The 8th Annual International Women’s Day Festival will be held this Sunday in Baker Ballroom
Ohio University’s Women’s Center promises engaging conversation on women’s issues to go along with a celebration of women’s achievements through the ages through its 8th annual International Women’s Day Festival.
Although International Women’s Day falls on March 8, the festival will be held Sunday in Baker University Center Ballroom in celebration of the day and Women’s History Month.
“International Women’s Day … focuses more specifically on a more global view of the issues that are affecting women worldwide and ways that we can improve living for women worldwide,” Sarah Jenkins, the program coordinator of the Women’s Center said.
Presentations on international women and gender issues along with musical performances and fashion shows are what people can look forward to at the event, Jenkins said. The event will also have vendors, as well as a crafting and a child-play section.
According to Jenkins, the festival has been a huge event at OU with more than 600 attendees in the past few years.
Monica Hatfield Price and Zamzam A. Jama, who are both graduate students at OU, will be hosting the event this year.
“One of the things (about) International Women’s Day is that it reminds all of us that (we’re not alone) in our concerns about women’s issues,” Price, a Ph. D student in the Patton College of Education, said.
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The theme decided by the United Nations for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality.”
Gender equality cannot be achieved without action, Price said. As such, the event is a safe space for people to discuss the topic with other like-minded people.
“(The event) brings awareness to the plights that women are facing (and at the same time) it brings awareness to the moments of celebration of things that women have accomplished,” Jama, a Ph. D student in health communications, said.
Problems that affect women such as the gender wage gap and how violent situations disproportionately affect women are among topics that are not often discussed or addressed in public, Jenkins said.
“It’s important that we’re still talking about issues that are disproportionately affecting women and making sure that people are aware that these things are still happening,” she said.
Jama said the event not only helps educate people who are beginning their process about learning more about those issues, but also recognizes people “who have been fighting for the rights of women … and have been more aware of what’s happening within the space of womanhood across the world.”
“It gives an opportunity to validate that what they’re doing is good and that they should continue to do so,” Jama said.
Price said the title of International Women’s Day may turn some people away as they may not associate with the subject or gender, however, the day is about welcoming everybody to the conversation.
“I just want to make sure that everyone knows that the event is open, and we would love everyone to come and celebrate and be inspired by the contributions,” Price said.
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