On March 8, Ukraine and other countries around the world celebrate International Women's Day. This date stands out for its unique history, as it has gone through many transformations and changes. Learn more about the history of International Women's Day and how it is celebrated in Ukraine

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Almost the entire history of the celebration of March 8 in Ukraine was closely connected with spring, beauty and bouquets of flowers. However, now more and more people are inclined to the opinion that, first of all, International Women's Day is an occasion to remind about women's rights and draw attention to equality issues.

Also, the "Soviet" origin of March 8 creates additional controversies around this date, because the communists are the source of its origin. The issue is complicated, so the leadership of Ukraine is still deciding whether to cancel the celebration or to postpone it to a more successful date.

What is the history of March 8 and is it really an international holiday? How did the day of struggle for women's rights turn into a "spring holiday"? And what alternative dates of celebration of this day can be chosen in Ukraine? Answers to all questions in this article.

History of International Women's Day in the world and in Ukraine

At the beginning of the 20th century, social democrats in Europe and the USA actively fought for women's rights, because at that time working conditions were extremely difficult, women also did not have the right to attend party meetings on an equal basis with men, women in Germany received the right to vote only in 1918 year It was in such conditions that the first movements that fought for their rights began to emerge.

The holiday of March 8 was born in 1910 in Copenhagen, when, as part of the Second International Socialist Women's Conference, the participants supported the proposal of the German socialist Clara Zetkin to annually celebrate Women's Day at the beginning of March by holding demonstrations.

There is also a second version that connects the history of the birth of March 8 with the strike of female workers in New York in 1857. However, this rebellion was suppressed.

In general, in the 1900s, the holiday was celebrated both in the United States and in a number of European countries, but at first there was no clear date. The rallies were held both at the end of February and on different days of March. Only on March 8, 1914, International Women's Day was celebrated in several countries at once, and only 50 years later, in 1977, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution and suggested that each of the participating countries celebrate the International Day of Women's Rights and International Peace on March 8 .

Ukraine has its own personal history on March 8. When the Bolsheviks came to power in 1920, they turned to women for support in restoring the destroyed economic life and creating institutions for raising children. As a sign of gratitude, this year, for the first time in Ukraine, a decision was made to make March 8 a holiday and a day off, but only for women and only once. In general, since 1920, March 8 has become a reporting day in Ukraine, when it was told how much easier the life of female workers was, and most importantly, how many women were employed.

How did March 8 become the day of beauty, femininity and spring?

History changed after the Holodomor and mass repressions. The Soviet authorities gradually banned the right to abortion and made divorce more difficult, and began to emphasize the importance of motherhood. Since 1966, March 8 has become an official day off. In the 1970s, "women's day" reached kindergartens and schools as a kind of "mother's day".

It was the transfer of the celebration to the family circle that changed the meaning of the holiday on the territory of modern Ukraine. International Women's Day ceased to be associated with the day of struggle for women's rights, and theses about beauty, femininity and spring appeared.

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Is March 8 really an international day?

March 8 is officially recognized as a national holiday in many countries of the world: in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Angola, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Cambodia, Congo, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Uganda, Russia and Belarus, International Women's Day is a holiday.

At home, in Germany, March 8 is celebrated differently. Until recently, it was an official holiday only in Berlin, but in 2023 International Women's Day was also recognized by the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Actions in support of women's rights are also held on this day in the USA, Italy, France, Romania, Turkey, Japan and Australia.

Photo: Getty Images | March 8 in Berlin

Will March 8 be canceled in Ukraine?

Controversies surrounding March 8 are active in Ukrainian society. They significantly increased after the start of the full-scale invasion. Patriots pay attention to the Soviet origin of the holiday, but many Ukrainian women love this day.

In February 2023, a draft law was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, which proposed to cancel March 8, May 1, and May 9, and to introduce three new holidays instead:

- February 25 "Ukrainian Woman's Day" (the date of birth of the most famous Ukrainian writer and public figure - Lesya Ukrainka);

- March 9 – Taras Shevchenko's birthday;

- the second Sunday of May - "Mother's Day".

However, society did not support this idea, arguing that March 8 is an international holiday and it does not matter that it was introduced under the USSR.

In 2023, Ukrainians voted in "Diya" to cancel or preserve the day off on March 8. The majority voted "for" the day off.

In general, society is currently discussing four ideas regarding March 8: to leave it as a public holiday and a day off, to make March 8 a working day, to cancel the celebration of this day altogether, or to move "Women's Day" to another date.

Read how many Ukrainians will celebrate March 8 in 2024 at the link.

What are the alternatives to March 8 in Ukraine?

Legislators proposed to make Lesya Ukrainka's birth date "Ukrainian Woman's Day" to replace the March 8 celebration. However, many experts oppose this idea, because it is a transfer of content. The date of the celebration should be related to the fact of a certain activity, for example, a performance or a speech aimed at protecting women's rights.

There are also suggestions in society to simply decommunize this day, restore the original human rights meaning of International Women's Day and celebrate it with the whole civilized world. On March 8, they propose to honor figures and icons of Ukrainian feminism: Lesya Ukrainka, Olga Kobylyanska, Olena Teliga, Olena Pchilka, public education organizer Khrystyna Alchevska, head of the central board of the Union of Ukrainian Women Milena Rudnytska, and modern heroines.

Ukraine also has another date for the fight for women's rights. In 1999, the UN General Assembly declared November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women - this day is also celebrated in Ukraine.

Ukrainian women are strong and talented, persistent and hardworking, intelligent and very influential. For many centuries, they have been changing the history not only of their own state, but also of the whole world. They glorify our state at international sports competitions and fight back against the aggressor alongside their men.

Want to know more? Read the latest news and useful materials about Ukraine and the world in the News section.

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