International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day for celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women within the community, and the day also represents a call to action for accelerating gender parity.  International Women's Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action.

This year's theme is "Each for Equal" with a focus on what everyone can do to create an equal world for all. A gender equal world can be healthier, wealthier and more harmonious - so what's not great about that? 

Despite progress over the last 50 years, we still see significant inequality for women in all facets of the community - with skewed gender bias' prevalent across corporate, government, sporting, health and wealth sectors.  For the team at SSFS, we see how gender inequality in relationships plays out on a daily basis, and the harmful repercussions for family life. This enables domestic violence, when power and control in one's life is not shared equally.

Recognising that gender equality is actually freeing for men as well should make it an appealing construct to aim towards, but when so much of people's identities is caught up in gender stereotypes, it's a hard position to shift away from. The SSFS team actively work towards encouraging and supporting the women we encounter - with all our programs and services recognising the trauma experienced but working from a strengths based position to support women in their future endeavours. 

Individually though, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions and improve situations. So this International Women's Day, we're asking you all to do the same - think about your world, and how you can fight for equality for all.

In our offices, we'll be celebrating on Monday with a morning tea, acknowledging the amazing work of all the incredible women who work in our organisation, and who, with the support of amazing men both at work and home, achieve incredible things in improving the lives of other women and children in our community.

We hope at this time, you're also reflecting on the incredible contributions of women in your lives, and reaching out to thank them for everything they do.

Image Credit: .https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

You can join the #Eachforequal movement! Feel free to take your "Equal" pose (like the one above) and share it with us!