Today, March 8, will be celebrated across the world as International Women's Day (IWD). Women all over the world will come together to look back to a tradition that represents a rich history of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

They will do so by peaceful demonstrations, protest marches, public gatherings, public hearings and in the celebratory spirit of expressing solidarity with one another by singing, dancing, poetry recitations, theatre and other varied and innovative forms of creativity representing our collective consciousness, which overcomes national affiliations, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, linguistic barriers, cultural practices and economic and political differences. '

As women human rights defenders, we celebrate our hard-earned economic, social, cultural and political achievements. On this historic day keeping alive the tradition and political activism, we challenge age old practices of domination, tradition, patriarchal structures and societies that deprive us of our freedoms and dignity and reiterate our right to participate equally in society.

The history of IWD is rooted in the movement for women's rights and peace. The idea of an IWD arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialised world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies.

Women in industrially developing countries were entering paid work in large numbers. Their jobs were sex segregated, mainly in textiles, manufacturing and domestic services where conditions were wretched and wages worse than depressed. Trade unions were developing and industrial disputes were starting to occur.

IWD has its origins in the actions of working class women, particularly in Europe and the United States in the 1800s, the period of great social upheaval brought about by the industrial revolution. On March 8, 1857 women workers marched on the streets of New York City.

The majority were workers from the garments industry who protested against low wages, a 12-hour working day and generally inhumane working conditions. Police violently attacked the workers, many were injured, many were arrested.

On March 8, 1908, 'Bread and Roses' was chanted as a campaign slogan by some 30,000 women workers who took to the streets of New York. Bread symbolises economic security and roses a better quality of life. The women workers were calling for shorter work hours, better pay, voting rights and an end to child labour.

Within a few years of their campaign, the first women's labour union in America was organised. Inspired by the actions of US women workers and their socialist sisters at the Copenhagen conference in 1910 to establish a Women's Day to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women, working women from Germany, Austria, Denmark and other European countries held strikes and marches on March 19, 1911.

Russian revolutionary and feminist Aleksandra Kollantai, who helped organised the event, described it as "one seething trembling sea of women". She and Klara Zetkin, a German socialist, proposed that there should be international solidarity among exploited women workers. Thus, these women have become known to be the founders of IWD.

In 1917, with two million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went ahead anyway.

The rest is history: Four days later, the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on Feb 23 in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on March 8 on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

Kollontai, a minister in the first Soviet government, persuaded Lenin to make March 8 an official communist holiday.

Celebrating in Asia

Since its origins, IWD has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The women's movement in Asia has long joined in the celebration of the IWD.

Women have come out on March 8 to raise their voice against intensifying fundamentalism, growing militarism, violence against women, abuse and exploitation by the state and non-state actors of migrant workers, including trafficked women, the use of rape by the state as a weapon of war in armed conflict situations, enforced or involuntary disappearances, dowry murders, 'honour killings' and 'acid attacks' among other atrocities women have to face in the region.

A large number of women in the region have questioned the role of non-state actors like transnational corporations who due to their increasing insensitivity and greed, have taken over women's land and water rights and have made communities lose control over their resources and livelihoods and pushed them on the threshold of survival.

March 8 also brings women together to reflect on their collective struggles and hard-earned gains. Women in the region have in the past expressed solidarity through varied creative forms of song, dance, poetry and theatre that celebrates this long journey, filled with many moments of euphoria and many others of deep sadness.

Yet there is always a sense of defiance and vigour in these creative forms that reinvigorates and re-charges women to move ahead with renewed energies and challenge and question individuals, structures and institutions that continue to subjugate women and deny them their basic human rights.

International campaign

It is to recognise this activism of women, and to call for better protection for women defenders, that the International Campaign on Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) was launched in 2004.

Women human rights defenders are defined as both women active in human rights defence who are targeted for who they are as well as all those active in the defence of women's rights who are targeted for what they do. Simply, it pertains to human rights activists who are women, as well as a range of other activists of all sexualities who also defend the rights of women.

The campaign was organised and led by the International Co-ordinating Committee comprising 12 organisations: Amnesty International; Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development; Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development; Centre for Women's Global Leadership; Front Line; Information Monitor; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission; International Service for Human Rights; ISIS-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange; the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defence of Women's Rights; Women Living Under Muslim Laws; and World Organisation against Torture.

The campaign, which emerged out of a process of coalition building between women's rights organisations and human rights organisations, brings together a wide range of experiences and histories of defending human rights.

It looks at issues of impunity and accountability of the state as well as accountability of a range of non-state actors for violations against women human rights defenders. It focuses on developing collective analytical and political strategies for strengthening the defence of women human rights defenders within a broader context of reaffirming internationally recognised commitments to democratic principles and universal human rights and freedoms.

The campaign has identified four core calls: recognition of women human rights defenders; resistance to state violence; responsibility by non-state actors and realisation of human rights for all.

Regional challenges

A key outcome of the campaign was a recently convened International Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from Nov 29 to Dec 2 last year. In all, 180 women human rights defenders took part, including women who work to protect the human rights of others in a range of contexts, and also men who work specifically to defend the rights of women.

In a keynote speech Hina Jilani, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, spoke of an urgent need to identify and consider the special issues faced by women working in the human rights field in order to ensure that their important part in the struggle for universal human rights is fully recognised and valued.

She noted that women human rights defenders are particularly vulnerable to attack because they often defy cultural norms of gender, heterosexuality and femininity in their identities and in the course of their advocacy.

Hina pointed out that in addition to formal state structures, groups including religious movements, local communities and families are often responsible for these violations, and that it is vital for human rights strategies to take these actors into account.

As a follow up to the consultation, it is important to acknowledge that in the political and social-cultural context of Asia, where traditionally women have not enjoyed equal rights, and against the backdrop of a general repression against human rights defenders, WHRDs face unique and specific problems in the course of their work.

WHRDs face state abuses and state violence (intimidation, imprisonment, torture, defamation), denial of rights, denial of protection and use of restrictive legislation. While states have long been recognised as key actors in the suppression of human rights, the scope of responsibility of non-state actors is a relatively new subject for discussion and documentation.

Threats posed by non-state actors (fundamentalist groups, paramilitary groups, rebel groups and transnational organisations) include restriction of basic rights like freedom of movement and speech, the right to mobilise, threats of physical violence, damage to property, murder, rape, vandalism, threats to land rights, rights to water and shelter.

Families and communities also form a particular sub-set of the non-state actor category and their role in harassment, intimidation, threats, abuse and murder of WHRDs requires close scrutiny. Further, sex and sexuality based attacks on WHRDs need to be acknowledged by the Asian human rights movement and it is important for the movement to welcome the activism of those working in the field of sexual rights and sexuality in the mainstream.

Most governments in the region are reluctant to engage with civil society on HRD issues. The legal and political frameworks of governments are not gender sensitive. And because political processes and socio-cultural practices undermine the full participation of women in society in the region, WHRDs face greater challenges in carrying out their work.

Moreover, the mainstream human rights movement in the region is male dominated and has not given due recognition to the contributions made by WHRDs in furthering their work. Therefore, there is an urgent need to operationalise the framework of HRD and highlight the significant role of WHRDs.

At the consultation in Colombo, regional and national human rights and women's rights groups have committed themselves to take this campaign forward and support the activism and work of WHRDs.

Once again let us join in the spirit of celebration today and commit ourselves to the work we love and believe in.

RUCHI YADAV is Co-ordinator for the Women's Rights and Gender Issues Programme at Forum-Asia.