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Trinity Students and Staff Celebrate International Women’s Day
Trinity College Dublin staff and students rallied together to host a week of events to celebrate International Women’s Day 2012. Each year the College celebrates women’s contributions in different artistic and scientific fields with a weeklong programme of events marking Trinity's participation in a global campaign for rights and equality.
Trinity’s International Women’s Week 2012 featured a range of original events, talks and activities. The celebration commenced in the College’s Front Square with a Fly a Kite for Women’s Rights in Afghanistan event. The symbol of the kite was chosen to represent the discrimination that still confronts women and girls in Afghanistan.
Other highlights of the week included a panel discussion, Shadows and Lights, which explored the role of women in Irish visual culture featuring practitioners from different fields of art, architecture, digital animation and art history. The event aimed to create new levels of awareness of women’s contributions to Irish visual culture and provided dynamic platforms for further exploration and debate. Panellists included performance artist Amanda Coogan, art historian Isabella Evangelista, Professor of Visual Computing Carol O'Sullivan and architect Ruth O'Herlihy. Another event, Feminism in Literature, reflected on gender and feminism in literature and featured participants from the Anti-Room and the DU Gender Equality Society.
Speaking About Sexual Violence provided the College with a platform to address an issue that is still silenced and ignored. This event included voices from the various organisations that work to prevent sexual assault and to support survivors of violence in the country. The discussion was chaired by Senator Ivana Bacik. There was also an opportunity for men to participate in raising awareness about sexual violence and women’s rights at the Step in Her Shoes event.
International Women’s Day was first commemorated in 1911 following increasing demands across the industrialised world for better working conditions and voting rights for women. It has since grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across the developed and developing world. For more information see www.internationalwomensday.com