International Women's Day is celebrated every year on 8th March and highlights women's achievements as well as bringing attention to issues like violence and abuse towards women, gender equality, and reproductive rights.
The colours that are associated with this day are green, white and purple which are the colours that the Suffragettes wore in 1908. Green is for hope, white is for purity, and the colour purple represents dignity and justice. Some people have theorised that purple is also used because it mixes pink and blue together, represnting gender equality it combines stereotypical feminine and masculine colour. Another theory is that the colour purple represents 123 women who lost their lives in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist textile factory in New York due to the terrible working conditions. It is said that at the time of their death they were making lilac garments.
Since 1996 every International Women's day has a theme. The first one in 1996 was 'Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future.' For 2023, the campaign theme is #EmbraceEquity which focuses on how equity is a necessary part of society and how equal opportunities are not good enough as not all women start at the same place.
Since the foundation of the Suffragettes in the early 20th century, it is clear to see that women have come along way as we have more rights and freedom but it is clear that we still have a long way to go before we achieve true gender equality.
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