Two events this month bringing women to the forefront are National Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is “Women who advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion,” while International Women’s Day’s theme is “Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.”

For some background information, International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global event calling for activism. The event grew out of the labor movement. From 15,000 women marching in New York City in 1908 for better pay and the right to vote to Russian women in 1917 demanding “bread and peace.” Founded in 1910 but officially recognized by the United Nations (UN) in 1975, International Women’s Day highlights how far women have come in politics, the economy, and their place in society while raising awareness for enduring inequities.

National Women’s History Month grew out of International Women’s Day. In 1978, starting as a local event in Santa Rosa, California, the Education Task Force of Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women initiated a Women’s History Week during the week of International Women’s Day. Similar celebrations grew across the nation. Groups of women and historians lobbied for the event to receive national recognition. The first Presidential Proclamation declaring Women’s History Week came in 1980. Seven years later, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as Women’s History Month.

I’ve written about the importance of remembering the countless people who fought for change so women could receive fundamental rights. For a brief timeline of USA events, I’ll use highlights from the life of my 95-year-old mother. In the U.S., women received the right to vote in 1920, nine years before my mother was born. My grandmother wasn’t allowed to vote but was allowed to help her husband run a business. Though women could own businesses since the early 1800s, it wasn’t until the 1988 Women’s Business Ownership Act that all women were protected from discrimination in lending, given equal opportunities for government contracts, and not required to have a husband co-sign a business loan.

Women could not get a credit card in their names or obtain a mortgage until 1974. Until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was signed into law, an unmarried, married, widowed, or divorced woman had to bring a man to a bank to co-sign bank documents. Before 1978 (two years before the Lake Placid Winter Olympics), laws didn’t protect pregnant women’s jobs. Before the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, women could lose their job because they were pregnant.

Before 1993, the year my niece was born, spousal rape wasn’t considered a crime. Men and women may pay the same insurance premium, but women can pay more in copays and deductibles for necessary annual exams, not including pregnancy. The “pink tax” refers to women paying a higher price for the same product as men.

Someone else fought the battles I’ve listed to date. Somewhere, a person stood in line, protested, signed petitions, and suffered while supporting other women. It reminds us that we can come together and create significant change to help other women. It is not just women helping women, but people helping people. Though the United States continues to work through huge issues as we strive toward true equality and equity, National Women’s History Month brings attention to national and global reproductive rights, violence against women, and gender equality. Let’s lift each other, not bring each other down. What can we learn from National Women’s History Month?