From Marches to “Give To Gain”: The Story Of International Women’s Day

From Marches to “Give To Gain”: The Story Of International Women’s Day

Each year on 8 March, International Women’s Day is marked around the world – sometimes in celebration, sometimes in protest, often both at once. It did not begin as a hashtag or a corporate breakfast. It began with women who were tired of being silenced, underpaid and shut out of power, and who decided to organise.

Radical beginnings

In 1909, the Socialist Party of America organised the first National Woman’s Day in the United States, with events held on 28 February to spotlight women workers’ rights and the demand for the vote. The idea travelled quickly.

At the 1910 International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen, German socialist leaders Clara Zetkin and Luise Zietz proposed an annual international women’s day dedicated to equal rights, including suffrage. Around 100 women from 17 countries supported the proposal, representing trade unions, socialist parties and women’s organisations.

On 19 March 1911, more than a million people turned out in Austria‑Hungary, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland for the first International Women’s Day demonstrations. They marched for voting rights, the right to hold public office, protection at work and an end to discrimination.

The association with 8 March was cemented after women textile workers in Petrograd went on strike for “Bread and Peace” in 1917, an action that helped trigger the Russian Revolution. 8 March was adopted as Women’s Day in Russia and, over time, the date spread and became the global norm for International Women’s Day.

From its earliest years, then, IWD has been a day for organised, unapologetic demands – not a PR moment, but a pressure point.

A quick timeline

This is the inheritance behind today’s posts and panels. International Women’s Day was born in struggle – and it is supposed to unsettle the status quo.

Modern IWD campaign themes

Fast‑forward to the last decade and International Women’s Day has built a powerful global campaign engine around annual themes and hashtags. These are the themes most people actually encounter in workplaces, schools, sports clubs and their social feeds, the ones set and amplified through the InternationalWomensDay.com campaign and its partners.

Recent IWD campaign themes include:

• 2021 – “Choose To Challenge”: a call to actively challenge gender bias and inequality, not just notice it.
• 2022 – “#BreakTheBias”: targeting stereotypes and systemic bias in workplaces, politics and communities.
• 2023 – “#EmbraceEquity”: pushing the idea that treating everyone the same is not enough; people need what they actually require to thrive.
• 2024 – “#InspireInclusion”: encouraging people and organisations to create spaces where women feel a genuine sense of belonging and influence.
• 2025 – “Accelerate Action”: a demand to speed up progress on equality instead of congratulating ourselves for marginal gains.

These themes are not abstract slogans. They give every organisation and community that chooses to engage a clear lens: what does this look like here, in our culture, our industry, our sport?

2026: “Give To Gain”

This year, International Women’s Day comes under the campaign theme “Give To Gain”. Across the IWD campaign, media coverage and many corporate and community events, “Give To Gain” is the throughline for 8 March 2026.

“Give To Gain” is deliberately simple and deliberately uncomfortable. It insists that when individuals, organisations and communities give women time, resources, opportunities and support, everyone gains.

It asks a blunt question: if you say you care about women and girls, what are you actually giving them, not in words, but in power, money, safety, visibility and time?

The campaign frames “giving” broadly:

• Giving mentoring and sponsorship, not just generic “support”.
• Giving funding and contracts to women‑led initiatives and businesses.
• Giving flexibility, infrastructure and care that free up women’s time.
• Giving safer workplaces and online spaces by enforcing consequences.
• Giving visibility and platforms so more women can be seen and heard.

At the heart of it is a simple truth: when women thrive, everyone benefits. “Give To Gain” is not about asking women to give more. It is about asking everyone else to finally give women what they have been denied and to recognise that we all gain from that shift.

Irish and equestrian women: our own frontline

In Ireland, and especially in the equestrian world, you can see the story of International Women’s Day written in hoofprints across our own history.

Iris Kellett is widely described as one of the most important figures in Irish show‑jumping: a woman who broke into a male‑dominated arena, competed at the highest level and went on to train some of Ireland’s leading riders.

More recently, Rachael Blackmore has become a global symbol of what happens when a woman is finally given the space to do what she does best. She became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in 2021 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2022, and retired in 2025 as one of the most successful National Hunt jockeys of her generation. Her career is recognised as a milestone for women in Irish sport and beyond.

At the same time, women across the equine industry still talk about gaps in visibility, sponsorship and leadership, even in disciplines where female participation is high. Many describe a familiar pattern: women fill the yards, the grassroots and the unpaid work, while men are more likely to dominate the headline coverage, the big‑ticket sponsorships and the senior decision‑making roles.

For this industry, “Give To Gain” is not a vague feel‑good message. When federations, sponsors, media and owners give women fair coverage, equitable backing and genuine access to power, the whole ecosystem gains, more talent retained, more fans engaged, and a future where the next Irish girl who falls in love with a pony does not have to ask if there will be room for her at the top.

Why International Women’s Day still matters

If you only look at the highlight reel, it can feel like the job is done. We can point to women prime ministers, CEOs, athletes, technologists, artists and in our world, to champions like Blackmore.

But anyone paying attention knows the lived reality is more complicated. Women and girls still shoulder most unpaid care, are over‑represented in low‑paid and insecure work, remain under‑represented in leadership, and face everyday sexism and harassment both online and offline. Millions of girls are still married before they turn 18, with long‑term consequences for their health, education and economic security.

International Women’s Day still matters because it keeps a spotlight on the gap between rhetoric and reality and because the IWD campaign gives people a shared frame, this year “Give To Gain”, for talking about what needs to change and what they are willing to do about it.

What “Give To Gain” looks like in real life

“Give To Gain” is only powerful if it translates into choices. For organisations that engage with International Women’s Day, that can mean:

• Giving pay equity real teeth: auditing gender pay gaps, closing them and reporting transparently.
• Giving safety priority: making sure policies on harassment and abuse actually bite.
• Giving power away: setting clear targets and timelines for women’s representation in leadership and governance.
• Giving visibility: investing in stories, coverage and opportunities that put diverse women at the centre, not just at the edges.

For individuals, it can mean:

• Giving attention – listening to women, especially those who are usually ignored.
• Giving your voice – challenging bias, stereotypes and harmful “locker‑room” talk when you hear it.
• Giving resources – directing money or time towards women’s organisations and grassroots groups.
• Giving your platform – using whatever microphone you have to make space for someone else.

When a woman has childcare support, she can keep her job or run for office. When a girl is not married at 14, she can stay in school and transform her future. When women athletes are backed, covered and protected fairly, the next generation can see themselves in the arena.

That is the real meaning of “Give To Gain”: what we give to women and girls is not lost. It multiplies... in families, in communities, in economies and in culture.

From its first marches to today

Today, as #IWD2026 and #GiveToGain trend and feeds fill with purple graphics, it is worth remembering that this day began with women who had far fewer rights, resources and protections than most of us do now – and who still chose to act.

International Women’s Day is not a once a year performance. It is a checkpoint in a struggle that started more than a century ago and is nowhere near finished.

From 1909 in the United States and 1911 in Berlin to Irish yards, racecourses and grassroots campaigns in 2026, the through line today is the same: women organising, demanding rights, insisting on justice, and pushing for real action.

This year’s IWD message – “Give To Gain” – is a challenge as much as an invitation. Wherever you sit, whatever platform you hold, the question for today is simple:

What will you give, so that all of us can gain?