international women's day was march 8th. i bet you didn't know that.

women's day is celebrated in full force in some parts of the world, but not in the US... not that i noticed.

for those of you that might think that in the US women shouldn't be recognized as a group any more than men (ie in the US this type of the day is irrelevant), i'd like to point out that the first national woman's day was observed in the US in honor of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions. no matter what you think of the state of women's rights in US presently, i hope that you agree that women that fought for change deserve to be commemorated, especially those that lived in times when being recognized as individuals was next to impossible.

here's more history on the day by the UN, for whom the day is a big deal

on an international level, the UN has decided to devote the day to prevention of violence against women. here are their facts about "the situation":

• Today, many women – in some countries as many as one in three – are beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetimes.
• Worldwide, one in five women will become a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
• Half of the women who die from homicides are killed by their current or former husbands or partners.
• For women aged 15 to 44 years, violence is a major cause of death and disability.
• More than 80 per cent of trafficking victims are women.
• More than 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation.
• On the basis of data collected from 24,000 women in 10 countries, between 55 per cent and 95 per cent of women who have been physically abused by their partners have never contacted NGOs, shelters or the police for help.

in honor of the day i encourage you to donate money and/or time to one of these organizations (if you can think of more please write a comment):
now
amnesty international
national domestic violence hotline
planned parenthood