A day to celebrate and reflect

WEDNESDAY is International Women’s Day with several events planned in the area to mark the worldwide occasion on 8 March.

Chair of the Greater Bendigo Gender Equity Coalition, Sue Clarke, said she is excited for the day that’s in part about acknowledging women who may not always get the spotlight they deserve.

“It’s about recognising and celebrating the women in our community and beyond,” she said.

“There are some amazing women in the region and women volunteers that just give and give and give and don’t get much acknowledgment.”

Ms Clarke said she believes things are slowly improving regarding equality and that people need to draw attention to any issues they see.

“It does feel like we take six steps forward to then take five steps back,” she said. “But we are moving forward.

“We just have to call it out when we see inequity, we can’t just step around it we have to acknowledge it and call for it to stop.”

La Trobe University professor of history and award-winning writer Clare Wright said the need to have a day solely for celebrating women is a sign of where the world is still at.

“I would like to see an era when every day is women’s day,” she said. “The fact of the matter is, women still live largely in a man’s world.

“This is in terms of the distribution of resources, of equity across a whole range of indicators, of participation in the labour force at equal levels as well as participation on boards at equal levels.

“There is also wage justice, gender justice, reproductive justice, educational outcomes, the list goes on.”

Yet, Professor Wright said there is still a place for an International Women’s Day.

“So, what I think International Women’s Day can do is draw focus to the fact that we still have a long way to go,” she said.

“To me it’s not a day of celebration, it’s actually a day of reflection and stocktaking.”

For a list of events marking International Women’s Day in Bendigo head to bit.ly/3IWETLM.