Skip to content

International Women’s Day celebrated in Parksville

CFUW puts on well-attended event at the Parksville Community Centre
20849537_web1_200310-PQN-Womens-Day-women_1
Dr. Louise Mandell in Parksville on International Women’s Day. (Kelsey McLean photo)

An International Women’s Day event in Parksville was all about celebrating women and how they’ve overcome sexism, but also about acknowledging that society is far from reaching gender equality.

Almost 100 people showed up to the event put on by the Parksville-Qualicum chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women. Indigenous rights lawyer and VIU Chancellor Dr. Louise Mandell spoke at the event, using her own experience as a way to talk about broadening women’s rights.

“The feedback we were getting from a lot of the women was that it was a very positive thing and that they thoroughly enjoyed listening to Dr. Louise Mandell,” said co-ordinator for the International Women’s Day committee, Jacqueline Russell. “It was a good thing that we put this on for the community.”

READ MORE: CFUW hosts International Women’s Day event in Parksville

CFUW president Valerie Gunn said it’s women in privleged situations that need to help all other women succeed, because “we all pull each other along.”

She spoke at the event about acknowledging the accomplishments of women across the world, and also about ending gender inequality. She pointed to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, a report which included 167 reccomendations on how to reduce gender inequality in Canada. It was released 50 years ago this year.

“In 1961, when they were starting this, that women had four or five jobs, secretary, nurse, teacher, factory worker — that was basically it,” she said, about the report. “So, in some ways we are celebrating how far we have come, but we’re also well aware of how far we have to go.”

International Women’s Day was celebrated and acknowledged across the world on Sunday, March 8.

cloe.logan@pqbnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter