Importance of the 1911 tragedy that gave rise to Women's Day

Pauline Pepe was one of the survivors of the tragic fire at the Triangle shirt factory, which occurred in New York, on March 25, 1911, and which left as a tremendous balance the death of 149 workers, mostly women.

She was one of the workers who worked piece-rate and in very precarious working conditions, in the Asch building, on floors 8, 9, and 10, which the company occupied.

As the owners feared that the employees would steal clothes, the security officers had the order to close the doors when the workers entered and only opened them at work hours. exit

After the doors were blocked, as if it were a prison, on the afternoon of March 25 the fire swept with the three floors where the company worked and with the life of 149 people that they worked there and that they died from burns, inhalation of carbon monoxide, and from crushing after the collapse of some parts of the building.

This tragedy that became the most serious of the industry textile industry was one of the causes of the massive demonstrations that took place in various parts of the world, towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, fighting for the rights of women.

Equality salary with respect to men, decent working conditions, lactation hours, and the right to unionize, were some of the demands of the mobilizations of thousands of women for those time.

For several centuries, then, women from various fields have come together to demand the effective fulfillment of their rights and to achieve labor and civil conditions equal to those of men, clearly and historically unfavorable for they.

The claim has not been and is not capricious, but rather is the direct result of a systematic global ignorance of equality before the law, perpetrated especially by the male gender, and in most cases accompanied by violence

And precisely the violent acts against women, such as the one exposed, defined the birth of a world day dedicated exclusively to celebrating Women's Day.

In 1975, the Organization of United Nations (UN), decided that it was necessary to institutionalize an annual day to vindicate all women and demand the effective fulfillment of their rights.

As most of the labor tragedies that involved women occurred in March, that month was chosen for the celebration.

A day in which the gender situation in the world is reflected on and analyzed, and of course there is also a fervent claim against any attack on their rights, something that despite the evolution human in many respects it was not possible to eradicate.

Although with respect to the time when the aforementioned demonstrations began, women have made notable progress in their recognition and social and labor positioning, they are still presenting differences in some areas and cultures, and even, domestic violence and the murders of women at the hands of their spouses have increased notably in many countries developed.

For this reason, the struggle and the celebration of this day must continue and spread more and more each year.

Fotolia Alexander Postcard