March 8 means the working women who went on strike in New York City, USA, protesting against harsh working conditions and demanding better working conditions. 129 working women lost their lives when they were locked in the factory after a brawl and fire broke out during the strike. After this massacre, tens of thousands of people attended the funerals and it has now become a date that symbolizes the simultaneous cry of all the women of the world who screamed silently in the face of injustice and inequality, raising demands for equality all over the world.
Clara Zetkin, one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, proposed at a conference in 1910 that "March 8 be commemorated as International Women's Day", and years later, on December 16, 1977, the United Nations General Assembly adopted March 8 as "International Women's Day".
March 8 is an achievement that emerged as a result of the "struggle for rights" of working women. Women, who should have equal rights in all areas of life, were granted the right to vote and be elected with many legal amendments made between 1930 and 1934, which in fact only paved the way for participation in social and political life. Although women's participation in political and social life in our country is one of the first in terms of law, it is far, far behind the level of western societies, which we consider as contemporary civilization.
Considering that humanity multiplies from a woman and that the first teacher of a child is a mother, it is no exaggeration to say that the value given to women in a society and the social, scientific, psychological and cultural level and progress will be parallel to civilization.
The fact that women are half of the society or humanity, the main founder of the family and life makes it necessary to ensure that women's rights in social and political life, in the business world, at home, in workshops, factories, in education and training, and in art are 'effective' and legally guaranteed.
Although it is positive that women's participation in working life is increasing in the world and in our country and that women are taking part in senior management and senior political levels, their participation in business life is far below the place and level it should be. It is possible to remove the obstacles to women's participation in working life (glass ceiling effect) and to support them through positive discrimination, and to ensure that the daycare and other rights guaranteed by law are realized through effective supervision by the relevant institutions.
According to TurkStat data, the male employment rate in Turkey is 65 percent, while this rate is 28 percent for women. Only 28 out of every 100 women in Turkey appear to be actively working in business life. In European Union countries, 60 out of every 100 women are employed. Again, according to the data of our country, the rate of women entrepreneurs and women politicians in parliament is ranked 126th, far below the world average.
Efforts should be made to ensure equal opportunities for women, to balance their roles in the family, in business and social life, to create awareness and consciousness in society, to develop democracy, to increase individual and group freedoms, to ensure the rule of law and to create a peaceful society by observing women's human rights.
In the information age, where the internet and technology have eliminated distances, where access to information has become easier, and where the producer and the product have become an 'independent value' from the producer, it is not possible to think independently of women and women's labor.
Today, in many areas of life, in the inventions of technological infrastructures that make life easier, we can talk about many genius women who have written their names in history, to give a few examples.
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, an American physics theorist (her research in the 1970s led to the development of the push-button telephone, fiber optic cables, caller ID and call waiting technology). Admiral Dr. Grace Murray Hopper (one of the first programmers of the computer) Josephine Cochrane (invented the dishwasher that bears her name) and many more women who have shaped the working life and science of today's business world. Therefore, when equal opportunities are created and supported, the idea that women can establish and manage many value-added businesses in the world should be highly valued.
I believe that if the majority of those who govern the world today were women... We would not be talking about pollution, wars, poverty and violence.
In this case, it is necessary to think and accept that the main key to rebuilding and beautifying life is the presence and "labor" of women in every field, and that the "solidarity of men and women" with equal pay for equal work under equal conditions and conditions will bring a prosperous and peaceful and beautiful life.
In a world ruled by women, who can argue against the idea that life will be better?
"Happy March 8, Women's Day..."