International Women's Day in Russia

A date shaped by women’s activism

International Women’s Day grew from early twentieth-century women’s and socialist movements. The Russian Museum of Ethnography traces the annual observance to a proposal by German political activist Clara Zetkin at the 1910 International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen; it notes that the date was not set at that meeting.[2]

In 1917, women workers in Petrograd demonstrated on March 8, then the date of International Women’s Day there. The museum describes the holiday’s early Soviet role as recognizing women in work and public life, including in professions and positions traditionally associated with men.[2]

The date became a nonworking day in the Soviet Union from 1966, following a 1965 decree. The museum says the holiday later lost much of its explicit political character. In today’s Russia, it describes March 8 as a spring holiday for congratulating women regardless of age, social status, profession or achievement.[2]

What the day means in Russia

March 8 has an international history, but in Russia its association with the 1917 demonstrations gives the date a particular historical connection to women’s activism and the revolutionary period. The museum describes the holiday as having been dedicated to women’s solidarity in the struggle for emancipation and equal rights, including participation in politics and work without gender discrimination.[2]

The Russian Museum of Ethnography describes a modern custom of greeting women broadly, rather than limiting congratulations to mothers or relatives. That description supports a general picture of the observance; it does not establish that every household celebrates in the same way.[2]

Public holiday and working arrangements

Article 112 of Russia’s Labor Code names March 8, International Women’s Day, among the country’s nonworking public holidays. When a nonworking public holiday coincides with a regular day off, the Labor Code generally moves that day off to the next working day; the law also allows government regulations to arrange other transfers.[1]

The holiday does not mean every employee is necessarily away from work. The Code provides for additional remuneration for some employees who are not called in on a nonworking holiday, says a monthly salary is not reduced because a month includes a public holiday, and sets increased-pay rules for work performed on a holiday.[1]

The holiday’s legal status does not specify the opening hours of individual shops, banks, offices or transport services. Residents and travelers should check with the specific service or venue for its schedule around March 8.[1]