International Women’s Day calls us to a double task.
It calls us, first, to recognize that women suffer disproportionately from every aspect of capitalist exploitation and oppression, from poverty and austerity to environmental degradation and imperialism—just as they have borne the brunt of inequality in every class-based society. Beyond the economic and social violence of capitalism, which is felt by all workers, women face sexual harassment, assault, rape, and domestic violence. These forms of oppression are further magnified for women of color, lesbian women, trans women, migrant women, and women with disabilities.
But International Women’s Day also calls us to celebrate—and to advance—the leadership of women in the fight for a better world. Today, women are leading major struggles for democracy and equality–from the movement for Black lives, to the teachers’ and fast food workers’ strikes that are redefining the labor movement; from the Water Protectors of Standing Rock, to the Women’s Marches against the Trump regime; from protecting the rights of immigrants, to joining the ranks of progressive candidates, to breaking the silence on rape culture and violence against women.
“When the men kill,” wrote German revolutionary Clara Zetkin, “it is up to us women to fight for the preservation of life.” She wrote those words in 1914, when the leaders of the Socialist International had betrayed the working-class cause by joining in the war effort alongside the capitalists of their nations.
Today her words resonate in a larger sense. Amidst a deepening capitalist crisis, escalating imperialist aggression, and the rise of the fascist right, women are leading the struggle for an equitable, sustainable, socialist future for the human race.
The fight for equality is the basis of all progress for the working class. The neoliberal policies and reactionary political forces that are the main obstacle to equality for women, are also responsible for the worldwide assault on the rights and dignity of workers. The same system that subjugates working people to the whims of the rich, also perpetuates male supremacy and misogyny to divide workers and cement the profits and power of the capitalist class.
The Communist Party USA joins with all democratic, progressive, and revolutionary forces in celebrating International Women’s Day.
To all women in the fight for equality, democracy, peace, and socialism, we salute you!
To all workers, we say: listen to women, and join them where they fight, because this is your fight, too.
Photo: Women in Petrograd march for International Women’s Day, 1917, launching the February Revolution. Image from the State Museum of Political History of Russia.
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The Communist Party USA is a revolutionary working-class political party founded in 1919 in Chicago, IL.
The Communist Party stands for the interests of the American working class and the American people. It stands for our interests in both the present and the future. Solidarity with workers of other countries is also part of our work. We work in coalition with the labor movement, the peace movement, the student movement, organizations fighting for equality and social justice, the environmental movement, immigrants rights groups and the health care for all campaign.
But to win a better life for working families, we believe that we must go further. We believe that the American people can replace capitalism with a system that puts people before profit — socialism.
We are rooted in our country's revolutionary history and its struggles for democracy. We call for "Bill of Rights" socialism, guaranteeing full individual freedoms.
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