The yearly International Women’s day took place eight of March, just six days after the IUSY World congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the same city, but 104 years earlier and a few month later in august, the second socialist international held their meeting which ended up in a deceleration of what one can call a predecessor to the International Women’s day.

Every year the same date the whole world stands up together to fight discrimination and to promote gender equality. The struggle for equality is deeply rooted in the Social Democratic ideology. It is our firm believes that no person is free before all people are free. It is in the end also an issue of democracy. No person or group must be forced into a life of exclusion and be deprived from their rights just because of their gender. Women have during long time sadly been deprived of exactly these rights and the power has been concentrate in the hands of men.

Still, 104 years later, we haven’t come far. International reports shows that around the world at least every third woman has faced some kind of violation against her rights. Violation against women is a fact that can’t and must not be neglected. In many societies around the world we also see that men earn more than women for the same job. Women are being treated as second class citizens. Socialist and Social Democratic governments have fought for equal right between the genders through harder discrimination laws, good child care system, adequately paid parental leave and women’s right to her own body. The latest struggle and victories we see is in among others Tunisia where the Tunisian Social Democratic party ETTAKATOL managed to, after the revolution and the fall of their dictator Ben Ali, push for a progressive constitution that guarantees women and men the same right.

At the same time other countries are taking the opposite road back in time. In Spain the conservative government Partido Polular (PP) wants to deprive women their right to their own body through very restrictive abortion laws. The proposal for a new law called “Law for the Protection of the Life of the Conceived and the Rights of the Pregnant Woman” only permits interruption of pregnancies in two cases, rape and risk of death for the mother. This doesn’t give women the right to choose when they feel is the right time to become a parent. Instead parenthood is being forced upon them and conservative moral values belonging to the middle age deciding for them.

For us Socialist and Social Democrats there is no time for rest. We need to reconquer the struggle our precursors started. We need to stand up even higher today and demand all people’s rights. Social democracy and feminism is not something to be taking for granted. Only when our voices are not high enough inequality will prevail. But as long as we together stand up, resist and show that we have the solutions of today and the future we will manage to make a change.