On March 8, International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world to remember women’s social and political achievements, to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities, but at the same time it is a chance for us to reflect on the discrimination and violence women still suffer.
The origins of this event can be traced back in 1908, when a group of workers of the Cotton textile industry in New York went on strike to protest against their work conditions. After a few days of conflict, precisely on March 8, the owner, in retaliation, blocked all the exit doors of the factory. On that day, a fire broke out and killed 129 of them. In memory of the victims, this date was chosen as the international day to celebrate women’s struggle.
This year the theme chosen by the United Nations is “Empowering Women – Empowering Humanity: Picture It!”, imagining a world in which all women can exercise their own choices in the field of political participation, education, and, in general, they can live free from discrimination and violence with equal access to the political, economic and social life.
CESIE is committed in the fight against gender discrimination and in the exploitation of women’s rights through various projects including:
ARRC – ACTION FOR CHANGE: Achieving Resilience, Recovery and Choices for women and children following domestic violence, which aims to develop and exchange best practices in establishing specialized services to enable women and children to recover and reduce the need for removal of children, empowering women victims of domestic violence in steering, delivering and ensuring services responsive to their needs.
REPLACE 2 – Researching Female Genital Mutilation Intervention Programmes Linked to African Communities in the EU, which aims to promote change strategies through the involvement of community members motivated to end the practice of FGM.
ROOT – The involvement of Organized Criminal Groups in the Trafficking of Women for Sexual Exploitation: the case study of Palermo, that wants to contribute to a real comprehension of the impact of organized crime in trafficking in women and to prepare a transnational project directed at eradicating the trafficking in human beings (THB) for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Sicily, in a European dimension.
SUNIA GEEL 2 – Take care of yourself 2, also concerning the phenomenon of domestic violence against women and children, especially regarding ethnic marginalized minorities, in order to ensure they safety and support.
Here you can browse CESIE’s initiatives for women.
“The world will never realize 100 per cent of its goals if 50 per cent of its people cannot realize their full potential. ”
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
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Sources:
- http://www.un.org/en/events/womensday/
- http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day
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