Every 26 August is observed as the Women’s Equality Day in the United States which marks the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the Constitution of the United States, which forbids States and the federal government from refusing the right to vote on the basis of sex to U.S. citizens. It was first celebrated by Congress in 1972 and is announced annually by the President of the United States.
Why 26th August is chosen for Women’s Equality Day?
The date was selected to mark the day in 1920 when state secretary Bainbridge Colby signed the proclamation granting the fundamental right to vote to American women. The date was selected to mark the day in 1920 when state secretary Bainbridge Colby signed the proclamation granting the fundamental right to vote to American women. In 1971, after the nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality in 1970, and again in 1973, as the fights escalated for the Equal Rights Amendment, Congresswoman Bella Abzug of New York sponsored a bill designating August 26 as Women’s Equality Day.
In the last century Several great women have proved that the beliefs about them are wrong. What women can do has been seen across the world. For example Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt, fought for civil rights and equality, and great scientists like Rosalind Franklin, Marie Curie, and Jane Goodall have demonstrated more than ever, given the chance, what both women and men can do.
Today, equal opportunities for women are far more critical than merely having the right to vote. Organizations such as Equality Now and Womankind Worldwide continue to work in order to provide equal opportunities for women in the world to educate and to work, to combat violence and injustice against women, sexism and stereotyping which still exist in all societies.
Swikriti Dandotia
