William Quincy Belle: March 8: Internatonal Women's Day

International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day is marked on March 8 every year. It is a major day of global celebration of women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements. (Wikipedia)

The first International Women's Day was observed on March 19, 1911 (moved to March 8 in 1913), with gatherings in Germany, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland amounting to more than one million women and men in attendance. Growing industrialization brought poor working conditions and protests led to the creation of this day about political and human rights. In 1977, the United Nations proclaimed the date as UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace.

2012 International Women's Day
The UN theme for International Women’s Day 2012 is Empower Women – End Hunger and Poverty. In many countries, International Women's Day is an occasion to honor and praise women for their accomplishments. In 2012, Oxfam America is inviting people to celebrate inspiring women in their lives by sending a free International Women’s Day e-Card or honoring a woman whose efforts make a difference in the fight against hunger and poverty with Oxfam’s International Women’s Day award.

On the occasion of International Women's Day 2012, the ICRC is calling for more action to help the mothers and wives of people who have gone missing during armed conflict. The vast majority of people who go missing in connection with conflict are men. As well as the anguish of not knowing what has happened to the missing person, many of these women face economic and practical difficulties. The ICRC underlines the duty of parties to a conflict to search for the missing and provide information for the families. (Wikipedia)

from 2011: James Bond supports IWD
Daniel Craig and Judi Dench reprise their roles from James Bond to support this event.

The two-minute short, specially commissioned for International Women's Day, sees 007 star Daniel Craig undergo a dramatic makeover as he puts himself, quite literally, in a woman's shoes.

Directed by acclaimed 'Nowhere Boy' director/conceptual artist Sam Taylor-Wood, scripted by Jane Goldman ('Kick Ass') and featuring the voice of Dame Judi Dench reprising her role as 'M', the film will be screened in cinemas and streamed online in a bid to highlight the levels of inequality that persist between men and women in the UK and worldwide. It is the first film featuring Bond to be directed by a woman.

References

official web site: International Women's Day

Wikipedia: International Women's Day

We Are Equals
EQUALS is a partnership of leading charities brought together by Annie Lennox to celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day.

Radio Free Europe - March 7/2011
Women's Day Largely Forgotten In West, Where It Got Its Start by Daisy Sindelar

VOA - March 7/2011
Clinton Launches 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day by JulieAnn McKellogg

Google Search: International Women's Day

November 19: International Men's Day
The objectives of celebrating an International Men's Day include focusing on men's and boys' health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models. It is an occasion to highlight discrimination against men and boys and to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular for their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care.

November 25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Women's activists have marked November 25 as a day to fight violence against women since 1981. On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Resolution 54/134). The UN invited governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on this day as an international observance. Women around the world are subject to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence, and the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden.

This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo (1930–1961).

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