Zagreb - Deputy Parliament Speaker Furio Radin said on Friday, on the occasion of International Women's Day, marked 8 March, that this is not a day to celebrate what has been achieved, but to recall what has not yet been achieved.
Today we are not celebrating, but marking something that is important and that affects half of the population, and is an ongoing process, even in politics, said Radin at the beginning of the Sabor's session, recalling that even today there is not an equal number of women in the parliaments in almost all of the entire world.
"There are no flowers in front of me because. I at least see this as a day when we have to fight for women's rights. It is not a celebration, it is not a day in which we will celebrate what has been achieved, but recall what hasn't," underscored Radin.
He recalled that the celebration of International Women's Day began at the beginning of the last century, not on 8 March but on various dates, and that only since the 1970s and a decision by the United Nations, has 8 March been celebrated as International Women's Day throughout the world.
It started with the emancipation of women to be granted suffrage. Today we associate it with gender and reproductive rights and with the first against all forms of discrimination and with the fight against all forms of violence against women, he added.
Long live 8 March, he said and recalled that 31 years ago, on 8 March 1993, he was the first Member of Parliament to greet women on International Women's Day and was confronted with a "big protest."
That was the opinion at the time, and since then we have made great strides, assessed Radin, who was joined by other MPs with their greetings.