An apocryphal myth traces the day back to the strike of garment workers in New York City on March 8th, 1857, when thousands of women marched through the city to protest against their appalling working conditions. While this origin myth has been long debunked, the history of IWD cannot be separated from the one of labour and women’s rights movements, both developing in parallel and rapidly during the Second Industrial Revolution across Europe and the U.S. On the occasion of the International Conference of Working Women in 1910, the German socialists Clara Zetkin and Luise Zietz proposed the establishment of an annual day as a strategy to promote equal rights for women, with a strong focus on universal suffrage. The first IWD was celebrated the following year and women have been coming together ever since, for rallies, networking events, conferences and marches across the globe.

With women’s suffrage achieved at various times in countries throughout the world, the IWD has now become a day to reflect on gender equality in a wider sense, compelling us to recognise the extent to which gender-based discrimination still persists nowadays. Figures show that, globally, women still lack equal access to education, health care, employment and representation in political and economic decision-making processes. Even when employed, the phenomenon of gender pay gap affects women in a disproportionate way, not only because women on average earn less than men, but also because women dedicate more time to non-remunerated work, such as caring for children or family dependents.This disheartening scenario can be even worse for women belonging to minority groups or living in developing countries, as gender-based discrimination is always shaped at the intersection of several structures of power, such as age, race/ethnicity and class.

Women are also disproportionately targeted with violence and harassment compared to men, ranging from psychological violence to sexual abuse, from domestic violence to hostility on social media platforms. In particular, digital gender-based discrimination has emerged in recent years as a new, subliminal form of digital divide, having the potential to reduce the equality and inclusivity of the cybersphere. The Internet has become the new frontier for spreading hate against women, with social media platforms showcasing their potential to act as an authentic force multiplier, both in terms of sheer quantity and vitriolic quality of interactions. An EU survey conducted in 2014 found that 1 in 10 women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the early age of 15, including having received unwanted, offensive sexually explicit emails or SMS messages, or offensive, inappropriate advances on social networking sites.

Digital misogyny seems to be particularly ferocious against those highly visible, successful women who are trying to strengthen their participation in the political and institutional processes. As they advance their way in a public sphere traditionally associated with power and authority (and, by default, hegemonic masculinity), women are much too often still made feel unwelcome in leading roles. In the era of the participatory web, politicians make a large use of social media platforms to engage with the electorate and communicate their political intentions and views. Unfortunately, social media profiles of women politicians are too often flooded with sexist insults and threats which are personally and professionally damaging to women, limiting their freedom of expression and representing a serious impediment to the advancement of their political agenda. Social media attacks are so common for female politicians that they are able to intimidate and dissuade women from running for office, advocates and lawmakers say.

Last year’s IWD events were marked by the global emergence of sexual abuse and harassment that had long bubbled below the surface: starting with the film producer Harvey Weinstein, prominent men in power in high-profile sectors across the world (such as fashion, music, arts and politics) were called out with allegations of sexual misconduct. The rise of the so-called hashtag activism, with movements like #metoo and #timesupgoing viral, has contributed to raised mainstream awareness of gender-based exclusion, disparity, harassment and abuse.The movement has also brought about more tangible outcomes, such as the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund: supported by the generous donations of some of the biggest names in Hollywood, the fundallows low-income women to come out as victims of sexual violence and afford an attorney to represent them.

In 2019, the chosen WID campaign theme is #BalanceforBetter, marking a call to action for accelerating the achievement of full gender balance and reinforcing the need for collective action and shared responsibility for driving a better, more gender-balanced world. Describing gender equality as a ‘business issue’, the aim of the theme is to encourage gender balance in politics, in the media and in decisional roles as a way for economies to thrive. Maintaining a gender-parity mindset, or challenging stereotypes and bias, or forging positive visibility of women, or influencing others’ beliefs and actions are among the practical measures that we could all try to adopt in our daily lives to counter gender-based discrimination.