International Women's Day, 8 March, enables women and men to join voices around the world seeking inclusivity and equality for women and to celebrate their achievements.

This year, the campaign theme for IWD was Choose to Challenge. It sought a commitment to call out inequality and bias and to question stereotypes. In showing support and solidarity for women, the challenge aimed to forge a more inclusive world.  

While the current climate prevented us from having guest speakers on site, and kept our gatherings relatively small, they were still powerful and meaningful. The Year 11 Community and Family Studies (CAFS) students met for a delicious breakfast at the school’s Jewel Café for a morning of music, companionship, and laughter. It was great to see the support of the students for this important day and listen to their informed, compassionate, and intelligent conversations.

Six Year 11 students – Amelia Douglas, Kaitlyn Allen, Evie Jones, Mia Powell, Charlotte Ferry and Gabriella Irwin – participated in the Young Women’s Leadership Seminar, streamed live from Parliament House in Sydney. This program allowed the girls to, virtually, meet inspiring leaders, including keynote speaker Rae Cooper, AO, Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney. The other speakers included four female Members of Parliament, who spoke of pertinent issues such as the gender pay gap, representation of females in parliament and the importance of challenging gender bias and stereotypes. It was enlightening and inspiring to listen to these women discuss the highlights, challenges, and opportunities they have experienced throughout their careers.

To further note this day, St Paul’s students and staff also raised a generous donation for the worthy charity Share the Dignity, which provides and distributes items of necessity to women and girls experiencing homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, or doing it tough.

We look forward to continuing to acknowledge and celebrate this important day in future years.

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