March 8 was institutionalized as International Women’s Day by the United Nations in 1975. The importance of this commemoration lies in remembering and corresponding to the struggle that other women began at the time and from their conditions, even knowing that this could take their lives. Patriarchy understood as the system of unequal power relations that has mainly and historically oppressed and alienated women, through the sex-gender binary system, that is, the form of organization of sexual difference that creates subjectivities and identities inscribed and reproduced in oppressions.
The celebration of this day at a global level places women at the center of the reflection of how much we have achieved and how much we still have to conquer for full social equality between men and women. March 8 marks a reflection of women’s situation as objects of social discrimination in the world.
Ever since the socialist Clara Eissner Zetkin (1857-1933) proposed a special day for women at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen on August 26 and 27, 1910, the history of International Women’s Day has vindicated women’s struggle for equal rights. International Women’s Day began to be celebrated on March 19 in recognition of the revolution of 1848 in which the King of Prussia recognized the rights of the people and made an unfulfilled promise offering women the right to vote. Thus, on March 19, 1911, International Women’s Day was celebrated in Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. According to the United Nations General Assembly, more than one million women participated publicly in it. In addition to the right to vote and hold public office, they demanded the right to work, vocational education, and an end to discrimination in the workplace.
That said, it was in 1914 that International Women’s Day was first held on March 8 in Germany, Sweden and Russia.
While, in 1917, on the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a «bread and peace» strike in response to the deaths of more than 2 million Russian soldiers in the war. This strike lasted four days as the Tsar was forced to abdicate. The provisional government granted women the right to vote.
From 1918-1999, the United Nations had held an annual conference to coordinate international efforts for women’s rights and their participation in social, political and economic processes. In the 2000s, it began to be celebrated in different countries of the European, Asian, and American continents. 8 March 2010 marked the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration (1995) and the Platform for Action.
What have we done for our Honduran women as a national and international firm?
As a law firm with alliances in Latin America and Europe, we carry out Pro-Bono activities in the provision of our services in the field of Intellectual Property with an alliance with the government project called «Ciudad Mujer» and «INNOVA MUJER», where the objective is to support women, on a non-profit basis, in performing these services for the benefit of our Honduran women.
Our alliance with this government project lies with micro and medium-sized women entrepreneurs, carrying out virtual and face-to-face training on the importance of the registration of Intellectual and Industrial Property, as well as non-profit support for the registration of their trademarks and inventions.
INNOVA MUJER HONDURAS integrates different areas of attention, breaking down the barriers of Honduran businesswomen with face-to-face and virtual training, business diagnosis, technical assistance, among others; for greater growth and economic independence for our Honduran women.
Another objective is to offer women free services to improve their economic living conditions.
ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE CIUDAD MUJER PROJECT
Services provided by the non-profit «Ciudad Mujer» project:
- Economic self-sufficiency education;
- Sexual and reproductive health education;
- Care and protection of women’s rights;
- Care for adolescent girls;
- Community care; and
- Child care.
OTHER PROJECTS:
Infrastructure project: Key infrastructure and equipment projects have been managed to improve the conditions of the centres, such as some mentioned below:
- Design of the Ciudad Mujer Educational Center in the city of Tegucigalpa in partnership with the Secretary of Education;
- Provision of new spaces in the centers of Ciudad Mujer in the city of La Ceiba and Tegucigalpa for the operation of the store of the National Supplier of Basic Products.
- Maintenance of distribution of electrical system and drinking water in women’s city centers.
Technological platforms: In the technological field, we have promoted significant advances through the development of new systems and platforms that evaluate the efficiency and quality of services as a reference to information management and technological innovation, among them are:
- Version 2.0 of the Log and Monitoring Information
- System INNOVA MUJER
- Platform Let’s Unlearn
- Platform Vehicle Reservation System
- Record Control System
LATIN AMERICAN FEMINIST MEETING
From a feminist point of view, we are building paths, which is why we want to strengthen knowledge and exchange experiences. The managers of the Ciudad Mujer Centers participated in this important meeting where they shared knowledge with feminist comrades from different Latin American countries.
