Essay on “International Woman’s Day-March 8” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

International Woman’s Day-March 8

International Women’s Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women’s groups around the world. When women on all continents, divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represent sat least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

Interactional Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the century- old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men.

History of the Day

The idea of an International Women’s Day first arose at the turn of the 20^th century. Following is a brief chronology of the most important events; 

1909: In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Women’s Day was observed across the united States on 28 February. Women Continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that Month till 1913.

1910: The socialist International’, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women’s Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women’s  rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over  100   women from 17 countries. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911: Because of the decision taken at Copenhagen in the previous year, international Women’s Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria. Denmark , Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

1913: As part of the peace movement brewing on the eye of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday of February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe. On or around 8 March of the  following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sister.

1917: With two million Russian soldiers dead in the war, their women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for “bread and peace”. Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women continued to strike. The rest is history: four days later, the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar.

Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women’s movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women’s rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women’s rights.   

Women at Global Level

Women community though equal to men in population, it is a concern to note that, yet in this modern sophisticated world, she is treated as the second citizens or subordinates to men. Though various efforts are being made to improve the status of women. They have not taken their maximum use and remain backward.

Women do not have an equal status with men. Serious efforts are being made throughout the world and various schemes programmes have been launched to minimize the gender inequality. Even then the gender bias exists and it varies from country to country and even within a country.

In the second half of the 20^th century, countries like USA, France and Hungary have 2.9%, 3.8% and 5.4% illiterate women respectively. The figures for India are 60.7% , Turkey 83.3% Iraq 95.8% and Algeria 98.2%. of the 100 million children world wide between the ages of 6 and 11 who do not attend school, 70% are girls. Of the one million illiterate adults an estimated two third are women. 

Presently, women produce 50% of the world’s food supply, account for 60% of working force and contribute upto 30% of the official labour force but receive  only 10% of the world economy and more surprisingly own less than 1% of world’s real estate. In Nepal, women work 21 more hours each week than men, and in India 12 hours. In Kenya 8 to 14 year old girls, spend 5 hours more on household chores than boys.

The gender inequality is an obstacle for development. A strategy to remove or at least to reduce inequality is very essential.

Empowerment of Women

In recent years, the empowerment of women is recognized globally as a key element to achieve progress in all areas. In the last twenty- five years, there has been a global efforts with a strong support from the United Nations to understand the discrimination and restore the status of women. The United Nations General Assembly declared the International Year of Women in 1975 followed by the International Women’s Decade.

Women have largely remained backward in the advances of science and technology. Various macro indicator related to their education, employment, health and participation in economic activities attest that gender inequalities and women’s vulnerability stand stark , despite numerous initiatives.      

Gender Mainstreaming

‘Gender’ refers to the social roles, responsibilities  and behaviors that are believed to belong to men and women; for example, “men as income earners” and “women as child care givers”. Gender roles are created by a society and are passed over from one generation to the next. Because gender roles are socially learned, they can be changed to achieve equity and equality for women   and men. For instance,  we can change the gender roles of “ women as child care- givers” to “ women as income earners,” and men as income earners” to “ men as child care – givers,” or, better yet, “ men and women as income earners and child care – givers.”

‘Gender Mainstreaming’ is a process that entails mainstreaming a gender perspective at various stages like programme / policy formulation, assessment of needs of target groups, review of existing policies and guidelines,  allocation of resources, implementation of  programmes, impact assessment, re-allocation of resources and so on. A gender sensitive budget can be the culmination of the is process.

The concept of bringing gender issues into the mainstream of society was clearly established as a global strategy for promoting gender equality in the Platform for Action adopted at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing (China) in 1995. It highlighted the necessity to ensure that gender equality is a primary goal in all areas of social and economic development. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality.

As a nodal department  for women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been undertaking advocacy in support of gender mainstreaming and pursuing dissemination of concepts and tools of gender. Forty two gender Budgeting cells have been set up in various Departments / Ministries.

Women in India

In India, the principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution which not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. Form the Fifth Five Year Plan  onwards. There has been marked shift in the approach to women’s advancement in different spheres.

The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the right and legal entitlements of women. The 73^rd and 74rd Amendment (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels.

Constitutional Provisions

The commitment to gender equity is well entrenched at the highest policy making level – the Constitution of  India. A few important provision for women are :

Article -14     – Equal Rights and Opportunities in Political, Economic and Social Spheres.

Article -15   – Prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex.

Article – 15(3) – Enables affirmative discrimination in favour of women

Article 39   – Equal means of livelihood and equal pay for equal work.

Article 42   – Just and Humane conditions of  work and maternity relief.

Article 51(A)(e) – Fundamental Duty to renounce practices, derogatory to dignity of women.

The National Policy for Empowerment of Women 2001 envisaged introduction of a gender perspective in the budgeting process as a operational strategy. These provision are effected and supplemented by legal frame work. A few laws and legislations are:

Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, The Commission of Sate (Prevention) Act, 1987, Protection of women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

The Pre- Natal Diagnostic Technique (Regulation and prevention of Misuse ) Act, 1994.

Status of Women

After Independence the Constitution of India gave equal rights to men and women in all walks of life. But even today one cannot day that all women in India enjoy equal rights with men in all matters.      

There are many reasons for this (1) The customs and traditions prevalent for centuries, (2) The high percentage of illiteracy among women, (3) Ignorance of their rights , (4) Patriarchal society, (5) Economic system, (6) Acceptance of the theory of Karma of fatalism, (7) Unchecked male domination in all walks of life.

In spite of  all these problems mentioned above , one could see that the condition of Indian women ahs improved a lot. There are now adequate educational facilitates for girls and women. Special incentives and reservations are there to encourage them to study. Even in employment there are special reservations. We can now see women employed in all field not only in clerical jobs but also in IAS, IPS and Indian Air Force. There are Chief Ministers who are women. We had a lady Prime Minister.

The year 1995 was declared as the International Year for Women throughout the world. The women were made aware of their status and place in society. There   have been many movements in our country as well as in other countries for  the advancement of women. Recently there was a world met of women at Beijing, the capital of China. Women are now no longer in slumber. They are awake and moving fast. They are asserting their rights. As far as India is concerned, it has already agreed to treat women as equal with men in all respects. The difference, whatever now exists, is sure to vanish in the coming decades when women also get equally educated and liberate themselves from superstitions and irrational traditions.

Women and Education

“There cannot be educated people without educated women. If general education has to be limited to men or to women, that opportunity should be given to women, for then, it would most surely be passed on to the next generation” (University Education Commission, 1948).

“Empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a good nation. When women are empowered, society with stability is assured. Empowerment of women is essential as their thoughts and their value systems lead to the development of a good family, good society and ultimately a good nation” (President APJ Abdul Kalam, 2006).

These quotations very aptly describe the importance of women’s education which holds the key to the future progress of a nation.

Education is a significant factor in changing women’s role and status in the society. Realization has dawned in India that without education women cannot be empowered. India has taken several steps towards empowering women through education. Years of neglect and discrimination against the women cannot be turned around in a day.

However, careful planning on the part of the government to raise educational levels across the country with cooperation of the civil society will result in the empowerment of women. It will raise their self- awareness and allow them to participate in decision making process at home and outside. It will also result in skill development and make women economically independent. They will then be able to contribute to the family kitty. They will serve as role models for their children .  

There is a saying that if you educate a boy, you educate an individual but if you educate a girl, you educate a family, careful planning on the part of the Government to raise educational levels across the country with the cooperation of the civil society will result in the empowerment of women.

International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike.

The growing international women’s  movement. Which has been strengthened by four global united Nations women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration  a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International   Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of  women’s rights.