Martha Perry - International Women's Day

Martha Perry, Head Teacher of St Clement's School, Canada talks about why as a girls’ school of privilege, it is vital that we highlight that the theme of International Women's Day this year hones in on the theme ALL as there continues to be a gap in equality of rights between men and women in all nations.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

My name is Martha Perry, and I am the principal at St. Clement School, a day school for girls in Toronto, Canada, and a member of the Round Square. As a member school of Round Square, it will be no surprise that our belief in and adherence to the ideals of Round Square is important to us. The facilitation of learning that broadens our students' international knowledge and experiences and impresses upon them the importance of democracy, environmentalism, adventure, leadership and service is imperative. As a girls' school, the imperative of understanding the implications for girls and young women globally is equally important. This year, the United Nations has determined the theme for International Women's Day to be rights, justice, action for all women and girls. For our community of over 480 girls, ages six to eighteen, beyond the empowerment that a girls' school creates for girls and women, our International Women's Day Assembly is a time to raise awareness and encourage learning and thinking about the importance of International Women's Day itself. This day has been officially recognized by the United Nations since 1977. As a girls' school of privilege, it is vital that we highlight that the theme this year hones in on the word all, as there continues to be a gap in equality of rights between men and women in all nations. As the United Nations has shared in their information about International Women's Day, in fundamental areas of life, including work, money, safety, family, property, mobility, business, and retirement, the law systematically disadvantages women. From harmful social norms to discriminatory laws, women and girls continue to face entrenched obstacles, even pushback to equal justice. We are grateful to our members of our Women's Empowerment Club, who, as a part of their planning for the International Women's Day Assembly, will be talking to our junior school students about the right to go to school, our middle school students about human rights in general, to our staff about the meaning of justice for all women and girls, and to our senior school students about specific actions we can take to show support for women and girls around the world. Video clips of those discussions will be shared at our assembly on March 3rd. An added bonus at this assembly is that we will also celebrate the day with a special performance by our school's chamber choir called Oh Sister, a beautiful choral piece by a Canadian composer, Kathleen Allen, that emphasizes the power of sisterhood. As a girls' school, International Women's Day is a wonderful time in which to celebrate and call our students to action. As any school, girls, boys, or co ed, it is also time in which to call people to action to ensure that we can close the gap on gender equality. Happy International Women's Day, everyone.