On average, women receive only two-thirds of the wages of men. Accessible child-care is still not publicly provided. Free education and health care do not exist. Women still suffer violence in their homes and on the streets. Women of colour still experience racism. Women still do not have control of their reproduction: abortion is still illegal and expensive. Women still do the majority of the unpaid work in the home.
This is the harsh reality of capitalism today. Despite claims to the contrary, women are still systematically oppressed — and a women's liberation movement is still necessary. International Women's Day (IWD) is an integral part of the movement fighting the oppression of women.
ANGELA LUVERA examines the history and ongoing relevance of IWD.
* * *
IWD was born at a time of great social turbulence. It began in the United States as part of socialists' campaign for equality for women. On February 28, 1907, women socialists organised huge demonstrations and meetings all over the country to demand political rights for working women. This was the first "Women's Day".
In 1909, a massive strike of 30,000 garment workers, mainly of migrant women, almost shut down the garment industry. This strike involved more unionised women than ever before and triggered mass support among other workers.
The unionists struck for three months. They demanded the right to organise and bargain collectively, and improved wages and working conditions. They eventually won some improvements.
The figure most identified with the birth of IWD is Clara Zetkin. Through the 1890s, Zetkin developed a socialist women's program and practice within the German Social Democratic Party which became the model for women in socialist parties around the world.
In 1910, the second International Conference of Socialist Working Women met in Copenhagen, with representatives from 17 countries. At this conference Zetkin raised the idea of organising an International Working Women's Day. It was decided that every year, in every country, they should march under the slogan: "The vote for women will unite our strength in the struggle for socialism".
March 19, 1911, was the first International Women's Day. German women picked this day because of its historic importance for the German working class: on March 19 during the 1818 revolution, the Prussian king, hoping to placate the revolutionary movement, promised some concessions. Among these, and one he failed to keep, was to give women the vote.
In 1915, IWD was transferred to March 8. As the Russian socialist Alexandra Kollantai explained in 1920: "Working Women's Day turns from a day of struggle for franchise into an international day of struggle for the full and absolute liberation of women, which means a struggle for the victory of the Soviets and for communism".
The militancy of women on IWD in 1917 sparked the February revolution in Russia. Hunger, cold and the trials of war broke the patience of the women workers and peasants. In Leningrad on March 8, women defied the law and came boldly onto the streets demanding "bread for our children" and "the return of our husbands from the trenches".
The first Australian IWD events took place in the Sydney Domain on March 25, 1928, organised by the Militant Women's Movement. The economic climate was similar to today's — rising unemployment, wage cuts and poorer working conditions. The women demanded equal pay for equal work, an eight-hour day, a basic wage for the unemployed and annual holidays with full pay.
It is no accident that the first IWD in Australia was organised by socialist women. Before the turn of the century and into the early 1920s, actions by socialist and other progressive women helped break down ignorance about the exploitation of women in society.
The second world war split both the feminist and socialist movements. It wasn't until the second wave of feminism in the late 1960s and early '70s that the women's liberation movement once again took March 8 as a day to rally for women's rights
While women now have the right to vote in almost every country, and other advances have been won through feminist struggle, the oppression of women continues. The demands of today's women's liberation movement are not so different from those at the turn of the century.
IWD, the only annual event which protests against the persistent gender inequality in our society, is as relevant today as when it began at the start of this century.
Participating in the organising of IWD is a crucial contribution to strengthening the women's liberation movement. It is only with a strong, inclusive women's liberation movement that we can overcome sexist oppression. That is why Resistance is involved in building the IWD marches and rallies around the country each year.
[Angela Luvera is a member of the NSW National Union of Students' Women's Committee].