International Women's Strike

International Women's Strike
Demonstrators in Santa Fe, Argentina, where the protest was called Paro Internacional de Mujeres
Date	March 8, 2017

The International Women's Strike, also known as Paro Internacional de Mujeres, is a global movement coordinated across over 50 countries and coinciding with International Women's Day, March 8, 2017. The United Nations announced the theme of "Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030", calling for gender equality around the globe. In the United States, the strike was branded as "Day Without a Woman".

The International Women’s Strike is extremely important to women worldwide because it helps them get across the significance of equality for women. This day is meant to demonstrate what the world would be like without women.

This Strike addresses issues like gender violence, reproductive justice, labor rights, anti-racist feminism, anti-imperial feminism, social provisioning, and environmental rights.

The International Women's Strike, occurring on March 8th, is meant to boost gender equality. This day addresses many issues such as gender violence, reproductive freedom, labor rights, and environmental protections.

The first International Women's Day occurred on February 28th, 1909 instead of in March like it does now. On this day in 1909, 15,000 women marched through New York and demanded better pay, voting rights, and shorter hours. It was organized by the Socialist Party of America, and was specifically on a Sunday, so that the women could participate. Thousands of participants lined up to take part in this first ever day. Leonora O'Reilly, suffragist, gave the main address to the crowd.

On October 3, 2016 women in Poland organized a nationwide strike following a Polish parliamentary decision to consider a ban on abortion that would criminalize all terminations. The day became known as Black Monday.

October 19, 2016 saw the #NiUnaMenos protest against femicide in Argentina, a large-scale response to the murder of 16-year-old Lucía Pérez. Similar demonstrations took place in other South American countries including Mexico, El Salvador, Chile, and others. A week later, on October 25, 2017, Brazil held its own #NiUnaMenos strike.

During the strike and on International Women’s Day, women are urged not to go to work, not to go shopping, and to wear the color red. This is meant to emphasize the importance of a woman’s role in society.