Women need real change, not just posturing |
IMMEDIATELY after the official speeches from the stage concluded, special guest speaker Mary Robinson focused on the younger women in the gathering, and asked them to repeat the mantra ‘Never too young to lead, never too old to learn’.
It was a truly empowering moment with the first woman president of Ireland, on a platform where seven different women had spoken at length, and with authority, on seven different ways women continue to be discriminated against in both a a local and global context: women’s safety, ending violence against women and girls, recognising and surviving economic abuse, care income for those caring for people and the planet, refugee justice, disabled people’s rights, and climate justice.
The hard-hitting messages in front of Belfast City Hall were received well by the crowd, who had taken part in the annual International Women’s Day (IWD) march.
Unfortunately, they were not, and are not, the target audience.
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Thanks to social media, messaging around IWD is more performative and opportunistic than ever. It is nauseating.
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