#SheInspiresMe: Celebrating International Women’s Day

Today marks #IWD2017: this year’s International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the accomplishments of women around the world while also acknowledging the progress that remains ahead. Twitter is “What’s Happening” across the globe — and what we’ve seen happening throughout the past year is powerful voices and movements come together to speak up for women’s rights. In honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, spotlight the women who inspire you with the hashtag #SheInspiresMe which will trigger a custom #WomensDay emoji.

While March 8th is the annual occasion of International Women’s Day, we also wanted to look back on the powerful conversations about women’s issues that have taken place on Twitter all year long. In 2016, there were 25% more Tweets about “feminism” or “women’s rights” (and translations of those phrases in 10 languages) than in 2015 — and so far this year, the conversation has almost doubled from the same time period last year. These are the top days where mentions of “feminism”happened:

Throughout the year, activists and citizens have come to Twitter to discuss the issues facing women in their communities, countries, and industries. Women’s participation and equality in the workforce has been one prominent conversation on Twitter this year: #DressLikeAWoman in the US (which drew over half a million Tweets in a few days), #WakingTheFeminist in Ireland, and #Planeta5050 in Brazil, were some of the hashtags tackling employment issues. The topic of #EqualPay was also an area of focus - there have been more than 2 million Tweets about it, with hashtags such as #gleichistmehr in Germany and #3시STOP in Korea.

And in a year that saw the first female candidate to top a major Presidential ticket in the United States, it’s no surprise that issues around women in politics and important issues to female voters were popular discussion topics on Twitter, with conversations such as #NastyWoman in the US, #LabanLeni in the Philippines, #Ploumen4women in the Netherlands, and #BeraniPeduli in Indonesia. Women were also encouraged to speak out about political issues with hashtags including #CanYouHearUsNow (to draw attention to Muslim women in the United States), #BeraniPeduli (educating women about politics and fight for women’s representation in politics), and #ElectWomen (supporting Irish women running for office).

Another powerful topic has been that of women’s safety and ability to freely occupy public spaces — we saw conversations around this theme all across the globe. #ActionsMatter is a movement in Canada dedicated to eradicating violence against women by empowering citizens to take a stand. In the US, hashtags such as #StopTransMurders and #WeJustNeedToPee draw attention to trans issues and the threats of violence they regularly face, while others such as #WhyWomenDontReport provide a space for women to speak about sexual assault. In Italy, #potreiessereio and #èoradichiederescusa have drawn awareness to violence against women; in India, #IWillGoOut advocated for women’s safety when walking alone; in Indonesia, #jtubuhkuotoritasku, a movement to celebrate and respect women’s body without judgement.

Millions of Tweets have also been sent with hashtags that are meant to shine a light on inspiring women and their accomplishments. Popular hashtags in the US, #BlackGirlMagic was used over 1 million times last year, and #ShePersisted has had 850,000 Tweets in the past month. Elsewhere around the world, hashtags like #나는페미니스트다 (Korea), #SheLeadsIndia (India), #PerempuanBersatu (Indonesia), #نحن_قادرات (Middle East) and #CelebratingWomen (Australia) are also places to celebrate and unite women.

The #WomensMarch rallies that took place in January of this year were also made an impact on Twitter. On the day of the marches alone, there were 11.5 million Tweets mentioning #WomensMarch and the local affiliates.

With conversations like these - and a great many more - women and allies around the world are joining together on Twitter to share experiences, challenges and successes. They are sharing what they want to see change, fostering dialogue and debate, and amplifying their voices to new audiences. Follow @TwitterWomen to see some of the top Tweets & topics about #WomensDay and throughout Women’s History Month.