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a consequence, many became sick and prematurely died. They were
either compensated with a peanut amount of money or sacked if they

were pregnant.
Such inhumane condition served as a ground for women work-
ers to go on strike on March 8, 1907. They demanded the employers

to decrease working hours to 8 hours a day and improve the welfare.
However, although the uprising was not a success as many women

workers were arrested, women across the world subsequently extended
their solidarity and support to women ‘s worker struggle. This was the
turning point where women all over the world became increasingly

aware of their rights.
On March 8, 1910, the women worker’s movement’s efforts fi-

nally won the victory when the women representatives from 17 nations
attended the second socialist women assembly held in Copenhagen,
Denmark. The assembly had accepted women workers’ proposal which

was subsequently translated into the three “8s” system characterized
by reduction of working hours to 8 hours per day, allocation of 8 hours
for personal capacity development and 8 hours for rest. In addition,

women workers’ wage was adjusted to be as equal as their men worker
counterparts. The protection of women workers and child labors’
welfare was assured. Women Worker ’s proposal to establish March 8

of every year as the International Women’s Day was then approved.
This year International Women’s Day marks another special

occasion in the history as gender equality, reduction of power dispar-
ity to recognize and promote women power as a basic benchmark for
the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs).
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