The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, joined International Women’s Day this Friday, celebrating the progress already made towards equality, but warning that “much remains to be achieved in this area”.
In a message published on the Internet portal of the President of the Republic, Marcelo believes that “the celebration of International Women’s Day in 2024 also marks the path to equality traveled in the five decades since April.”
The head of state “especially remembers all the women who, through their example, are a beacon in the fight for gender equality in Portugal, both in the public and private sphere.”
The President addresses women who advocate for causes such as access to all professions, equal pay, representation in leadership and politics, combating gender-based violence and protection in situations of physical and/or psychological violence, access to education, protection. minority rights, where women are also the least protected, and non-discrimination.”
“Women who are committed to gender equality and do not hesitate make a decisive contribution to the steps our democracy has already taken, while not forgetting that there is still much to be achieved in this area,” it says.
International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on March 8, was established by the United Nations in 1975 as a form of protest against gender inequality and in defense of rights.
It is based on the demonstration for equal civil rights and women’s suffrage that took place in the United States in 1909.