March 8^th is a protest day to claim for the rights of every woman in all aspects of life: their right to be respected as such, that is, to hold control of their sexuality; the right not to be battered, insulted or discriminated against; the right to equal salaries for equal jobs, and the right to participate in political processes, among many others. Every year, women all over the world demonstrate for new rights, defend those already acquired and fight against discriminatory laws.

The International Women’s Day belongs to common women as makers of history and it marks the centuries-old fight of women to take part in society on equal footing with men. In Ancient Greece, Lysistrata started a sex strike against men to end the war. During the French Revolution, Parisian women claiming for “liberty, equality and fraternity” marched to Versailles demanding women’s right to vote.

In mid-18^th century, with the Industrial Revolution, many women were forced to leave their chores at home to start working in factories. This was supplemented by an idea roaming the world at that time proposed by Enlightenment philosophers: equality between men and women. However, these were still isolated voices and women’s work was comparable to children’s. What is more, their income was controlled by their fathers or husbands.

In the 19^th century, on March 8, 1857, in a New York factory, a group of working women organized a strike to improve their working conditions: they were brutally repressed. The idea of an international women’s day emerged at the turn of the 19^th century in an industrialized world, favouring equality, justice, peace and development. Already in the 20^th century, in March 1908, in the same city, 15,000 women led a strike for better living conditions and higher salaries.

In 1910, the Second International Socialist Women’s Conference was held in Copenhagen, where March 8^th was proposed as International Women’s Day, as a tribute to the first women who organized themselves to fight for their rights and to improve their conditions.

During the 1960s, changes in the world drove new feminist movements. The proposal was to show the existing prejudices in the world regarding tasks which were “naturally feminine or masculine.” Thanks to the perseverance of these groups, the political, economic and social discrimination against women was overcome.

In 1975, the United Nations sanctioned March 8^th as International Women’s Day and, in 1979, it further approved the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, currently adopted under our Constitution.