Southwire Celebrates International Women's Day

Mar 8, 2016

Worldwide, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievement, and today, March 8, is International Women’s Day – a celebration of those contributions and a call to action for accelerating gender equality.

In 1909, thousands of women throughout the United States marched for shorter hours, better pay and voting rights as part of the first National Women’s Day. Two years later, countries like Austria, Germany and Switzerland joined the movement, and the event became known as International Women’s Day.

The theme for the 2016 campaign is Pledge for Parity, which encourages both men and women to take concrete steps toward gender equality. The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity, but one year later, they adjusted their estimate, stating that the gender gap would not close until 2133. With people pledging to move from talk to purposeful action, International Women’s Day seeks to help women accelerate the process of reaching equality and realize the limitless potential they offer to economies throughout the world.

This international call to action coincides with this year’s National Women in Construction Week (WIC Week), sponsored by the National Association of Women in Construction. The focus of WIC Week is to highlight women as a visible component of the construction industry, emphasizing the growing role of women in construction and raising awareness of the opportunities available to women in the industry.

At Southwire, we are proud to honor the accomplishments of the International Women’s Council and the National Association of Women in Construction!