International Women's Day: What's happening around the world

International Women's Day (IWD) was recognized on Friday with Ireland holding two referendums on proposals to modernize constitutional references, billing the votes as opportunities to embed equality.

The United Nations, meanwhile, has highlighted the plight of more than 200 million females who have undergone genital mutilation.

With all this and more, DW looks into how the globe is reacting to IWD.

Ireland votes on removing constitutional reference to 'women in the home'

Voting in Ireland has got underway as the country holds a double referendum on proposals to modernize constitutional references to the make-up of a family and women's "life within the home."

All the major political parties are in favor of a "Yes-Yes" outcome.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who heads the center-right-green coalition that developed the questions, admitted that the outcome was "in the balance" for both ballots.

The two proposals, called the family amendment and the care amendment, would alter the text of Article 41 in EU member Ireland's constitution dating back to 1937.

The first question proposes to expand the definition of family from those founded on marriage to also include "durable relationships" such as cohabiting couples and their children.

The second is about the replacement of old-fashioned language around a mother's "duties in the home."

The outcome of both ballots is expected sometime on Saturday.

UNICEF: Some 30 million women have undergone female genital mutilation in last 8 years

More than 230 million women and girls around the world have undergone female genital mutilation, according to a UNICEF report released on Friday.

Over the last eight years, the UN children's agency estimated that around 30 million people have endured the procedure, which UNICEF describes as the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

"The practice of female genital mutilation is declining, but not fast enough," UNICEF reported. "We're also seeing a worrying trend that more girls are subjected to the practice at younger ages, many before their fifth birthday. That further reduces the window to intervene," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said.

Around 144 million women and girls have been through female genital mutilation in Africa alone, followed by Asia and the Middle East with 80 million and 6 million respectively, according to the UNICEF report. Somalia is the country where the practice is most prevalent, with 99% of the female population between the ages of 15 and 49 having suffered the procedure.

On the other hand, the report showed that Burkina Faso has made progress on the matter, reducing the proportion of women between 15 and 49 who endured genital mutilation from 80% to 30% over three decades.

Afghan women stage rare protests

Some Afghan women have staged small protests to mark International Women's Day, in a rare display of dissatisfaction.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has implemented a strict interpretation of Islam, with women marginalized under restrictions the UN has described as "gender apartheid."

The Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam has seen women barred from traveling without a male relative and banned from certain jobs,  as well as attending secondary school and university.

A handful of women in several provinces nevertheless gathered on Friday, calling for restrictions be lifted, according to activists from the Purple Saturdays group.

In northern Takhar province, images circulated by activists showed seven women holding papers across their faces, reading "Rights, Justice, Freedom."

In Balkh province, several women brandished signs saying "Don't give the Taliban a chance" in front of a banner reading, "Save Afghanistan Women."

Germany goalkeeper Frohms: Equal pay to men in football 'utopian'

German soccer player Merle Frohms believes that equal pay for women and men in professional football is "utopian." 

"I don't know if we will ever really get there," the goalkeeper told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers on the occasion of International Women's Day.

Frohms does not believe that women's football is well advised to "strive for everything that men's football has achieved." 

"But we do bring a lot of things to the table that are often criticized as lacking in men's football: in terms of closeness to the fans and role models," the 29-year-old who plays for Wolfsburg said.

Meanwhile, the German women's national team on Friday announced that 50-year-old Christian Wück would become the new head coach. He's replacing veteran Horst Hrubesch, who was drafted in in haste as interim coach when Matina Voss-Tecklenburg and the German football federation parted way in November.

France to inscribe right to abortion in its constitution on IWD

France anchored the right to abortion in its constitution on Friday.

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France's constitution at a special public ceremony.

Earlier this week, France became the first country to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in its national charter.

Japan couples file suit seeking separate surnames

Six couples sued the Japanese government on Friday seeking the right to use different surnames after getting married.

Under Japanese law, married couples must choose the husband's or the wife's name, and about 95% take the man's, according to the plantiffs' lawyers.

This creates problems for women with established careers, activists argue.

Five of the couples filed their case at the Tokyo District Court and the sixth in Sapporo, on the northern island of Hokkaido.

jsi/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)