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International Women's Rights Day

Petrograd women workers' strike in 1917, UN recognition in 1977, Beijing Conference in 1995, first French women's vote on 29 April 1945, New Zealand pioneering in 1893 with Kate Sheppard: test your rights history.

15

Questions

2

Minutes

Tip: Use keys 1-4 to answer quickly

The 15 quiz questions

Question 1 : What event on March 8, 1917 is often considered the origin of this day?

Possible answers:

  • The Petrograd women workers' strike
  • The London suffragettes' march
  • Olympe de Gouges' speech
  • The founding of the American feminist movement

Explanation: On March 8, 1917, women workers in Petrograd began a massive strike demanding bread and peace, triggering the February Revolution in Russia.

Question 2 : In what year did the UN officially designate March 8 as International Women's Day?

Possible answers:

  • 1945
  • 1962
  • 1977
  • 1991

Explanation: The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 1977 proclaiming March 8 as International Women's Day.

Question 3 : What major world conference on women's rights was held in 1995?

Possible answers:

  • The Nairobi Conference
  • The Beijing Conference
  • The Geneva Conference
  • The Copenhagen Conference

Explanation: The 4th World Conference on Women was held in Beijing in 1995. It produced the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark text for gender equality.

Question 4 : In what year did French women vote for the first time?

Possible answers:

  • 1936
  • 1945
  • 1952
  • 1962

Explanation: French women voted for the first time on April 29, 1945, during municipal elections. The right to vote had been granted to them by ordinance on April 21, 1944.

Question 5 : Which country was the first to grant women the right to vote in 1893?

Possible answers:

  • The United Kingdom
  • Finland
  • New Zealand
  • The United States

Explanation: New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote on September 19, 1893, thanks in particular to the activism of Kate Sheppard.

Question 6 : Who was the first woman to travel to space, in 1963?

Possible answers:

  • Mae Jemison
  • Sally Ride
  • Svetlana Savitskaïa
  • Valentina Terechkova

Explanation: Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6. She orbited Earth 48 times in nearly 3 days.

Question 7 : Which female politician championed the law legalizing abortion in France in 1975?

Possible answers:

  • Simone Veil
  • Simone de Beauvoir
  • Édith Cresson
  • Yvette Roudy

Explanation: Simone Veil, then Minister of Health, defended the law on voluntary termination of pregnancy before the National Assembly. The Veil Law was enacted on January 17, 1975.

Question 8 : Who was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, in 1903?

Possible answers:

  • Bertha von Suttner
  • Marie Curie
  • Rosalind Franklin
  • Dorothy Hodgkin

Explanation: Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. She would receive a second Nobel (Chemistry) in 1911.

Question 9 : In France, since what year can a woman open a bank account without her husband's permission?

Possible answers:

  • 1945
  • 1958
  • 1965
  • 1975

Explanation: The law of July 13, 1965 reformed matrimonial regimes, allowing women to open a bank account and pursue a profession without their husband's authorization.

Question 10 : Which activist received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her fight for girls' education?

Possible answers:

  • Rigoberta Menchú
  • Wangari Maathai
  • Malala Yousafzai
  • Nadia Murad

Explanation: Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17, becoming the youngest laureate. She has been advocating for the right to education since surviving a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012.

Question 11 : Which author published 'The Second Sex', a foundational work of modern feminism, in 1949?

Possible answers:

  • Hannah Arendt
  • Virginia Woolf
  • Marguerite Yourcenar
  • Simone de Beauvoir

Explanation: Simone de Beauvoir published 'The Second Sex' in 1949. Her phrase 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman' became a symbol of global feminism.

Question 12 : In what year did France enshrine the principle of equal pay between men and women into law?

Possible answers:

  • 1965
  • 1972
  • 1983
  • 2006

Explanation: The law of December 22, 1972 established the principle of 'equal work, equal pay'. Despite this law, the average pay gap remains around 15% in France in 2024.

Question 13 : What international treaty adopted in 1979 is often called the 'bill of rights for women'?

Possible answers:

  • CEDAW
  • The Vienna Declaration
  • The Maputo Protocol
  • The Belém do Pará Convention

Explanation: CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) was adopted by the UN in 1979. It has been ratified by 189 countries.

Question 14 : In which country did the #MeToo movement gain worldwide momentum in 2017?

Possible answers:

  • France
  • The United States
  • The United Kingdom
  • Australia

Explanation: The #MeToo movement exploded in October 2017 in the United States after the revelations against producer Harvey Weinstein. The hashtag, created by Tarana Burke in 2006, went viral worldwide.

Question 15 : What is approximately the percentage of women in national parliaments worldwide in 2024?

Possible answers:

  • About 15%
  • About 27%
  • About 35%
  • About 42%

Explanation: According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women represent about 27% of parliamentarians worldwide in 2024. Rwanda holds the world record with over 61%.

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