None of us are Free until all of us are Free

A couple of days ago it was the 8th of March, International Women’s Day, and on this occasion, Project 4 Equality, a feminist group based in The Hague, organized a march to celebrate women’s achievements but also to denounce the daily struggles of women from all over the world.

Let’s first talk about the 8th of March and what it represents. This day exists as a reminder for what has been achieved for and by women and what is yet to be. The German feminist activist and theorist Clara Zetkin is the one we have to thank for the creation of this day. In early 1910, she advocated that women should mobilize themselves, one day, every year, all together, to raise awareness for women workers’ conditions. This day was at first created mainly around the access and right to vote for all women around the world. Although today this is achieved in most countries, the day continues to live on as a mobilization. It is of course a day of celebration but a day on which we cannot forget the reality, on which we cannot forget about the past, the present and the future. The fight for equality is sadly still an ongoing process, yet to be achieved.

Women still have to fight for their rights, for respect and for recognition – in 2024 we are still far from reaching the goal of equality. This is a global issue which touches everyone on different scales. Depending on where you are, your rights as a woman differ drastically, some still don’t enjoy the basic rights that we have in the Netherlands or in Europe. As of today, the 8th of March 2024, we cannot only celebrate women’s achievements when so much is happening in the world at the same time. From the war in Ukraine, to the war in Palestine, women are facing high levels of violence, rape, and death. Urgent issues that need to be addressed as soon as possible. For this reason, we protested for the women who do not have a voice, for the ones that are silenced. Their voices and fights need to be heard and taken into account not only by us citizens, but also by the governments and states, who have more power to act and change the functioning of today’s politics.

The march organized by women and for women in The Hague was successful, many people came together for the same purpose and for the same fight. Different chants were sung, going from “None of us are Free until all of us are Free”, or “Say it once, say it again, no excuse for violent men”, or “Feminist united, will never be defeated”, among many others. What is to remember from those chants, is that we marched for everyone, for every woman, in Palestine to Ukraine, to Transwomen, and to women facing sexual and gender violence.

We are in this together, the 8th of March is a day to celebrate and fight for EVERY woman. Sad enough to say this day is still needed as a reminder that women’s rights are an important subdivision of human rights.