International Women's Day event and march organised by Pame Trade union confederation, in Pedion tou areos park and Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece. 08/03/2010.
International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on the 8th of March every year. It is a major day of global celebration of women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.
Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet block. In many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
A major event was held this evening under a thin rain near Pedion tou areos park in the center of Athens to celebrate 100 years of women's social activism in Greece.
Primarily organized by PAME trade union confederation, the event was a good opportunity to remind us that women are even more suffering of the crisis and unemployment than men.
Women earn less than men. And more women than men find themselves stuck in low-income dead-end jobs.
Unemployment among women jumped to 13.3 pct in November, from 11.6 pct in November 2008, while among men the unemployment rate was 8.8 pct, from 5.2 pct.
Later on a march took the direction of the parliament without any incident.
