R 100

2017 -- H 5879 Enacted 03/08/2017

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING MARCH 8, 2017, AS "INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

Introduced By: Representatives Hearn, Donovan, Ajello, Walsh, and Fellela

Date Introduced: March 08, 2017

WHEREAS, International Women's Day has been observed since the early 1900's, at a

time when women's oppression and inequality were causing women to become more vocal,

active, and demanding of change; and

WHEREAS, The first National Women's Day was observed in the United States on

February 28, 1909, in honor of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York City, where women

protested and demanded shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights; and

WHEREAS, The first countries to honor International Women's Day in 1911 were

Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, where together more than one million women and

men attended International Women's Day rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote,

hold public office, and to end discrimination in general; and

WHEREAS, In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed, once and for all,

throughout the world, March 8th as International Women's Day, a day that is celebrated in the

Unites States and worldwide; and

WHEREAS, International Women's Day has more recently assumed a new, global

dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike; and

WHEREAS, Gender parity remains elusive in that the World Economic Forum predicted

in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. One year later, in 2015, due

to a slowdown in the pace of progress that same group indicated that the gender gap wouldn't

close entirely until 2133; and

WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of Labor, among full-time

workers, women still earn less than men, earning 83 percent of what men earn; and

WHEREAS, In 2017, the United Nations has declared the theme for this year's

International Women's Day celebration: "Be Bold For Change"; and this year Rhode Island has

chosen to honor the first female Colonel of the Rhode Island State Police and our state's elite

group of female fire fighters; and

WHEREAS, Law enforcement and firefighting continue to be non-traditional careers for

women. Nationally, only 7 percent of the nation's fire fighters are women, and in Rhode Island, of

the 20 full-time fire departments, only 1.75 percent of their collective staff is female. In fact, there

here are still several Rhode Island municipalities that do not have a single female fire fighter;

now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby recognizes the elite, few women who have blazed trails and burned

down barriers in these non-traditional careers, and encourages all citizens to celebrate and pay

tribute to the contributions of these women nationally and in the State of Rhode Island; and be it

further

RESOLVED, That this House hereby recognizes March 8, 2017, as "International

Women's Day"; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the first woman Governor of the State of Rhode

Island, Governor Gina Raimondo.

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LC002069

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