International Women’s Day at 50: Strides, Setbacks, and Solidarity

Fifty years after the United Nations first commemorated International Women’s Day, what has changed for girls and women? We’re taking stock of the strides and the setbacks.

The year was 1975, and a movement was growing. Led by and for women, the global women’s movement had reached a momentous new milestone after decades of activism.

Thousands of feminists from around the world were heading to Mexico that summer for a conference that would deliver a burst of momentum in the global push for women’s equality, development, and peace. Dubbed “International Women’s Year” by the United Nations, 1975 also brought long-sought recognition to the women’s movement as the UN celebrated International Women’s Day for the first time on March 8. Two years later, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to formalize the observance. And so was born the annual day to commemorate girls and women and the long fight for equality that remains unfinished today.

Because of the courage and resolve of generations of women who came together in solidarity, girls and women have fought for — and won — fundamental rights and freedoms in the 50 years since.

But we can’t stop until girls and women are equal everywhere, and in every part of life.

We’re looking back at the reality for girls and women in 1975 — recognizing how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go until every girl and woman on Earth realizes their right to equality.

1. Women in Leadership

In 1975, just four countries had ever been led by a woman. In the five decades since, over 60 countries have had a woman as their leader. While that’s a notable jump, those numbers are less impressive in context. Of the UN’s 193 Member States, less than one-third have ever had a woman leader, and right now, just 13 are being led by women. For nine of those 13 countries, this is the first time a woman has been head of the government, which hopefully signals a trend toward greater representation. The real test, however, will be whether the systemic barriers that keep women from having a seat at decision-making tables can be dismantled. Only then will we see equal representation of women in power.

Of the UN’s 193 Member States, less than one-third have ever had a woman leader, and right now, just 13 are being led by women. Ensuring more women have seats at decision-making tables is key to establishing equal representation.

2. Ending Violence Against Women

Fifty years ago, the majority of the world’s population lived in countries that did not criminalize domestic violence. Today, 90% live in countries that do. At least 162 countries have enacted laws on domestic violence, and 147 have laws on sexual harassment in the workplace. However, having laws on the books does not always provide sufficient protection for girls and women. It’s essential that national laws are compliant with international standards and are actually implemented and enforced.

While some progress has been made to address violence against women, it’s essential that laws designed to protect them are fully implemented and enforced.

3. Girls and Women on the Development Agenda

Girls and women and their rights, needs, and aspirations were not historically included in global development agendas. That has changed in the past 50 years. The Millenium Development Goals, launched in 2000, and the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, in 2015, introduced development frameworks with specific goals and targets on girls’ and women’s rights, opportunities, and well-being.

SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls includes nine targets that strive to end gender discrimination, violence, and forced marriages while ensuring access to healthcare, economic resources, and more. Despite some gains, progress has not been fast enough. About one in four girls continue to be married as children and at the current rate, it will take 137 years to lift all girls and women out of poverty.

Sustainable Development Goal 5 includes nine targets for ending gender discrimination, violence, and forced marriages while ensuring access to healthcare, economic resources, and more.

4. UN Women

In the years and decades following the UN’s first celebration of International Women’s Day in 1975, the global women’s movement steadily gained formal recognition and secured hard-won gains within the UN and broader international system. Just one year later, the UN established the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. Finally, in 2010, the UN General Assembly voted unanimously to create an entity dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the empowerment of women worldwide. Initially known as the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, today we have UN Women.

UN Women is the UN entity responsible for delivering programs, policies, and standards that uphold the human rights of girls and women worldwide.

5. Women, Peace and Security

The indispensable role that women play in advancing peace and security was not recognized 50 years ago, nor was the disproportionate toll of conflict on girls and women. That has changed in the decades since, most notably through the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, which established what is today known as the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Recognizing the imperative of gender equality and women’s rights to national and international peace and security, the resolution “affirms that peace and security efforts are more sustainable when women are equal partners in the prevention of violent conflict, the delivery of relief and recovery efforts and in the forging of lasting peace.”

The Women, Peace and Security agenda, established in 2000, recognizes the role women play in peacemaking, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding.

A lot can change in 50 years. What happens in the next 50 will be up to each of us alive today. Progress is possible, but it is not inevitable.

Generations of women acting in solidarity have built a movement for equality. Five decades since the UN first recognized International Women’s Day, we can become the first generation to close the gender gap. It will take girls and women’s movements, which have always driven change, and all those in positions of power to dismantle the systemic barriers that still stand in the way of equality, to implement and enforce policies that unequivocally affirm that girls and women are no less human or worthy or equal than boys and men.

Only then will we be able to fulfill the promise of equality for all.

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Photo Credits

1) Women in Power
From top to bottom, left to right: Rob C. Croes, Marla Aufmuth, Jane Ussher; Della Zuana Pascal/Corbis Sygma, Oliver Mark, Creative Commons, FMT/EPA Images/Rungroj Yongrit

2) Ending Violence Against Women
From top to bottom: Code Pink, UN Women/Ryan Brown, UN Women/J Carrier

3) Girls and Women on the Development Agenda
From top to bottom, left to right: Cliff Booth/Pexels, Pixabay, Javier Segura/Pexels, Christina Morillo/Pexels, Eurobanks/Shutterstock, Dan Xavier/Pexels, Olly/Pexels, Suman Paul Himu/UNICEF, Florence Goupil, Kebs Visuals/Pexels, DivineTechyGirl/Pexels, Vika Glitter/Pexels, Salmonnegro-Stock/Shutterstock

4) UN Women
From top to bottom, left to right: UN Women/Óscar Leiva, UN Women, UN Photo/Manuel Elías, UN Women, Gobierno de Chile, UN Women/Marco Grob, UN Women/Ryan Brown
Background photo: UN Women/Radhika Chalasani

5) Women, Peace and Security
From left to right: UN Photo/Evan Schneider, UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe, UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe, NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, America Times News Service