How International Women’s Day is Celebrated Around the World

International Women's Day is celebrated on every March 8, a time to celebrate social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, as well as raising awareness and promoting human rights for women around the world.

The earliest Women's Day observance, called "National Woman's Day," was on February 28, 1909, in New York. Though some also hold the claims that the history should be dated back even earlier to March 8, 1857, when women in New York protested to demand better working conditions and better wages. On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to March 8 and this day has remained the global date for International Women's Day ever since. It was adopted by the United Nations in 1975. Nowadays, IWD is celebrated in over 100 countries in the world.

Let's see how people celebrated Women's Day in different countries!

In Italy, to celebrate the day, men give yellow mimosas to women. Communist politician Teresa Mattei chose the mimosa in 1946 as the symbol of IWD in Italy because she felt that the French symbols of the day, violets and lily-of-the-valley, were too scarce and expensive to be used effectively in Italy. In addition, women in Italy will enjoy free entry to all of the country’s museums and cultural sites, where exhibitions that “celebrate the feminine world” by highlighting art by and about women, will be showcased.

Yellow mimosas and chocolate are also one of the most common March 8 presents in Russia and Albania.

Armenia has combined the day with its own Beauty and Motherhood Day on April 7 to make a month-long celebration of women between the two days.

In Benin and many other African countries, the day is used to highlight the public health, human rights, and socioeconomic problems that women have to struggle with.

According to Chinese law, women are entitled to a half-day off on International Women’s Day. Employers usually hold different events to appreciate the contributions made by their female workers by giving flowers and gifts.

In 2017, a march for the One Billion Rising campaign, supported by 30 women’s groups in India, was set to place in capital New Delhi. Spurred into action by the gang rape and murder of a medical student Jyoti Singh in 2012, advocates have been making strides in India to beat back the culture of violence against women and help victims find justice.