Our Day Has Come
by Julie Tapley

Daily News: 03.08.00

Hooray, hooray! Today is International Women's Day! Call your mom or sister. Hug a friend or stranger. Send an e-greeting to your granny or your boss. Smile sister, cause today's our day!

In 1975, the United Nations began the observance of International Women's Day on March 8 in remembrance of one of the first organized actions by working women. On this day in 1857, hundreds of New York City's garment and textile factory workers staged a strike, demanding higher wages, shortened working hours and better working conditions. They were attacked and dispersed by police, but two years later formed the first all women's union.

We can thank our great-grandmothers for the level of equality women demand today. Women's issues remain in the foreground of daily news and politics. With hundreds of programs dedicated to women's education, health care improvements, and equal opportunity legislation, our fight must continue until every woman, in every homeland, can live life on her own terms.

Unfortunately progress doesn't come without struggle. Women of reproductive age continue to suffer preventable disability and death, as the epidemic of violence, rape and domestic violence rages on worldwide. These horrific obstacles and others like them remain a serious consequence for the future of our world. So forget the silly fight you had with your best friend. Quit squabbling with your sister. Kiss and make up and appreciate the women in your life.

For more information on women's right issues please visit these sites:

Amnesty International Women's Human Rights

Equal Rights Advocates

International Women's Health Coalition