In August 1910 at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, a woman called Clara Zetkin proposed a day dedicated to women as a strategy to promote equality and suffrage. The following year, International Women’s Day was marked in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The first time the 8^th of March became a significant date was in 1914 when in both London and Germany women marched in support of women’s suffrage.

On the same day in 1917, women textile workers took to the streets in Petrograd, Russia today’s St. Petersburg.

The 8^th of March was officially adopted as International Women’s Day in 1975 when the United Nations started celebrating the event. In 1996, the day was marked with the theme, ‘Celebrating the Past Planning for the Future’ and since then a different theme was assigned every year.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #choosetochallenge. It’s a campaign designed to raise awareness on gender bias and inequality. Everyone is invited to do something concrete to shed light on how women are disadvantaged in so many ways. Not just at work and in the home but also through the rhetoric which allows certain beliefs and behaviours to continue. We all have a duty through our actions and words to smash this bias and contribute to creating an equal and just world.

Purple, green and white were the colours adopted by the suffragettes and they are the colours chosen for International Women’s Day too. Purple signifies justice and dignity. Green is for hope and white represents purity (a controversial point).

ESE’s female staff makes up around 55% of the complement. We would like to give visibility and a voice to these wonderful women whose dedication to the work they do contributes to the smooth running and success of the school as well as all the services ESE provides.

The following are the thoughts of some of our female staff on International Women’s Day. Who do you recognise? Who do you agree or disagree with? Let us know in the comments.