Marking International Womens Day

This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.comInternational Women's Day is celebrated every year on March eighth. Groups around the world use the day to honor the achievements
of women. They also use the day to call attention to some of the major social, political and economic crises affecting women and girls. Forced marriage, sexual abuse,poverty and lack of education
are among the leading issues.
The United Nations says one in
five women worldwide will be the victim of a sexual assault in their lifetime. The agency says rape
and domestic violence are a major cause of death and disability among women ages fifteen to forty-four.And, it says more than one hundred and thirty million women around
the world have had their external sexual organs damaged or disfigured. This practice is known as female genital mutilation.
Poverty, food insecurity and access to education are also major issues affecting women. The United Nations says the majority of the world's one point three billion poor are women. And that women and girls in many countries lack access to education.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says until women and girls are
freed from poverty and injustice, the world's goals for peace, security, and sustainable development are at risk.
National Woman's Day was first celebrated in the United States
on February twenty-eighth,
nineteen-oh-nine. It became
an international celebration
in nineteen eleven.
A year earlier, a women's rights leader suggested the idea at
an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen.
Clara Zetkin said women around
the world should set aside one
day every year to protest oppression and inequality for women.
More than one million women and
men attended events in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland during the first International Women's Day innineteen eleven.
The date for the observation
was changed to March eighth in nineteen fourteen in honor of
the first organized protest for women's rights. It was on this
date in nineteen-oh-eight that fifteen thousand women marched in New York City to demand better pay, shorter hours and voting rights.
Several countries now celebrate International Women's Day as a public holiday. They include
China, Russia, Bulgaria and Vietnam.
And that's the VOA Special
English Development Report. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts
of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com.
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(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 08Mar2010)