International Women’s Week falls around March 8th — which just so happens to be International Women’s Day. Initially, only the one-day event was celebrated for women, but due to the large number of events, an entire week needed to be dedicated to women.

This week is designed to raise awareness about issues that impact women, celebrate women, and educate the public about women’s and gender issues. The ultimate goal is to rid the world of the discrimination, bias, and stereotypes associated with women and to create a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse world.

The History of International Women’s Week

The first Women’s Day was officially made a holiday in the U.S. on February 28th, 1909. The holiday would later be moved to March 8th and then renamed International Women’s Day. In the early 1980s, as more and more events began to be held on this day, it was decided that one day wasn’t enough to adequately celebrate women. That’s when International Women’s Week was created for the first week of March. Now, there’s an International Women’s Day that falls within International Women’s Week.

Facts About Women Around the World

In honor of International Women’s Week, we’ve decided to go ahead and list some of the facts about women that we’ve learned during our research of this holiday.

• A woman dies every 90 seconds during pregnancy or childbirth.
• Women make up 80% of all displaced refugees in the world.
• Genocidal tools such as rape are directed at women and girls.
• Over 60 million girls around the world are child brides — married before the age of 18.

Observing International Women’s Week

During this week, everyone is encouraged to take part in the festivities of this week, and there’s a lot that people can do. There are rallies dedicated to women, women’s networking events, and various exhibits, seminars, and symposiums.

It’s also a good time to donate to a local women’s shelter. People can also spread the word about this holiday week using the hashtag #InternationalWomensWeek on their social media accounts.