Notes

Repubblika: Why We Should Commemorate Women’s Day
Today, March 8, governments, organizations, women and men around the world are commemorating International Women’s Day.

The day takes us back to March 8, 1917, when many Russian women gathered to launch a strike in favor of “Bread and Peace.” They wanted to protest against the killing of more than two million Russian soldiers in World War I, and against the famine that had gripped the country because of the war. Not only that: International Women’s Day bears witness to a long history of efforts for women to rightfully take their rightful place in society and full participation in the public life of their countries. https://x.com/repubblikamt Today we can recall some of these efforts, why they were made and what was achieved thanks to them, to encourage us for the efforts that still need to be made.


Already in 1903, some English women, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, founded the “Women’s Social and Political Union”, to fight for the right for women to vote. In 1908, in New York, 15,000 women marched through the streets of the city in a campaign to obtain the right to vote, better wages and shorter working hours. A year later, on 23 February 1909, American women began to celebrate National Women’s Day. https://www.instagram.com/repubblika.mt/reels/ Repubblika https://repubblika.org/ In 1910, during the second international conference of Working Women, Clara Zetkin proposed the idea of an International Women’s Day, on which activists could remind governments of women’s rights to work, to vote, to hold public service jobs, and to be free from discrimination. Shortly before the First World War, on 8 March 1914, women all over Europe protested against the tensions that would lead to a major and bloody war. Repubblika On that day, London police arrested Suffragette activist Silvia Pankhurst as she was about to speak in Trafalgar Square. In 1977, the United Nations adopted a resolution to celebrate the United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

From these events we realize the ultimate goal: rights that befit the dignity of women, in all times, all societies and all socio-economic circumstances, are linked to the search for peace and social justice, which everyone enjoys – men as well as women, the powerful as well as those who are deprived of a fair share of the world’s wealth.

If we look around the world today, in 2025, we see that there is still much to be done for women to enjoy the rights and dignity they deserve. In many countries, women do not have access to education; they do not find dignified work, or receive the same pay as men doing the same work; they cannot even walk down the street without a male escort, or drive a car and are forced to wear a certain dress. Repubblika They do not find help from the police when they are a victim of violence, even in their own home, or when their employer exploits them because they are a woman.

In Malta, much progress has been made in the situation of women: however, violence against women, violence that often leads to the death of the victim, shows that there is still much to be done. The fact that we had to resort to special measures to ensure good representation of women in the Maltese parliament shows that obstacles remain for women who wish and have the ability to reach influential positions in public life. Maltese society – women, as well as men – seems not yet ready to acknowledge that a woman can have the ability to lead a country or a large enterprise, as if leadership in these areas is a skill only for men.

Therefore, there is still a need to continue to commemorate “International Women’s Day” every year. It should be a Day that unites men and women, because the promotion of women’s dignity does not in any way undermine men’s dignity: on the contrary, it also strengthens full respect for the dignity and rights of all. Repubblika https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/133356/repubblika_calls_for_increased_scrutiny_on_all_mps_assets_especially_ministers When, as we pray in the Maltese Anthem, our people offer strong rights to every woman and man who lives here – in public life, in economic activity, in our associations, streets and homes – it will foster ‘unity and peace’ for each and every one, for our nation today, and for our children’s children.
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