SCOTLAND has embraced International Women’s Day this year with events celebrating women being staged around the country.

Today is the official date but many celebrations began last week and some continue until the end of the month and beyond.

The theme this year is #EachforEqual and a rousing march emphasising the slogan is being held in Glasgow, beginning at noon at La Pasionaria next to Glasgow Bridge and wending its way through the city centre to the Buchanan Street steps. Women and “allies” are invited to bring instruments and banners.

At Pollok House in the city there are tours, talks and an interactive workshop to explore the experiences of Scottish women throughout history, from Mary Queen of Scots to Pollok’s local witch trials.

Meanwhile six women’s groups in Glasgow have organised an event called Operation Play Outdoors at Lang Craigs Woodland today from 3-6pm.

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The free event includes a pyrography activity, a campfire, arts and crafts and outdoor play. Environmental organisations are taking part to highlight some of the goings-on in and around Lang Craigs to support biodiversity.

The issue of period poverty has been in the news recently and today at Strathclyde Students’ Union there is a Bloody Brunch from 3-6pm where a Bloody Mary will be handed out to those donating sanitary products. There will also be a speech from Monica Lennon, the MSP who has pushed for the Period Products Bill.

Women interested in a career in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) can go along to the James Watt School of Engineering on March 12 where there will be a networking event to celebrate International Women’s Day 2020.

Films made by women are the focus of an event at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow on Wednesday at 6pm. The complex range of women’s experiences can be seen in the films from the National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image Archive.

Until April 20 the city’s ScotlandArt Gallery is shining the spotlight on local female artists.

A total of 27 countries across the world hold a public holiday in honour of International Women’s Day but in Dundee there’s a festival that runs for a fortnight to mark the occasion.

Today in the city at the International Women’s Centre on Dundonald Street there’s a fair displaying the craft of women from Syria, Iraq and Libya, and Frida Kahlo – The Artist and the Woman, is featured at the University of Dundee.

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It’s too late for the dawn swim at Barassie Beach in Ayrshire but keen wild swimmers could join those who are braving the waters of the Forth at Portobello in Edinburgh at 5pm today.

Warm up with a coffee beforehand at the free cafe chat at 2pm at Caffe Nero in Newington. The focus is on Finland where the world’s first female MPs were elected in 1907. The country now has a has a 34-year-old female Prime Minister , Sanna Martin (right) and women lead all four governing parties.

At the same time at Summerhall in Edinburgh there’s a UK premiere of Queridas Viejas, a performance about forgotten women artists.

In the evening at 6pm in St Giles Cathedral in the city, the Scottish Chamber Choir will celebrate the achievements of women composers through the ages.

Its programme will include the mystic medieval plainchant of Hildegard von Bingen, the Renaissance polyphony of Leonora d’Este, the French Romanticism of Lili Boulanger and sacred works by contemporary British composers.

Tomorrow there’s a free gathering and play at 6pm at Brannock High School in Newarthill, North Lanarkshire, while in Dalkeith there are arts and crafts and a drumming tasting workshop all day at St John’s and King’s Park Community Cafe. This event is also free.

At Napier College in Edinburgh at 5.30pm there is a celebration of women in STEM while Heriot-Watt University is hosting female speakers in the STEM industries on March 11.

Also on Wednesday at 1pm, there is an interactive session at Newhouse CDC to learn about and discuss the everyday biases that women can face.

Friday 13 may be unlucky for some but not for people in Perth who can hear Scots authors Lin Anderson (pictured right) and Claire Askew (far right) talk about stereotypes of women in crime writing.

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Both have written books where the protagonists are strong, determined, professional women, whose job keeps them entrenched within the world of crime. The event takes place at 7.30pm at A K Bell Library, York Place. Female speakers are also to the fore at Empowered Women Empower Women at Edinburgh’s Waldorf Astoria in partnership with Scottish Women’s Aid on Thursday. The panel includes Ellen Wong (far left), principal officer of the US Consulate General in Edinburgh, Nancy Riach (left), partnerships and development manager for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Ann Park, director of community and partnerships for Hearts FC.

THE WORLD

FLOWERS and other gifts are presented by men to their wives, mothers and girlfriends on International Women’s Day in many countries, and the day has been declared a public holiday in places across the world.

  • March is Women’s History Month in the US, a celebration that began in 1980 at the instigation of President Jimmy Carter. Within a few years, schools across the country took up the idea as a means of gaining equality in the classroom. City councils and governors started to run events to champion female empowerment and now every year a Presidential proclamation is issued on the day to honour the achievements of women.
  • China began to mark the occasion long before the US and made it a national holiday in 1949. Employers are supposed to offer their female employees a half-day and women are treated with special gifts. Girls’ Day is celebrated the previous day on March 7.
  • Last year, Berlin became the first German city to recognise the day as a public holiday while protests took place in Spain against the gender pay gap, sexual discrimination in the workplace and domestic abuse. Those taking part were encouraged by organisers not to participate in any domestic chores on the day.
  • In Italy, the day is called La Festa della Donna and is celebrated by the giving of bright yellow mimosa blossoms. Seen as a symbol of female strength, they are usually sold on almost every street corner – although the outbreak of coronavirus in the country may limit sales this year. The floral theme is continued in special cakes flavoured with citrus liqueur designed to look like small blooms of the mimosa flower. l Countries that hold a holiday include Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia.
  • While it is not yet a holiday in the UK, the day is celebrated widely across the country. In London, the WOW – Women of the World Festival returns to celebrate its tenth year. The three-day event at the South Bank Centre, which ends today, includes guests like Naomi Wolf, Scarlett Curtis, Edward Enninful, Sandi Toksvig and Shazia Mirza talking about gender equality.
  • There is also a bike ride celebrating International Women’s Day along the south bank of the River Thames.