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THURSDAY 2 MARCH 2023 TORRES NEWS
History of International Women’s Day 1917
SOURCED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY WEBSITE
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for “Bread and Peace” in response to the death of over two million Russian soldiers in World War 1. Opposed by political leaders, the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
International Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900s – a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
1908 Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women’s oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.
1909 The first National Woman’s Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.
1975 1910 In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named Clara Zetkin tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day – a Women’s Day – to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs
greeted Zetkin’s suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women’s Day was the result.
1911 Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in Denmark in 1911, International Women’s Day was honored the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public
office and end discrimination. However, less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic ‘Triangle Fire’ in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labor legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women’s Day events.
1913-1914 On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace,
Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on 23 February, the last Sunday in February. In 1914, further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women’s solidarity. For example, in London in the United Kingdom there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of women’s suffrage on 8 March 1914. Sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square.
International Women’s Day was marked for a first time by the United Nations in 1975. In December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.
1996 The UN announced their first annual theme Celebrating the past,
March 6-7 Girls & women in the Torres Strait are invited to attend a local
International Women's Day Celebration Supported by
Mura Kosker Sorority Incorporated
Badu Community l 10 am - 3 pm Ugarie Community Hall
March 8 Thursday Island Community l 9:30 am - 12:30pm Morning Tea @ 156 Douglas Street Hall Badu Community l 8:30 am Light refreshments @ Ugarie Community Hall
March 10 Mabuiag Community l 3 pm - 7 pm Community Feasting @ TSIRC Community Hall St Pauls Community l 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm Community Feasting @ Demega Uruba Ware Community Hall
March 11 Hammond Community l 10 am - 2 pm Light refreshments @ TSIRC Community Hall Saibai Community l 10 am - 3 pm Lunch & Activities @ Saibai Community Hall Poruma Community l 10 am - 2 pm Morning Tea & Lunch @ Olandi Pearson Community Memorial Hall
March 15 Iama Community l 10 am - 2 pm Lunch @ Dawita Cultural Centre For more information, please call 07 4069 1663 email: info@murakosker.org.au or talk to your local MKS worker.
