Centenary of International Women’s Day -2011
Women around the world will celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day in 2011.
International Women’s Day was first celebrated in 1911 having been proposed a year earlier at the International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen.
Every year since, organisations and individuals across the world have recognised the achievements of women and their contribution to society on 8 May - International Women's Day
On this day, women can celebrate the progress that has been made but also contemplate those areas of women's lives where more can be done.
Women's access to education, health care and paid labour has improved, and many countries have adopted legislation that promises equal opportunities for women and respect for their human rights.
Despite this, nowhere in the world can women claim to have all the same rights and opportunities as men. Until we all work together to achieve gender equality and secure the rights and full potential of women, lasting solutions to social, economic and political problems are unlikely to be found.
On International Women’s Day, like any other day, women around the world will suffer as victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and discrimination. In war, women will be raped, families will be shattered and many remain, displaced, in refugee camps.
We need to see changes that transform relationships between women and men so women will be able to reach their social, financial, political and personal potential.
International Women's Day 2009
In 2009, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP and the Office for Women celebrated International Women’s Day with an official lunch co-hosted by Cricket Australia during the Australia verses New Zealand match of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s World Cup at North Sydney Oval.
Working women 100 years on – panel discussion, 2008
As part of International Women’s Day in 2008, a panel of five prominent Australian women, facilitated by the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, discussed and debated the biggest social changes of the past 100 years. The panel discussion covered topics such as pay equity, balancing work and home, industrial relations, retirement savings and being successful in the workplace. Watch a broadcast of the panel discussion “Working women 100 years on: where we have been; where are we now and; where are we going?” on the ABC website.
The panellists for the discussion were:
- Sharan Burrow—President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions
- Professor Barbara Pocock—Director of the Centre for Work and Life at the University of South Australia
- Dr Dale Spender AM—feminist writer and commentator
- Dr Marian Baird—Associate Professor in Work and Organisational Studies and Convenor of the Women and Work Research Group, University of Sydney
- Geraldine Doogue AO—renowned Australian journalist and broadcaster with a distinguished career in news and current affairs.
Speeches
Related websites