Women’s Day 2025: From street protests to boardrooms and beyond; how women's rights evolved over the centuries

Today, in most countries, women have the right to vote, own a credit card without a man’s signature, buy property, pursue any career and do whatever men can. These rights, however, have come on the back of centuries of protests, struggles and hard-won battles.

However, Women’s Day, first celebrated on March 19, 1911, is rooted in history, dating back to women’s rights movements in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

One of the pivotal moments that led to the establishment of International Women’s Day on March 8 was the beginning of the Russian Revolution. On March 8, 1917, about 100,000 women took to the streets of Petrograd (present-day St. Petersburg) in what would later be known as the “Bread and Peace” protest.

These women went on strike, demanding food, rights and peace, in protest against the toll on Russian people due to World War I. Within seven days, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne, bringing an end to nearly 500 years of autocratic rule in Russia.

In 1922, Vladimir Lenin recognised March 8 as International Women’s Day for their role in the Russian Revolution. However, it became an international day in 1977 after being recognised by the United Nations.

The “Bread and Peace” protest is just one of the many protests women across the world have led for basic rights like equal pay, the right to vote, to inherit and own property, have autonomy over their bodies and more.

International Women’s Day is an ode to the struggle and resilience with which millions of women fought for their rights.

While women have more rights today than ever before, the modern woman faces a unique set of challenges in education, in the workplace and in boardrooms.

Women and education

Women have had to fight for rights to higher education, with even elite institutions like Harvard and Oxford first admitting women in 1920 and Yale as late as 1969.

However, women have come a long way since then. According to UNESCO, there were 113 women enrolled in tertiary education for every 100 men, as of 2020.

Women in the workplace

According to the UN, women earn 20% less than men, which translates to a female earning 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man for work with equal value. This wage gap is even wider for women with children.

Many factors, other than in-your-face misogyny, contribute to such a wide pay gap. This includes carrying out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men, which leads to missed promotions and part-time work.

According to the World Economic Forum, women have less capacity and time to generate income and create wealth through investment.

While 80% of women are comfortable leading short-term financial planning for their families, only 23% are comfortable with long-term financial planning, including investment and insurance, the World Economic Forum said.

Female investors have outperformed men by 1.8% annually, and if women were to participate at the same rate as men, they could unlock $3.2 trillion of additional investment capital, as per the World Economic Forum.

Women in boardrooms

According to Deloitte, women held 23.3% of seats in boardrooms across the globe in 2023, while it's a 3.6% increase from 2022, it's still less than a quarter and translates to 30 women for every 100 men in boardrooms.

The life science and healthcare sector had the highest percentage of women on boards at 21.3% in 2023. This was followed by the technology, media & telecommunications segment at 20.5%, consumer business at 19.7%, manufacturing industry at 17.4% and financial services sector at 16.9%.

The percentage of female CEOs has risen from 3.4% in 2018 to 5.1% in 2023. Furthermore, the proportion of women CFOs has also increased to 5.8% in 2023, compared to 2.5% in 2018, as per Deloitte.

According to the World Economic Forum, the global gender gap needs to be closed by 68.6% to reach gender parity, which is the relative equality between men and women. At the current rate of progress, it will take 134 years to close this gap.

While there still needs to be more female representation in boardrooms, women have come a long way from not being able to vote, to owning businesses and creating wealth.