By: Olivia Sherman, News Writer
Editor’s note: Karissa Ketter, a current editor who worked on the article, is an organizer of this event. The Peak acknowledges this and has taken steps to prevent conflicts of interest or potential bias from influencing the article.
With International Women’s Day (IWD) coming up in March, the International Women’s Day committee is planning a rally and march across Vancouver on March 3. The Peak reached out to an organizer for IWD Vancouver to learn more about the committee and the celebration of International Women’s Day.
The theme of this year’s march, they explained, is “Inspire Inclusion,” encouraging participants to think about the ways women and gender-diverse people “are represented (or not represented) in pop culture, the way that companies and organizations hire their staff, or the way that healthcare treats patients.” After several decades without an annual march, IWD Vancouver is now returning for its second year to “create an event that [brings] together different communities and create space” to uplift and support different groups and issues.
“There are so many pressing issues facing women and gender diverse people, both globally and locally,” the organizer explained. They cited the crisis in Gaza, the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), the rights and safety of transgender youth, and dwindling abortion rights in the United States. “There is so much evidence for changes that could be made to make the world a safer place for women and girls, yet, we’re still waiting.”
These different issues affecting women, girls, and gender-diverse people require support from various communities and experts. The march will feature speakers from SWAN, an initiative to help immigrant women in sex work, and QMUNITY, an organization to uplift and support transgender, gender-diverse, and Two-Spirit people.
The event faced challenges last year due to financial constraints from a lack of funding, but said they “were still able to pull off an amazing and well-attended march.” For this year’s event, IWD Vancouver expanded their team: they partnered with SFU Women’s Centre, and are sponsored by SFU’s Equity Office, the Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies, and the SFU Sexual Violence Support & Prevention Office.
“We are grateful for the funding, resources, and supports that areas within SFU have provided us,” the organizer said, which allows for expanded resources and increased funding. “The march feels like a success when we are able to provide a space for speakers from various lived experiences to share their story. I know myself and the other committee members felt immense pride and success when we saw everyone who came out to the march last year, when we listened to all the impactful speeches, and when we saw all the media coverage the march gained.”
The IWD committee hopes to see many new faces at this year’s march. “One of the most important things we can all do is take the time and initiative to educate ourselves about lived experiences outside of our own. When we look beyond our own experience, we find compassion for others and can use our own strength and power to help others.”
For more information on the IWD march in Vancouver, visit their website at www.vancouverwomensday.ca.
