A day before International Women’s Day (IWD), campus groups united to “Accelerate Action” for gender equity.
In celebration of IWD, Queen’s Women’s Network (QWN), Women in Science at Queen’s (WiSQ), and Women in Engineering came together to honour the contributions of women on campus and push for continued efforts towards gender equity. Held around noon in the Biosciences Complex on March 7, the event embraced this year’s theme—Accelerate Action inspiring attendees to tackle gender equity through action and momentum. IWD is observed annually on March 8.
The annual celebration drew approximately 50 students, staff, and faculty, kicking off with a speech from Marina Darling, Queen’s Organizational Development consultant and QWN committee member, who highlighted the significance of IWD.
“IWD is celebrated annually on March 8, and it honours the achievements of women across all aspects of life, social, economic, cultural and political, while also advocating for gender equality,” Darling said.
In a statement to The Journal, Darling reflected on the importance of hosting such events, emphasizing their role in fostering inclusivity and momentum toward equity.
“Everyone has a part to play in accelerating gender equality. This event amplifies voices all around the world who are working tirelessly towards this mission. As a woman in today’s world, I feel it’s of the utmost [importance] to build community and connection that enables us to take tangible, measurable steps towards gender equality,” Darling said.
Dr. Patricia Lima, WiSQ founder and assistant adjunct professor at the Queen’s Cardiopulmonary Unit, followed Darling, speaking to the audience about the significance of this year’s theme.
“We [women] must accelerate actions and strengthen our collaboration with those who have the power to enforce policies to promote equity and to combat gender-based violence and discrimination,” Lima said.
In an interview with The Journal, Lima explained how the theme reminds her that inequities for women still exist despite collective efforts to solve them.
“With the current situation that the world is coming to, I said, wait a minute, I think I’m wrong,” she said, referencing the recent cultural shift against diversity, equity and inclusion in the United States, where President Trump, upon re-election, dismantled programs ing these values. “Those inequities are still up there, but they’re in a different form and shape. We need to address those [inequities] in a different way,” she said.
In an interview with The Journal, Robyn Binsfeld, a neuroscience PhD student said IWD to her means involvement from all genders to address inequities between genders—not just women.
“It’s really nice being around a bunch of other groups that kind of have the same vision and goals as we do.” Binsfeld said. “I feel a lot of times like we’re somewhat alone in our mission and what we’re trying to accomplish.”
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