Today is International Women's Day / What does March 8 symbolize and why is it confused with Mother's Day

For several years now, in Albania "March 8" is celebrated as Mother's Day but in fact this day is "International Women's Day". Seen in this light, it can be celebrated for all women and girls as a whole, having the right for each of them to receive a wish for this day. Between protests, or festive moments, one thing is certain: Since this day, no woman passes without remembering it as a moment of dedication to herself and of course, others to her.

March 8, 1857 - Women workers in a textile and garment factory in New York City (USA) (New York City, USA), after much suffering for treatment and low wages and brutal exploitation by the employer, gather and declare a strike in the streets of the capital American where they were mistreated by the police who intervened to disperse them. But they did not surrender because 2 years later, in March 1859, they gathered and formed their own union for the protection of labor rights.

November 22, 1908 - February 15, 1909 - 20,000 New York women protested by blocking the streets of New York for three months, from which it was renamed (oman's Day. This protest also marked the beginning of the mobilization of women in trade unions and the search for their rights at work.

26 - 27 August 1910 - Copenhagen in Folkets Hus (House of the People) held the International Socialist Meeting where it was decided that 'Women's Day' be celebrated all over the world, in honor of the women's movement for their rights and for them supporting women in recognizing their status in society. The conference was attended by 100 women, from 17 countries, including the first three women who were elected as members of the Finnish parliament.

March 19, 1911 - As a result of the decision taken in Copenhagen, a year later 'Women's Day' was decided to be celebrated for the first time on March 19, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where millions of men and women participated at events dedicated to this day. Women demanded the right to vote, to govern, to work, to be educated, and to stop discrimination at work.

March 25, 1911 - A powerful fire breaks out on the top floors of the Asch Palace and the Triangle White Company where the textile factory was located, killing 146 workers, most of them Italian immigrant women and European Jews who had emigrated to the United States. for a better life.

Symbol of Mimosa

March 8, 1946 - Celebrated throughout Italy for the first time Women's Day where and for the first time the symbol of the mimosa flower (golden mimosa) appears which blooms exactly in the first days of March. The creators of this so significant symbol were Teresa Noce, Rita Montagnana di Teresa Mattei. Mimosa remains the symbol of Women's Day only in Italy and Russia.

November 1977 - The United Nations (UN) universally recognizes March 8 as 'Women's Day' and invites all member states to turn this day into a contribution to the rights and dignity of women and their conditions.

Since that day, "International Women's Day" has taken on other dimensions, and today is celebrated in over 100 countries around the world. This day reflects on the courage and actions of ordinary women who played an important role in the history of women's rights.

This day cannot be celebrated when the Albanian woman still lacks the minimum rights.

Article republished by politiko.al