Today, March 08, we celebrate International Women’s Day. This has a long history and is primarily intended to remind us that women and non-binary people have fewer privileges in their daily lives than men.
International Women’s Day originated in the United States. There, from the mid-19th century to the 20th century, women textile workers protested because of poor working conditions and low wages for women. The German socialist Clara Zetkin organized the first International Women’s Day in Europe. This took place on March 19, 1911 and had the political goal of introducing the right to vote for all. On March 8, 1917, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, many women workers protested in Russia to oppose poor working conditions. The demonstrations were joined by so many people that the tsar abdicated. Because of this, Women’s Day has always taken place on March 8 since then.
Since 1911, much has been achieved in Germany. For example, women have had the right to vote for over 100 years. The Equal Rights Act, which is supposed to guarantee women and men the same rights before the law, was introduced 66 years ago. And Article 3 of the Basic Law was also rewritten 24 years ago so that the state must now actively promote equal rights for men and women. Despite all these positive developments, however, there are still very many problems within our society. For example, according to the development organization Oxfam, women worldwide continue to earn about 23% less than men and perform on average 75% of the care work. (The term care work refers to all care activities that are not paid. This includes, for example, household work or caring for family members) Women are also more often affected by violence and discrimination than men. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, approximately 81% of victims of attempted and completed violence are female.
We therefore demand true equality at all levels so that women and non-binary people have the same development opportunities as men.
If you also want to participate, then come with pleasure to the protest demonstration on 08 March in Leipzig. This begins at 16 o’clock on the market place.
Source Oxfam: https://www.oxfam.de/unsere-arbeit/themen/care-arbeit?utm_wec=11494&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7uil64O4_QIVy-R3Ch3tywiHEAAYASAAEgJrYvD_BwE (German version)
Source victims of violence: https://www.bmfsfj.de/bmfsfj/aktuelles/presse/pressemitteilungen/gewalt-gegen-frauen-zahlen-weiterhin-hoch-ministerin-giffey-startet-initiative-staerker-als-gewalt–141688 (German version)
Info’s to the demo in Leipzig: https://agfrauenprojekte-leipzig.com/aktionen/ (German version)