Newsroom
Celebrating International Women's Day
Celebrate International Women's Day on Friday 8 March.
The International Federation of Journalists has marked International Women's Day by calling on media organisations to help overcome dangerous stereotypes that contribute to discrimination, by rethinking the way they portray women in the media.
This call follows a series of initiatives undertaken by the IFJ in recent years to campaign for a fair and balanced gender portrayal in the news, recognising the role and responsibility of journalists and the media.
The IFJ says that the development of guidelines and gender ethical reporting checklists is a starting point to address stereotypes, silence, repression, intimidation (violence) and discrimination. It is now time to take further actions.
"We recognise that shining a light in places where some do not want their actions to be seen, can be a very dangerous business. However, taking our own responsibilities for ethical gender reporting means to break through dangerous stereotypes, and walls of silence hiding discrimination, violence, and sometimes death," says Mindy Ran, chair of the IFJ gender council. "As well as fair and balanced reporting, our responsibility is also about minimising potential harm to those we interview, recognising that the glare of the media can bring its own danger, and that those seldom heard voices at the edge are as important as those shouting in the middle."
The IFJ Gender Council is calling on journalists' unions and media to reflect on the choices they make in the production of news and to reflect on the negative impact this may have on the public's perception of women and on women's lives.
"Not presenting women's lives as essential, valuable and worthy of respect, but as simply victims or second class citizens, tells whole new generations that it is ok to do so, when clearly - it is not," warns Ran.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has organised women journalists training sessions on safety.
The first session took place in Beirut and nine three-day training sessions have been organised in the run up to International Women's day in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
These sessions will be hosted by IFJ affiliate unions in the host countries and are carried out by IFJ own trainers.
Over 100 women journalists will take part between now and IWD throughout the region.
The principles of safety, justice and equality, are at the heart of the International Federation of Journalists’ programme to mark this year’s International Women’s Day in the Arab World and the Middle East, the highlight of which is the training of over a hundred women journalists in safety and risk awareness skills.
"Increasing numbers of women reporters in the Arab World and the Middle East are putting their lives at risk covering conflict at home or abroad. Many pay a heavy price in their determination to engage in every field of journalism, facing routinely violence and discrimination" said Beth Costa, IFJ General Secretary. “The IFJ, at their side, fights this violence and the silence that surrounds it.”
In the last three years, the IFJ has been implementing a comprehensive programme to build a culture of safety in the Middle East and the Arab World, training over 700 journalists across the region in all aspects of safety and risk management, to help them work more safely in an increasingly dangerous region.
To develop this ambitious programme, the IFJ worked with member unions and partnered with international and regional organisations, including UNESCO and the Federation of Arab Journalists.
"This day is also an occasion to pay tribute to women journalists, field reporters, broadcasters, camerawomen and war correspondents that have shown outstanding skills and commitment in reporting the changes in the region," said Jim Boumelha. "We take this opportunity to thank all our partners and colleagues in the unions, who work every day to build a culture of equality, safety and mutual respect."
Events listings -
BRIGHTON
Saturday 9 March: Week of celebrations finishes with Grand Finale at Dome. Free crèche.
BRISTOL:
Friday 8 March 7pm: All our Lives (De Toda La Vida). Presentation of 1986 documentary telling story of Mujere Libres, the first independent women's organisation in Spain. Bristol YHA, 4 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA. Free but donations welcome.
Friday 8 March, 6pm: Women, honey and chocolate. Celebration with Agueda Ordenana, Nicaraguan women's development worker and fairtrade honey producer, music from Shanta and fair trade chocolate tasting. Tickets £8 or concessions £6. Booking essential. Mshed Museum, Harbourside. Call Mshed shop on 0117 352 6914 to book.
CAMBRIDGE:
Tuesday 5 March 5.30pm. IWD Lecture: Can the word feminism be reclaimed for universal good? University of Cambridge, McCrum Lecture Theatre, Corpus Christi College. With Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre and historian Dr Rachel Holmes (Fifty Shades of Feminism).
To book tickets and further info call 01223 332286.
Saturday 9 March 7.30pm. Peace Unveiled. Film with Q&A about women's rights in Afghanistan. Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, Lord Ashcroft Building.
To book tickets and more information call 01223 332286.
CARDIFF:
Sunday 3 March from 4pm. Birkenstomp – Live music, poetry slam, exhibitions and DIY feminist magazine launch at Gwdihw, 6 Guildford Crescent, Cardiff, CF10 2HJ
DORCHESTER:
Saturday 9 March 10.30 – 4pm Dorset Women's Day. Dorford Centre, Dorchester. Free crèche.
IPSWICH:
Wednesday 13 March 10am to 2pm. Free event for women to celebrate diverse traditions and cultures of women living in Suffolk. Organised by Suffolk Refugee Support and Karibu African Women's Support Group in partnership with Oxfam. Burlington Baptist Church hall, Burlington Road, Ipswich, IP1 2EU.
LEEDS:
Thursday 7 March 6.30pm. Leeds Oxfam Group holds panel discussion on Meeting the challenges of gender equality in a world of crisis.
Quaker Meeting House, 188 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds.
LIVERPOOL:
All month 1 - 31 March: Retrospective exhibition of Clare Campbell's artwork inspired by 20 years working internationally with women's empowerment and sexuality. Baltic Creative, Jamaica Street, Liverpool.
LONDON:
Saturday 16 March: Nunnery Gallery, 181 Bow Road E3 2SJ Bow Road tube/Bow Church DLR. Sylvia Pankhurst, Edith Cavell & Minnie Lansbury were all active in the East End and the Nunnery Gallery is arranging a special history walk around the Bow area. 2pm-3.30pm £5 - Meet at the Gallery Café at 1.45pm prompt. Bookings www.womenofbow.eventbrite.co.uk.
In the gallery the ‘Strike’ exhibition is inspired by Annie Besant who led the Match girls protest in 1888. www.nunnerygallery.org.
14 - 19 March: Laura Provost winner of The Max Mara Prize for Women is exhibiting at the Whitechapel Gallery, www.whitechapelgallery.org and an exhibition entitled A Room of One’s Own is at the Espacio Gallery in Bethnal Green Road: www.espaciogallery.com.
A final chance to see the Women's Library before it moves to the LSE this year. The Long March to Equality: Treasures of the Women's Library: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/
Thursday 7 March: TUC, 6pm. Congress House. The struggle for Arab women's rights' . Free but registration essential. Guest speaker will be Jalila al-Salman, trade unionist and vice president of the Bahraini Teachers' Association, recently freed from jail after a global union campaign with Suzanne McCarthy, chair of the Ethical Trading Initiative. Also speaking: TUC president, Lesley Mercer and TUC general secretary, Frances O'Grady. Entertainment and food.
To register, email Pat Brown at pbrown@tuc.org.uk.
4-8 March: Women's Week at the Stephen Lawrence Centre, 39 Brookmill Road, London SE8 4HU.
Friday 8 March: 2pm to 7pm. Southwark International Women's Day event. Amigo Hall, Southwark Cathedral, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7HY.
More info at http://www.internationalwomensday.com/slan.
MANCHESTER:
Friday 8 March 10am to late. A day to create and celebrate for women in Old Trafford. St John's Centre, St John's Road, Manchester M16 7GX.
More info at http://www.stjohnscentre.org/.
Wedmesday 6 March, 9.30 - 2.00 Women's Domestic Abuse Helpline holds a celebrationof women's diversity to raise awareness of domestic abuse and vital services the helpline provides. Manchester Deaf Centre, Crawford House, Booth Street East, Manchester M13 9GH. Includes workshops and some Mahabat-style dancing. Lunch provided.
Call 0161 636 7525
Monday 4 March 12.30-1.30pm. Snapshot on women. People's History Museum, Left Bank, Spinningfields, Manchester M3 3ER. Go behind the scenes and delve into the museum's photo collections. Free but booking advised and donations welcome.
More info at 0161 838 9190.
OXFORD:
4 March – 2 April. Our Creative Voices exhibition at 8th Day Café Gallery, 111 Oxford Road, MI 7DU
PORTSMOUTH:
Wednesday 6 March, 6pm. The struggle for women's suffrage in Britain 1865-1928: an illustrated talk. University of Portsmouth, Portland Building, Portland Street, Portsmouth PO13AH. Free but registration required.
SOUTHEND:
Saturday 9 March 10am: Purple Parade from top of Southend Town Centre. Meeting at Victoria Station wearing at least one item of purple clothing. Parade ends in Royal Square. Talk and buffet after at Cultural Centre, Southend Pier.
NORTHERN IRELAND - BELFAST:
Tuesday 5 March 10am to 13.30pm. Ulster Hall, 34 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FF. "Unionism, nationalism and women's fight for the vote: understanding different views through discussion and debate." Illustrated talk.
More info at http://www.wrda.net/.
NEWTOWNARDS:
Friday 8 March 8.3pm: She-nanigans in the Square – All female comedy variety show. Headlined by Niamh Marron headlines. Hosted by BBC's Find Me the Funny, Gemma Hutton.Tickets £8 in aid of North Down and Ards Women's Aid. Ards Arts Centre, Conway Square, call Newtownards.
Tel 028 9182 4021.
SCOTLAND -EDINBURGH:
Friday 8 March 6.30pm. Tea Dance Stomp. Celebrate women in an evening of light-hearted frippery, dancing and cakes featuring Edinburgh's Belle Star all women dance band. Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR. Tickets £6 or £5 concessions.
GLASGOW:
Thursday 14 March 12 noon. Illuminated letters: unwind with a book special. Bring your packed lunch and share your favour extracts from books and poems in the form of letters.
Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow G1 3AH.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND -
DUBLIN:
Tuesday 5 March 11am. Suffrage and Struggle: How women shaped their future. Theresa Moriarty explores the place of women in trade unions and their role during the 1913 lockout. Ballymun Library, Main Street, Ballymun, Dublin.
Wednesday 6 March 2012 3pm: Women's Lives in the Dublin Tenements. Dr Enda Leaney uses photographic collections to examine conditions of Dublin women in early 1900s. Cabra Libray, Navan Road, Dublin 7.
Free but booking recommended. T. 8691414
Throughout March. Hanna and her sisters. Exhibition on display at Pembroke Library, Anglesea Road, Dublin. Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was a suffragette and Irish nationalist. She co-founded the Irish Women's Francise Leagure in 1908 and was later a founding member of the Irish Women's Workers' Union. She was also one of women working to provide meals in Liberty Hall to striking workers during the 1913 lockout.
On March 4, the Action on X campaign will host a rally marking 21 years of inaction since the X case ruling, which upheld the right to abortion in Ireland when a woman's life is at risk, including at risk of suicide. The rally, which leaves the Central Bank plaza at 6pm on March 4 for Dublin Castle, is supported by the National Women's Council of Ireland, Union of Students in Ireland and Terminations for Medical Reasons, among others.
On March 6 in 6.30-8pm Copperhouse Gallery, Dublin the Abortion Rights Campaign will host a panel discussion and workshop on Image & Language: Reclaiming Life incorporating presentations by artists Emma Campbell and Leszek Wolnik and an input by NUJ member Therese Caherty on the life, times and many political activism of feminist publishing house Attic Press.
On March 8, feminist historian Margaret McCurtain launches a plaque by sculptor Jackie McKenna to mark the considerable achievements of the Irish Women Workers Union. Along with the union's last serving general secretary Padraigin Ni Mhurchu, many feminists, trade unionists and other assorted lefties will gather to remember these brave women – who fought for and won two weeks' paid holidays for all Irish workers. This initiative by the IWWU Commemorative Committee is part of the 1913 calendar of events.
DUN LAOGHAIRE: 6-9 March 8.30pm. Dalkey players present the Irish premier of "Love, Loss and What I Wore". Kingston Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Tickets booking line 0879919261.
KILKENNY: 8 March 8pm. Project Women present "The Monologues". Original works created by women. Watergate Theatre, Parliament Street, Kilkenny.
More info at https://www.facebook.com/ProjectWomen?fref=ts
Other events -
The International Womens Day website has lots of news, events and information from around the world: http://www.internationalwomensday.com
Gender pay gap twice as large for women in their 50s
Women in their 50s earn nearly a fifth less than men of the same age – the widest gender pay gap of any age group – according to a TUC analysis.
Women in their 50s earn nearly a fifth less than men of the same age – the widest gender pay gap of any age group – according to a TUC analysis.
TUC Women's Conference
The TUC women's conference takes place from Wednesday 13 to Friday 15 March 2013. This conference is only open to nominated delegates from TUC affiliated unions. The theme this year is - Women: Organise and Mobilise!
The TUC Women’s Conference is a motions based conference which meets annually. A wide range of motions relating to issues of gender equality and women in the work.
Visit the TUC website for more details -
Abortion Rights public meeting
Abortion Rights 2013: Ireland, the UK and beyond.
Starts at 12 noon on Saturday 16 March followed by annual general meeting in London
Visit the abortion rights webiste for more details -
