By Miles Kenyon From its roots as a political movement by the Socialist Party of America in 1909 to its official recognition two years later, International Women's Day has always stood for recognition and celebration of women. It firmly plants one foot in the past, tallying the sacrifices made and accomplishments gained; the other finds its place in the future, poised ahead to the tasks forthcoming and the victories yet to be won. On March 8th, women are celebrated for their contributions to all levels of society and culture. This year’s theme from the UN is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women." Heartbreakingly, this seems like a tall order - especially with the recently publicized physical and sexual abuse of women and girls in India - but women, men and children the world over will be lighting candles, stomping feet and raising voices to make sure the message isn’t ignored.

The following is a shortlist of some of the best online initiatives taking place today:

Expert Q&A Live chat by the World Bank, with experts answering questions about overcoming biases imposed by gender norms. Discussion on media representation Liveblog of events being held at Ryerson University in Toronto on how to change media’s representation of women. Wikipedia workshop Livestream of workshop held by Sarah Stierch, former fellow of the Wikimedia Foundation, on how and why we should be adding more women to Wikipedia entries. 24-hour women's issues marathon KFAI is a volunteer radio station based in Minneapolis, MN, and they will be broadcasting 24 hours of live programming on women’s and girls’ issues, all produced and hosted by women in the Twin Cities. Overview of women's rights issues Equal parts inspiring and gut-wrenching, Trust Law has compiled a number of articles that bring into scope the current issues facing women and how many are fighting back.

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Miles Kenyon is a radio and digital journalist based in Toronto.