Embrace equity, achieve equality through equity
Embrace equity, achieve equality through equity
The 8th of March is famously known as International Women’s Day, a global, annual holiday celebrating the achievements of women: social, economic, cultural and political. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the issues and raise awareness for gender parity. Groups, companies and individuals come together to celebrate women’s achievements and seek further advancements in women’s equality.
This year’s campaign theme is #EmbraceEquity. Equity is part of the acronym DEI but is often confused and used interchangeably with equality. Although they etymologically derive from the same Latin word aequus meaning “fair” or “equal”, they are inherently different. Equality and equity are both the quality of being fair and impartial but equity takes into account the different circumstances individuals face to ensure an equal outcome. It is also an element that is not included with the term D&I. The difference between DEI and D&I and why some companies and individuals may use one over the other will be a topic for another time.
This blog will focus on the history of International Women’s Day to further our understanding of it and spark ideas of what you can do to take part.
History of International Women’s Day
From the 1900s, there was an increasing unrest with women becoming more vocal and active in calling for change. The first “National Women’s Day” is purported to have been celebrated in New York City on the 28th February 1909 and women continued to observe the day annually until 1913. This inspired the idea of an International Women's Day which was proposed by Clara Zetkin at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen in 1910. The conference was attended by over 100 women representatives from 17 different countries and Zetkin's proposal was agreed with unanimous approval.
The following year, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany marked their first International Women’s Day on March 19th where over 1 million women and men attended rallies calling for women's rights to work, suffrage and to hold public office. The lingering memory of this milestone was cut short by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York on March 25th. This industrial disaster took the lives of over 140 working women and brought to attention the working conditions and legislation in the United States. This became the focus of future International Women's Day events.
In Russia, the first International Women's Day was celebrated on February 23th 1913. Following this day, discussions were held to agree on a day that was to be the global date for International Women’s Day. The date of March 8th was agreed on since it translated in the widely adopted Gregorian calendar from February 23.
The day has been observed by the United Nations since 1975 and is traditionally marked with a message from the Secretary-General. In December 1977, the General Assembly announced a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed by Member States.
However, by 2000, the drive for gender parity had plateaued and the topic had fallen off the radar. This could be referred to as an example of diversity fatigue which is becoming more prevalent today as discussed in another blog.
With the intention of revitalising the day, the internationalwomensday.com platform was launched in 2001. The website provides resources and guidance, and promotes a theme every year, this year’s being #EmbraceEquity. The website’s colour scheme is centred around purple, one of the colours of the UK Women's Social and Political Union flag. Purple, the primary colour signifies justice and dignity whilst green symbolises hope and white, although controversial, represents purity.
This year is the 112th year of International Women's Day. There have been great improvements over the years, with girls being welcomed into university, women being able to work and have a family, and having the right to vote. However, women are still not paid equally as their male counterparts nor are they equally represented in business or politics. There is still a long way to go. But may every International Women’s Day act as a stimulus that will bring about change. Let’s achieve equality through equity.