Today, 8th March, is International Women’s Day! It is both a celebration of womanhood and a protest against society’s treatment of women.
On International Women’s Day we celebrate the achievements of powerful and influential women throughout history. We also use this day to fight for positive change to ensure that women around the world are able to feel safe, are treated with respect, and are judged fairly in the eyes of the law, the media, and society in general.
International Woman’s Day raises awareness of a number of issues that disproportionately affect women, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic abuse, gender representation in the workplace, the gender pay-gap, workplace discrimination and cyberbullying. These are issues which are gaining public traction as more and more people start to think seriously about gender inequality and how it affects us all.
Have a read of this ABC News article about six prominent Australian women talking power, success and influence for International Women’s Day 2021. Here are some of our favourite quotes from the article:
For us to progress and move forward and be something mighty, which Australia can be, we have to learn to listen. Listen to the stories that are being told and bring a better understanding of who we are as a nation.
– Leah Purcell
Real power comes from your ability to influence people’s intentions. That is, to persuade them to your point of view, to encourage them to take a certain course.
– Anna Bligh
I think that there’s a really important message and resilience here, that overcoming adversity, and surviving … you might have thought that it could leave you with feelings of bitterness and temerity. Or you could respond as a community with joy and celebration.
– Rabbanit Ellyse Borghi
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Choose to Challenge”.
A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.
We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.
We still have a long way to go in the fight to achieve gender equality. There are still many stories of women who have faced discriminatory and frankly ridiculous reasons for being denied promotions, equal pay and other workplace opportunities. You can read about some of the more absurd examples in this ABC News article.
From challenge comes change, so let’s all choose to challenge.