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Theme about the struggle of women workers

Since the early days of the labor movement, women have fought for both their place in the movement and for equal conditions with their male colleagues. For more than 100 years, the gender struggle has been a central part of the history and development of the labor movement. As early as 1910, the struggle took an organized form when the Second International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen decided to hold an annual International Women’s Day – a day dedicated to working women’s demands for better conditions. The decision was carried forward by pioneers of socialist feminism, including Nina Bang, Denmark’s first female minister and a prominent figure in the Social Democratic Party.

In 1921, the Women’s Secretariat of the Communist International set the date for Women’s Day as March 8 – commemorating the historic demonstration in Petrograd in 1917 that helped spark the Russian Revolution. Since 1922, March 8 has been celebrated globally and is today one of the most important anniversaries of the labor movement. In 1975, the day was officially recognized by the United Nations as International Women’s Day for all women worldwide. However, the gender struggle has gone far beyond just equal pay – it has also included important struggles such as the right to maternity leave and better family policies.

Get the full information on the theme

Experience the theme in multiple ways

Read about the history of March 8 Read about the history of maternity leave Read about Nina Bang Read about the pioneers of feminism Read about communist women in the article about Danish Communists Read about Helle Thorning-Schmidt

About International Women’s Day

Since the early days of the labor movement, women workers have fought for their place in the movement and for equal conditions in the labor market with their male colleagues. For more than a century, the gender struggle has been an important theme in the movement.

In 1910, the Second International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen decided that socialist women should hold an annual International Women’s Day to demonstrate working women’s demands for better conditions. Behind the decision were a number of the pioneers of socialist feminism.

Among them was Nina Bang, the first female minister in Denmark and a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party leadership.

The Women’s Secretariat of the Communist International set the date of March 8 in Moscow in 1921, commemorating the 1917 workers’ women’s demonstration in Petrograd. The demonstration helped spark the Russian Revolution. Since 1922, International Women’s Day has been celebrated worldwide on March 8 and is one of the most important anniversaries of the labor movement.

In 1975, during the UN Women’s Year, the world organization recognized March 8 as International Women’s Day for the women of the world.

In addition to the demand for equal pay, the gender struggle also included many other gender and family political struggles. One of them, the fight for the right to maternity leave, which you can read more about in the article “The history of maternity leave” in the “Experience the theme in different ways” box higher up on the page.