March 8th, International Women’s Day, a century-old event

E. M. (March 08, 2008)
Saturday March 8th Italian cities celebrated International Women’s Day, a century-old event observed in many countries but that has particular significance for Italy, where women’s rights and opportunities remain contentious topics of national debate


 The large-scale marches held in Rome by Cigl, Cisl and Uil, Italy’s most important trade unions, harken back to the highly political founding of Women’s Day. Though the holiday is especially popular in the former Soviet bloc, where it benignly acts a sort of Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, Women’s Day owes its history to the U.S. women’s movement of the early 1900s.

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