Day: 8 March 2013

Last December, many ordinary Indians were shocked by the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old student in a moving bus in Delhi. This incident immediately sparked off protests across the country and solidarity protests across the globe. The protests was not just about this one incident, but built up of anger against rape and violence against women that has become so commonplace in India today. In response to these protests, the government was forced to make changes to the existing laws against sexual assault and violence against women, which were totally inadequate to begin with and reflected the feudal patriarchal mentality of the Indian ruling class. read more

The following article written by Sarika Chavan, a member of New Socialist Alternative (CWI-India) on what it means to be a women in India today.

Editors
Socialism.in

On 8th March 1857 thousands of women working in Garments and textile factories in New York hit the street demanding 12 hour work hours, suffrage, rights of women and children and against oppression of working women. Police acted brutally to break the strike injuring many women. Inspired by this historic struggle by women 8th March was declared as women’s day. In 1910 an International Women’s conference was organized to precede the socialist Second International in Copenhagen. In this meeting German socialist Luise Zeitz and Communist leader Clara Zetkin proposed establishing 8th March as International Women’s day. The day was to mark the struggle of women for equality. Subsequently the day is widely celebrate all over the world as ‘International Women’s day’ read more