International Women’s Day activity
Friends took part in a range of events to mark International Women's Day
Friends around the country came together to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, with events ranging from film screenings to workshops and discussions. Doncaster Meeting House hosted a ‘Women in Business Day’, while Friargate Quakers held an International Women’s Day Celebration organised by the group Unite the Union and presented by MP Rachael Maskell.
In Friends House, London, a room was let to London Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group, for a public meeting on ‘Women, Race, Class and Gender’. The panel featured speaker Kiri Tunks from the controversial campaigning group Women’s Place UK; as well as Pragna Patel, of Southall Black Sisters; and Mary Davis, of Marx Memorial Library. Women’s Place UK was the group that Brighton Meeting House cancelled a booking from last July, after accusations that the group engaged in transphobic debate. Supporters stressed at the time that the group was founded to ensure women’s voices would be heard in the consultation on proposals to change the Gender Recognition Act.
The debate on 8 March examined the causes of oppression and challenges faced by the women’s movement today.
Juliet Prager, deputy recording clerk, told the Friend: ‘While discussing some of these issues, like gender, Quakers find there are many, nuanced, complex experiences and views. What unites Quakers is respect for each person as a unique and precious child of God. That leads Quakers to be open and inclusive.’
There were also lively discussions on ‘how creativity can overcome public indifference to asylum issues’ and ‘special problems faced by female asylum seekers’ led by lawyer Jennifer Obaseki at Oxford Meeting House on 9 March. The talks followed a ‘Lost and Found’ event from the organisation Freedom from Torture’s ‘Write to Life’ group, which shared what it billed as ‘moving, surprising, darkly humorous stories’. A spokesperson from Freedom from Torture told the Friend that the organisation ‘felt very supported by Quakers’. She said there was ‘an audience of about fifty. It was part of Oxford International Women’s Festival.’
Leeds Meeting House hosted a stitching workshop with textile artist Deborah Mullins, whose work is based around Palestine. The event supported a screening of the film ‘Stitching Palestine’ as part of the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival. The film chronicles the life stories of twelve Palestinian women, connected by the thread of the ancient art of embroidery.
The Quakers in Britain website celebrated the day by publishing a list of ‘eight badass Quaker women’ which included Friend Lyndsay Burtonshaw, one of the Stansted Fifteen protestors. The list, created by Suki Ferguson, communications officer for Quaker Peace & Social Witness, includes ‘fearless, authentic, compassionate and ethical’ Quaker women such as Anna Maria Fox who co-founded the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society in 1833.
