Aromas from a vast array of nations permeated the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union Wednesday during the International Women’s Day celebration, “Women in the Arts.”

Art was displayed, and songs were sung in the tongues of Portuguese and Indian. The event for all of these happenings was the third annual celebration of the International Women’s Day.

“Women in the Arts” was the theme of this year’s celebration. This year marks the 89th anniversary of International Women’s Day, which was started in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. But it was not until 1975 that the United Nations recognized the day officially on the calendar.

Wednesday was a celebration of strides made internationally in women’s rights and a discussion of the strides that are yet to be made. It was a call for continued vigilance and a remembrance of how far the modern woman has come.

M. Evelina Galang, associate professor of English, shared a story of Eastern Asian women and the personal hardships that they had to endure during World War II.

Galang’s story, “Lola’s House,” tells of Filipino women who were “kidnapped and sent to Japanese garrisons during World War II to be military sex slaves against their will,” Galang said. These former “comfort women” have asked for a formal apology from Japan in the form of a lawsuit against the government.

Galang told the story somberly, and then began telling another that came from an excerpt of the autobiography of one of the “comfort women.”

The story told of how a dozen soldiers at a time would each take their turns raping this once innocent young woman. Galang said the story is one of thousands that stretch from China to New Zealand.

Fifty years later, Galang assumed these women would be withdrawn from society and perhaps even unable to function in it. What she found instead were dignified women who have learned to forgive the society that had once allowed them such harm. “The women would say, when someone young approached them and offered an apology, ‘Oh no, you are not to blame for this,’ which is a tribute to these women’s unbelievable character,” Galang said.

Viviane Vasconcelos, junior in computer science, sang a Brazilian song titled “Eu Sei” while playing her own accompaniment on the guitar. This was followed by a performance from Shaira, a belly dancer who involved the crowd while dancing in her hypnotic rhythm.

A crowd of about 70 showed up for the performances, and patrons were invited afterward to attend again next year.