Cyprus ... Women's Day March 8th

Why are we celebrating the woman's day?

Woman ... Grandmother, Mother, Sister, Wife, Daughter ... yes woman!

Why are we celebrating woman's day? I am not a feminist and I do not even want to be accused of it. History has highlighted the woman, recognized it and honors it every year the same day.
The woman after many games and many sacrifices has won quite a lot, but not as much as a woman is worth. Even today, she fights for recognition and tries to prove self-evident to some who are either narrow-minded or just opt-in.

The International Women's Rights Day, known as World Women's Day, is celebrated on the 8th March each year.
At the beginning of the 20th century in Europe and the US women demanded equal rights, better working conditions and the right to vote.
The UN called on all countries of the world to celebrate the day on women's rights and institutionalized by the organization. (UN)
World Women's Day began as a celebration in Russia, the countries of Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet bloc.

It is a day of mobilizing around the world to support equality, and to assess the position of women in society. Women's rights associations and activists are demonstrating throughout the world to make their demands known to improve the position of women and to celebrate the victories and achievements of the movement.

Nowadays, in several areas, women's day has unfortunately lost its political meaning, and has just become an opportunity for men to express their love for women. Something similar to Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and more. However, in other areas, the initial political importance of the day remains to support the strengthening of women's empowerment and equality.
The celebration was established in 1910 at the suggestion of German Socialist Clara Zetkin during the 2nd International, and was first celebrated in 1911 after a long delay.

Cypriot Woman
Cyprus has the worst performance in Europe on the issue of equal pay for men and women.
It is well known that women in times of economic crisis are more vulnerable to poverty, unemployment, economic exploitation and poor employment conditions.
Unfortunately, Cyprus is ranked first with a 22% uneven payout compared to 17.6%, which is the European average. This indicator is the most determinant of the Cypriot woman's position in Cypriot society. It is also indicative of the effectiveness of the equality policies implemented so far.

The pay gap between men and women is widening, stereotypes for both leaves are strengthened, and opportunities for social upgrading and emancipation are unfortunately neglected.

Nevertheless, the position of Cypriot women has improved significantly in the labor market with more opportunities for development, with more opportunities for education, more integration into the labor market and improvement of social infrastructure.

Today it can be said that gender equality is legally enforceable. It is no longer a question of political choice, nor can it be denied. However, this does not mean that the real problems have been resolved and inequalities have been eliminated.

What we have to worry about today, however, is that in Cyprus the participation of women in public life and especially in the so-called "decision-making centers" is extremely small. In state offices the numbers are very poor, in political life they are just as poor.

One factor that works against women is the difficulties they face due to the lack of policies and measures to reconcile family and professional obligations.
This results in the woman's greater abstinence from her professional duties (either in the form of a leave or a break in her work for some years). Extending this is also the reduced pensions that women have compared to men.

Discussions have taken place with the House of Representatives to improve the level of the housewife's and the woman's reduced working hours to meet the family's needs without ending up until now.

World Women's Day also focuses on ending violence against women, a human rights violation that affects 1 in 3 women.