Reem Issa
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International Women’s Day and Women’s Rights… Comparisons
March 8 has become known as “International Women’s Day”, though its name should reflect more its class-based essence, its origin, and its development which are essentially associated, as is known and documented, with the struggles of working women, something that has a universal character from east to west. International Women’s Day has generally become a focal day for the women’s rights movement worldwide. Somehow, over the years, it has become an obsession of the West, organizing events and conferences around this day, and calling on countries and governments to implement policies that address women’s issues and rights. In some ways, Western countries have tried to monopolize the role of setting the standards for women’s rights, and policing and evaluating the rest of the world’s adherence thereto. However, a quick look at the not-so-distant history reveals that the West was not even close to being a “pioneering” when it comes to women’s right and equality.
The UN did not adopt March 8 as International Women’s Day until 1977. This is a mere 44 years ago, even though the roots of the day itself go back to over 100 years ago. There are many stories surrounding the origins of the day, and it has been tied to a variety of events that took place either sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s. One of those is that the proposal to have an annual day for women came in 1910 at the International Socialist Women’s Conference, again with strong ties to the universal struggle character of the day.
The First Country to Women’s Rights
In addition to the above, the first country to make March 8 a national holiday celebrating women and women’s rights was the Soviet Union following the 1917 Revolution. In fact, the day was predominantly celebrated by communist countries and the communist movement worldwide, until the late 1960s, when the second wave of the feminist movement adopted it. It was then that women’s day made its way to Western countries, which now try to market the idea that the West is the “pioneer” and “leader” in respecting and celebrating women and women’s rights.
Nevertheless, a quick scan over the way International Women’s Day is celebrated in the West, reveals that it focuses merely on media campaigns with messages fit to be used in greeting cards rather than social reforms that would ensure, among other things, equal rights for women. Like everything else in the West, International Women’s Day became an opportunity for capitalist corporations and businesses to display slogans, with no real effort to support justice and equality for women (or others for that matter).
Regardless of the true origins of the day in terms of when or where, and as noted above, nearly all the stories are linked to a socialist movement or event. Furthermore, a simple scan of the history of women’s rights reveals that countries with socialist / communist systems were the first to have legislations and measures that addressed women’s rights towards equality and equity for women (and others).
Women’s Suffrage
Probably one of the most important indicators of women’s rights is women’s suffrage, that is, the right of women to vote. Below is a quick comparison among a few countries as to when women got the right to vote:
• USSR: 20 July 1917
• France: October 1944
• UK: 1928 (in 1918, a law was passed that would allow men over 21 and women over 30 who met certain qualifications to vote, and it was 10 years later, in 1928 that a law was passed according to which all persons over 21 can vote).
• US: 1965 (while the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920; it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, prohibiting racial discrimination, that women of color could vote)
Women’s Economic Rights
Another essential indicator of women’s rights are their economic rights or their employment rights. One example is the gender pay gap or the wage gap, which is the average difference between the wages for men and women in the workforce. Following are some examples showing the earning gap as a percentage, which indicates how much women made on average as a percentage of what men made:
• USSR: while there is lack of official statistics, studies estimate that in the mid 1960s the earning gap was around 30%
• France: in 1966, the earning gap was around 37%
• UK: in 1968, the earning gap was around 47%
• US: in 1960, the earning gap was around 40%
Maternity Rights
Looking at another indicator relating to working women, would be for example maternity leave for working mothers, which in terms of length was recommended to be a minimum of 16 weeks by the World Health Organization:
• USSR: benefits like fully paid maternity leave were granted and protected by the Soviet Constitution starting in 1936, and with regards to the length of the period, it was 112 fully paid days (56 before birth and 56 after birth, which add up to 16 weeks), the post-birth leave can be extended up to 3 months after birth at full pay, and another 9 months (without being paid) but without losing her job
• France: 8 weeks are compulsory, and another 8 weeks are allowed, and paid the average salary made during the 3 months prior to the leave subject to a specific cap defined in the law, this is based on EU law; in France, a 1946 law granted women a 14-week maternity leave during which the mother would be paid half her earnings
• UK: by statute, women can take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, paid up to 39 weeks (90% for the first 6 weeks, then a lower amount the next 33 weeks), and employment rights are protected while on leave; the UK introduced its first maternity leave legislation in 1975
• US: federal law only provides the basis for parents to be legally protected from losing their job up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the adoption or birth of a child, this is based on a 1993 law, prior to which each state had its own laws, if at all
The above are just a few illustrative examples for purposes of comparison, and as a reminder of the somewhat recent history of women’s rights; more importantly, these are a good reminder which systems were pioneers in protecting women’s rights, among the rights of other groups in society.
