March 8: International Women’s Day

As every March 8, Colombia joins in the celebration of International Women’s Day. This symbolic day, which has antecedents in the 19th and 20th centuries, was proclaimed in December 1977 by the United Nations General Assembly and has gained special relevance in the last two decades. In accordance with the origins of the feminist movement, the date serves to remember the struggles and achievements in the search for gender equality worldwide.

This date will be commemorated in Colombia with a series of activities and reflections that highlight the importance of advancing towards gender equality and the well-being of women in all spheres of society. Although March 8 is not a public holiday in the country, its celebration has gained prominence and social participation in recent years.

In Colombia, since obtaining the right to vote in 1954, women have been achieving, with great effort, levels of equality that are still far from being fair and comparable to those of men. However, labor legislation that fights for wage equality, as well as the rights to sexual freedom and abortion, are among the most advanced legislations in Latin America. The reality, however, is that real equality between men and women, beyond legislative equality, is still far from certain, as it is in most of the world. The gap persists.

“Investing in women: accelerating progress”

For the 2024 edition, the United Nations encourages the celebration of the day under the slogan “Investing in Women: Accelerating Progress“. Within the five key areas outlined by the UN, the importance of investing in women as an engine of progress and benefit for society as a whole was highlighted. In addition, emphasis was placed on eradicating poverty, implementing gender-sensitive financing, transitioning to a green economy and a caring society, as well as supporting activists working for women’s rights.

In Colombia, various organizations will join in the commemoration of Women’s Day through events, talks and activities that will promote reflection and dialogue on the situation of women in the country and ways to move towards gender equality. Reflective and thought-provoking acts will join the more playful ones, offering a compendium of events that covers all tastes and needs.

Events in Colombia

With the slogan “Women’s Voices, a meeting for life and peace,” the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge has prepared an agenda of concerts, talks, exhibitions, among other activities, in cities such as Bogota, Cali, Popayan, Buenaventura, Quibdo, Cucuta and Guainia.

In this commemoration of 8M, the voice of the more than 1129 female workers of the Ministry and those who seek a dignified and recognized work in the cultural sector will also be recognized. “Women have played a crucial role in transmitting knowledge and keeping cultures alive. Therefore, our presence here is not simply to fulfill a gender quota,” said Adriana Molano, deputy minister of Heritage, Memories and Cultural Governance.

The spaces invite the eradication of all forms of violence and discrimination, to open a dialogue with institutions and the population to continue working for the vindication of rights and the proclamation of equality.

Origins of a struggle for empowerment

International Women’s Day, celebrated every March 8, is a tribute to the historic struggle for gender equality and women’s rights around the world. Its origin dates back to the labor movement and the fight for better working conditions and civil rights in the early 20th century.

According to the United Nations report, the first documented manifestation of this movement was established on March 8, 1875 in the United States, when hundreds of women textile workers in a New York factory demonstrated seeking equal pay with their male counterparts and an improvement in their working conditions. On that occasion 120 women workers were killed by the police. However, it was not until 1877 that the first women’s union in history was created.

In 1908 it would mark the date of March 8 as a milestone in the movement for the defense of women’s rights. On March 8 of that year, 129 women workers died in a fire inside the Cotton factory in New York, USA. They were protesting against the endless working hours, inhumane conditions and low wages they received.

The first official celebration of International Women’s Day took place in 1911, when more than one million people joined in protests and demonstrations in countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland, demanding equal labor rights and women’s suffrage. These were the foundations of the so-called “suffragettes”, who gradually achieved the right to vote for women suffrage after World War I.

Evolution of the struggle for equality

Since then, the day has evolved to address a broader range of issues affecting women, including gender-based violence, workplace discrimination and political participation. Over the past 100 years, it has become a global platform for women’s activism and the promotion of gender equality.

In many parts of the world, International Women’s Day is celebrated with marches, conferences, cultural events and awareness campaigns. It has been a catalyst for the enactment of laws and policies that protect and promote women’s rights. After political and social rights, the movement has evolved into demands for equal pay and opportunities in the workplace, and into new issues such as abortion rights and sexual diversity.

Among the most shocking aspects of women’s welfare which needs to be addressed is the terrible incidence of femicides. So far in 2024, at least 20 femicides have already been registered in Colombia, according to official sources. In 2023, the Femicide Observatory of Colombia reported 520 cases of male violence that took the lives of women in the country. That is, more than one woman a day in the country died as a result of femicide. Antioquia, Bogota and Valle del Cauca are the cities with more victims.

In parallel and according to data from Legal Medicine, a total of 49,247 women reported being victims of domestic violence last year, which marks an increase of more than 3% compared to 2022, when 47,771 cases were recorded. This phenomenon especially affects women in Colombia, since of all the complaints (63,982) filed during 2023, 77% correspond to women as victims. In other words, four out of every five cases of domestic violence affect women in Colombia.