Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, International Women’s Day is commemorated in different ways and at different levels in places around the world. The protests were often political, rooted in women’s efforts to improve their rights as workers.
2026 marks the 115th year of International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Give to Gain,” which focuses on fundraising for organizations focused on women’s issues and less obvious forms such as teaching peers, celebrating women, and “challenging discrimination.”
Women’s rights activists staged a rally in Pakistan’s Karachi on Sunday, chanting slogans after a protest in Istanbul, Turkey. In China and Russia, vendors sold flowers wrapped in pink, and in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, local workers celebrated with raised fists and umbrellas.
International Women’s Day is a global celebration – and call to action – marked by demonstrations, mostly by women, around the world, from militant protests to charity runs. Some celebrate women’s economic, social and political achievements, while others urge governments to guarantee equal pay, health care, justice for victims of gender-based violence and education for girls.
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It is an official holiday in more than 20 countries, including Burkina Faso, Ukraine, Russia and Cuba, only in America. In the United States, March is celebrated as Women’s History Month.
As with other aspects of life, social media plays an important role on International Women’s Day, especially by raising attention to demonstrations against women in repressive governments and countries that are often at odds.
Around 20,000 people participated in the International Women’s Day march in Berlin. German news agency DPA reported on Sunday that the crowd was double what police had expected. Speakers at the event condemned violence against women and gender discrimination in Germany.
In Brazil, Sunday’s International Women’s Day marches served as a rally against gender-based violence, fueled by the country’s outrage over the latest case involving the gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl in Copacabana.
The case took place in January in a popular, beachside neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, but gained national traction this week when four suspects turned themselves in to authorities.
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At least 15 protests were planned across the country, with organizers calling for the protection of women’s lives and an end to femicide.
Globally, a woman or girl is killed by a family member or partner every 10 minutes, according to UN figures, and the number of women exposed to conflict has jumped significantly over the past decade.
Some say commemorating International Women’s Day is more important than ever because women have lost the gains they’ve made over the past century, including the 2022 US Supreme Court decision to strike down the nationwide right to abortion, ending constitutional protections that had been in place for nearly 50 years.
The US decision on abortion reverberated across Europe’s political landscape, forcing the issue into public debate in some countries at a time when right-wing nationalist parties are gaining influence.
(AP with France 24)
(tags to be translated)Europe
