International Women’s Day #BreakTheBias

Much of the world mark this day, the 8th of March, as the day to celebrate and be reminded of the achievements of women’s rights movements.

As we celebrate these achievements, we ought to simultaneously realise that this means different things for different communities.

For instance, just as European mainstream feminist movements have for so long time excluded Black women from its history and celebration of women’s achievements, International Women’s Day has historically left out Black women.

This exclusion obviously not being the result of a lack of desire in participating in the elimination of gender oppression but rather the result of a lasting and historical existence of anti-Blackness of first wave white feminist movements.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) is #BreakTheBias, with a particular focus on how to improve gender equality in the workplace. Bias (both conscious and unconscious) continues to hold women and companies back and employers need to continue being a part of the conversation in order to support, retain and positively advance all women in the workplace.

Nearly 60% of women regularly experience microaggressions at work and women of colour, LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities face even more acute biases.

We do believe that in remembering to take into account the at-times exclusionary histories of women’s rights movements and the ways in which biases and discrimination occur in the workplace, we can also realise the importance of recognising the intersecting oppressions of gender, sexuality, race, ability and class on this day.

As the microaggressions, mistreatments and biases that women will be experiencing at work also contribute to an overall oppressive system that perpetually places them at the margins of society.

We're proud that our founder Abi Adamson was featured as one of 100 leaders calling for societal change for women. You can read her words here in We Are The City's #BreakingTheBias

We’d like to think that the majority of us are trying to be on the right side of history here. Let’s #BreakTheBias together. 🌟

Tessa Overvoorde