radioactivity.
• Aleksándra Kolontái: first woman in history to hold a position in the government of a nation (USSR).
• Concepción Arenal: the most important Spanish thinker with the greatest international projection of the 19th century.

20th century

• Frida Kahlo: one of the most famous artists of her century and one of the most influential Mexican female figures.
• Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1910 thanks to her study of penicillin, insulin and vitamin B12.
• Valentina Tereshkova: first woman to travel to space and the only one to do so alone.
• Benazir Bhutto: first woman to be elected prime minister of a Muslim country.
• Rosalind Franklin: obtained photograph 51, proof of the structure of DNA.
• Clara Campoamor: won the vote for Spanish women and made our country become a full democracy.
• Rosa Parks: sparked the movement against racial segregation and achieved equal rights.
• Gertrude B. Elion: made organ transplantation possible, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1988.
• Jocelyn Bell: first astrophysicist to discover the radio signal of a pulsar.
• Teresa of Calcutta: because of her work with those in need, she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
• Eva Perón: the first Argentine woman who actively served as first lady and achieved the approval of women’s suffrage.

21st century

• Kathryn Bigelow (film director): first and only woman to win an Oscar for best director.
• Malala Yousafzai (activist): she fights for civil rights, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17, in 2014 .
• Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister of New Zealand): has created the most diverse cabinet in New Zealand’s history.
• Angela Merkel (chancellor of Germany): she managed the refugee crisis in such a way that she has encouraged other European countries to follow in her footsteps her.
• Damilola Odufuwa and Odunayo Eweniyi (Nigerian activists): They formed the group Feminist Coalition and are democratizing information to empower and fight for changes for the Nigerian people .
• Kamala Harris (US vice president-elect): first woman, black and Indian-American person to become vice president of the US .USA
• Sarah Gilbert (professor of vaccinology and co-founder of Vaccitech): this is the developer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
• Bilkis Dadi (activist): fights against discrimination due to the amendment of the Citizenship Law (at 82 years old!)
• Sanna Marin (Prime Minister of Finland): supports a protest struggle seeking the repeal of the Finnish Trans Law.
• Nemonte Nenquimo (leader of the Waorani people): he is the person with the most influence in the field of the fight against climate change.

Enjoy a great Women’s Day!