Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care

International Women’s Day: celebration, advocacy, protest

On Friday 8 March the world marks UN International Women’s Day. This week our students in Years 5-12 have been involved in a number of initiatives from our own Student Leadership panel at assembly, attendance at lunches, seminars and forums. A number of our students will also be attending the Ex-Students’ Association International Women’s Day event on Thursday 7 March. In all these environments the aim is to celebrate women, promote further steps towards equality, encourage, inspire and promote hope for a more equal future for all women around the world.

Back when I was a child there was such a thing as Children’s Day – in my world this was the last day of the Easter Show where the entrance fee and all show bags were half price. At the time, my grandmother was known to say ‘in this day and age every day is children’s day, you don’t need a special day!’ Some may say the same for International Women’s Day and we are lucky in a school such as Santa Sabina that this could be seen to be the case because of our primary aim of ensuring all students have equal opportunities and equal access to success. However, this is not the case for all women and girls around the world. At our International Women’s Day assembly on Tuesday 5 March, representatives of the Santa Sabina Girl Up club spoke to the assembly about gender equality issues they have been exploring as well as providing the audience with important information about the origins and purpose of IWD. Their words are worth repeating here.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress. 

This year’s theme emphasises the need to address economic gaps between men and women. By addressing economic inequality, we can also address related issues such as unequal career opportunities, lack of leadership and representation opportunities, and poverty. The theme aims to improve greater economic inclusion for women and girls globally by empowering them to learn, earn and lead. After all, how can we hope to reach gender equality without equal access to financial services, literacy, education and employment? 

For the first time, data on the gender pay gap has been released for over 5 000 Australian companies, linking previously anonymous data to specific companies. The average gender pay gap is 21.7% across all industries, with some industries having a pay gap of over 40%. That means that for every 78 cents a woman makes, a man makes $1 which indicates an underrepresentation of women in high paying roles and leadership positions, which are vital opportunities to ensure that women’s voices and perspectives are heard and acknowledged.

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to both acknowledge the issues concerning women’s rights while working towards addressing these inequalities, but also offers a chance to reflect on the positive improvements that are occurring. 

It can sometimes feel as if we sit through these assemblies each year, and are presented with a whole new range of problems that women across the world face with no tangible solutions; and although it is so important to be aware of these issues and working towards solutions, we also want to remind you that through collective, united action, whether it be advocacy, fundraising, political involvement and so on, change is being made. As the theme references, it is now our task to accelerate this progress.

While we stand here today with disappointment at the slow pace of progress, we also stand here today with hope. Hope that our united action can make a difference. Hope that the lessons and ideas that we learn and develop here will empower us all to forge our way in the world, in spite of the disparities that exist. 

Hope that we, the young women of today, will have the confidence and power to fight for the change that we wish to see for tomorrow.

The College looks forward to seeing the Girl Up club flourish and grow into the future.

Melanie van der Meer
Deputy Principal Mission and Pastoral Care