It’s probably one of the most frustrating things about awareness days.
For any day acknowledging the issues affecting a particular sub-section of society, there’s always the Twitter trolls shouting about, “yeah, but when’s my day?”
And International Women’s Day is no different.
So every year, British comedian Richard Herring set himself the task of replying to every individual tweet asking “Sure, but when’s International Men’s Day?”
Take action: Sexist Laws Have No Place in 2018. Agree? Tell Governments to Act
It’s November 19, in case anyone is still wondering.
Hold on….. it’s November 19th. You are the first one of the year. Congratulations. https://t.co/pn8up6vbgU
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 7, 2018
This year, Herring decided it would be good to turn his “pedantic, frustrating, and ultimately self-defeating day” into an even more positive cause — asking for donations to support Refuge, a charity that works to support women and children who have experienced domestic violence.
“Weirdly most of them only seem to care about this on International Women’s Day and when November 19 comes along they do nothing,” Herring said of the Twitter trolls on his JustGiving page.
Read more: 10 Ridiculously Sexist Laws That Have No Place in the 21st Century
Can everyone please set up a scheduled tweet for Sajid, wishing him Happy International Men’s Day on 19th November? https://t.co/BFXhVqms8r
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 7, 2018
“I do this so that everyone else can get on with celebrating International Women’s Day and using it to raise awareness of the issues that affect women,” he said.
He’s already raised more than £120,000 from over 8,800 supporters since launching the campaign on Thursday, and the donations are still rolling in.
“As the number of people asking never seems to decrease, it’s a busy day for me,” he added. “I thought this year it would be nice if we raised some money along the way, to turn stupid or negative comments by people who don’t understand how to google into something that will be positive and helpful.”
Hey I was as angry as you, but when I googled it to see if it was possible to set a men’s day up I discovered someone had already done it, It’s November 19th. Good news, hey? https://t.co/6c7V8sssjO
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 7, 2018
Read more: 14 Badass Women Who Fought for Their Beliefs in the Past 100 Years
Herring emphasised that one women in every four will experience domestic violence at some point in her lifetime, and two women are killed every week in England and Wales by a current of former partner.
Refuge supports over 4,500 women and child on any given day, experiencing domestic and sexual violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, stalking, trafficking, prostitution, and so-called “honour-based” violence.
Think I might miss the magical moment as i am about to take my own international woman out for dinner. But thank you again for making this ridiculous marvel happen https://t.co/XV522ImcQR
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) March 8, 2018
Global Citizen is calling on world leaders to crack down on laws around the world that discriminate against women, in the lead up to the Commonwealth Summit — which is being held in London in April. We believe sexist laws have no place in the 21st century. If you agree, join us, by telling governments to act — and you can at O2 Academy Brixton on April 17.