National Women’s Equality Day
Empowering women to reach their full potential and creating a world where gender doesn't limit opportunities.
Celebrate women's achievements and workplace equality with purpose-driven campaigns that resonate with female consumers and professionals seeking brands aligned with gender equity values.
- Spotlight female leaders and entrepreneurs in your industry
- Share your brand's commitment to equal pay and workplace inclusion
- Feature customer stories of women breaking barriers
- Highlight women-owned suppliers or partners in your supply chain
National Women’s Equality Day has been celebrated for many years. It was first celebrated in 1973. Since then, the United States President has proclaimed the date. The date has been selected to commemorate the day in the 1920s when Bainbridge Colby, who was the Secretary of State at the time, signed the proclamation that gave women in the United States the constitutional right to vote.
In 1920, the day stood for the result of 72 years of campaigning by a huge civil rights movement for women. Prior to movements like these, even respected thinkers such as Rousseau and Kant believed that woman’s inferior status in society was completely logical and reasonable; women were ‘beautiful’ and ‘not fit for serious employment’.
Over the last century, great women have proved these views wrong as the world has witnessed just what women are capable of achieving, from the likes of Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt fighting for civil rights and equality to great scientists such as Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin and Jane Goodall. The last century has shown more than ever what both women and men are capable of achieving, given the opportunity.
Today, women’s equality has grown to mean much more than just sharing the right to the vote. Organisations such as Equality Now and Womankind Worldwide continue to work to provide women across the globe with equal opportunities to education and employment, pushing against suppression and violence towards women and against the discrimination and stereotyping which still occur in every society.
Every year, the president reads a proclamation, noting the amazing work of trailblazers in this movement. In 2016, President Barack Obama said the following:
“Today, as we celebrate the anniversary of this hard-won achievement and pay tribute to the trailblazers and suffragists who moved us closer to a more just and prosperous future, we resolve to protect this constitutional right and pledge to continue fighting for equality for women and girls”.