International Women's Day

March 8 is the International Women's Day. The day in Russia was set by Klara Tsetkin at the second international conference on women socialists in Copenhagen in 1910. It was first marked in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark in 1911. Russia set the day in 1913, Azerbaijan in 1917. It was marked on different days until 1914.

March 8 became a day off in the USSR in 1965.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin congratulated all women on the day and thanked them for their hard work and support, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov congratulated women on the International Women's Day.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the oldest independent human rights organization, the Moscow Helsinki Group, says there is no equality of genders in Russia and respect of females' rights is unsatisfactory, Interfax reports. She noted that inequality is great in Russia, compared with Europe and the US, although better than it was in the USSR. Alexeyeva pointed out the lack of women in the government and parliament. She said that women have opportunity in judicial structures, NGOs, public organizations, where they prevail. Women can realize themselves in journalism, but most heads of radio stations and TV channels are male, Alexeyeva concludes.