This International Women’s Day 2021, we decided to connect with inspiring women championing inclusion at UBC to hear their reflections on this day and perspectives on a more equitable and inclusive future.
Sociology student in the Faculty of Arts
Legal Assistant at Dhanu Dhaliwal Law Group
Over the course of this pandemic, many people including myself have used social media as a platform to advocate for marginalized communities. It has been evident during this pandemic just where women have been placed in many global issues. An important topic for me that I would like to shine a light on is the Kisaan (Farmers) Protest occurring in India. This protest is about farmers who have been forced to condone three bills that the Indian government has approved and implemented. As individuals that are living oceans away, as advocates who want to speak up for marginalized communities, social media has become a platform to advocate for these issues and to bring awareness to what is happening globally. The Kisaan protest is the largest protest to occur in human history, and women have been a large contributor to it. Elderly women to young girls are at the border – cooking, cleaning and holding their ground for their rights. They are fighting for the previous, present and future generations and fighting to get recognized as equals in this nation that continues to dehumanize its marginalized communities.
This International Woman’s day I want to focus not only on the woman who has broken the glass ceiling but the women who are still beneath the ceiling, cleaning up at the shards of glass leftover. The women who are lifting other women to reach the top, the ones who may not be recognized and often neglected, the ones who are seen as disposable, the ones that are never credited and the ones that help others in various ways that often go unseen. I want to challenge the norm of only celebrating only the women who have succeeded but also celebrating the women who have been the support systems.