International Women’s Day Speech: Women’s Day is celebrated around the world every year to embed an idea of the importance of Women. On International Women’s Day, various seminars and programs are arranged to signify the presence and importance of women. Speeches form a major part of Women’s Day events.
An influential speech represents your impact on the audience and puts your agenda first. Words do have a voice of their own, and it matters when you are describing a shared purpose of raising women’s power. So, if you are also looking for one of such influential speeches, we have it here for you.
We are here to present you a speech on International Women’s Day for anyone addressing or representing women. The speech will help you represent women’s power in different aspects and represent our shared purpose.
Speech on International Women’s Day
Good Morning to all the honourable guests, ladies and Gentleman
“It’s a great pleasure to celebrate this International Women’s Day with you all and share my thoughts on this day”.
“Women are the real architect of the Society.”
-Harriet Beecher Stowe
As Harriet Beecher Stowe, a famous American author, says, women really do build a society. They build not only themselves but a whole community. Yet history has often failed women to represent what a woman can be. There cannot be just a day to celebrate a woman. Every day should be a day where we respect the divinity of women.
International Women’s Day is celebrated every year with huge enthusiasm worldwide to celebrate women’s achievements in social, political, economic, and other fields of life. Today, women rule almost every field of life and work at par with men. We cannot deny, that, be it at home or work, they do it all with so much zeal and ace in each one of it in their way.
International Women’s Day was observed for the first time in 1911. Since then, every year on the 8th of March, womanhood is celebrated worldwide to honour all the astounding women in our lives and all the extraordinary women history has witnessed. This day is particularly observed to acknowledge the achievements of women in various aspects of life.
International Women’s day was created to put forward and express an idea to the world that each gender deserves to be treated equally. The day aimed to present the aspects of women’s life in a man’s world. To create changes in the mindset of the world. To create a positive impact on the world.
But why do we need a Women’s Day?
There’s a need to celebrate a women’s day because women are often subjected to preconceived perceptions of what they can do and what they cannot. They face biased behaviour of people and statistics show that education availability for women is still lower than for men.
Every four out of five women faces harassment at one point in her life. They are so many times likely to be a victim of Domestic Violence and sexual abuse in childhood. More than thirty thousand girls are forced into child marriage every single day and others get subjected to illegal trafficking and female genocides.
Pay according to gender continues, and men are still allowed to make major decisions about women, like abortion. In addition to this, other persisting factors still go unrecognized. So, we clearly need a day to start conversations and open agendas that need global attention.
“We share a common future and we are here to find a common ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world.”
Hillary Clinton
Women’s journey from protesting on the streets to making the world celebrate International Women’s day was not easy. We celebrate this day today only because of the historical footsteps of great women who fought for their rights. So, when did this all-women movement, standing up for themselves, start? Let me take you back in time to be more grateful for the world you have today.
Women’s activism, or the fight for Women to attain equal rights, dates back to the late 1800s when the women of that time were fighting to get the right to vote for the leader of their choice. Also, there was a demand for the right of women to work and be a part of various training programmes, but till that time, women’s voices were treated inconsiderately. Women were not allowed to make their point and have a say in anything from politics to economics. They were not even allowed to speak at conferences.
So, the first campaign to provide equal rights to women started on 28th February 1908. An all-women strike by the garment workers against the working conditions these women were subjected to. It started with a basic labour movement, but the voices of those women left a mark at the beginning of a journey of self-respect.
Several other movements led by the suffragists and suffragettes of the Socialist Party of America in 1911 were witnessed in Western countries. Their movements did make an impact, and in 1919, women were given voting rights because of the support Congress got from these women during World War I.
It was only during the era of 1970s that the long fight for women’s rights became impactful enough to create an intensified movement. The demand for equal rights became strong, feminist action became powerful, and rallying became a common way to express disapproval against the patriarchal laws of Society. A decade later, women started switching roles and fixed themselves to men’s jobs, thriving to be considered equivalent to men and showing that the world does not require a gender label to do certain jobs. Well, they succeeded!
With the uprise of the new era, in the new millennial, the focus shifted to the organizations and made them more adaptive to women employees. Women were everywhere, in industries, science, and politics. There were women’s conferences, and this all-women network hugely enhanced with time. The world progressed, new visions were adapted, and a different insight was given a place.
Major companies started to include the female workforce and diversify their organizations, breaking gender stereotypes and biasing. It was only due to the constant efforts of the women community which paved the path for the acceptance of the other diversified genders and brought it to the attention of people that other gender groups like LGBTQ also deserve the rights similar to each one of us. The world actually started evaluating discrimination.
Women today definitely live in a better world than the women belonging to history. But there still are things that need to be addressed. Despite all the efforts, today, an average woman spends double the time working compared to men. They face atrocities of rape and intimidation for achieving what they truly desire.
Today, women hold the topmost positions in every sector and play the best roles in history. Now, men are standing up as allies to work for the upliftment of women, which is exactly what women from the 1800s would have imagined the world to be.
Why March 8th?
Only after World War II was International Women’s Day recognized to be celebrated officially. The date was chosen on the 8th of March to pay tribute to the great women’s revolution in Russia, which took place on 23 Feb 1917 (gregorian calendar), i.e., march as per the European calendar. So, the date was chosen. The United Nations acknowledged Women’s Day officially in 1977, two years after the declaration of the International Year of Women. The General Assembly legally adopted the resolution, claiming a UN Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.
Every year, the UN sets up a theme for International Women’s Day. For this year, the United Nations Women have set up the theme as “Women for Tomorrow”. The theme covers and recognizes the efforts of women and the roles women played during the time of the Global Pandemic.
Women healthcare workers formed an important workforce in providing aid to people suffering from a pandemic. The women leaders of countries like New Zealand, Finland and Ethiopia have been recognized widely for their effective decision-making and actions to control the Pandemic.
Today, movements like #me too have created a mass movement, where each woman stands up equal to a man, without any fear. Women are empowered to say and many women are now in the lead roles but there are still others who get neglected. Women in different areas of life, still feel judged negatively and are largely influenced by the responsibility of caregiving.
So, this International Day, let us all show appreciation, respect, and love, to all the incredible women in our lives, be it your mother, wife, or daughter. Let us show, that we are proud of their efforts and pledge to create a world where women do not have to face any affliction!
Thank you.
FAQs
When was the first Women’s Day celebrated?
The first women’s day is known to be celebrated in 1911, on March 19, as a tribute to the revolution of 1848, where women demanded the right to work.
When were women granted the right to vote?
It was only during 1917-1919 that women were finally given the right to vote in Russia and Europe.
Are women equal in Sustainable Development Goals?
Yes, Women empowerment forms Goal 5 of the SDGs, to attain gender equality and empower women and girls as the 2030 Agenda.
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