A few dozen people marched through the streets of downtown Red Deer to mark International Women’s Day.
The event, which was hosted by Ubuntu: Mobilizing Central Alberta on Saturday morning, also featured a panel discussion at the Snell Auditorium in the Red Deer Public Library’s downtown branch.
The theme of this year’s event was “It Takes a Village to Break the Bias.” Through this, Ubuntu was looking to host conversations with women across central Alberta, challenging them to come together to break biases women often face in their communities.
“We think it’s important to have diverse voices on women’s issues every year because the issues change and so that people don’t get complacent,” said Dieulita Datus, Ubuntu community mobilizer.
“We want to ensure that local government is hearing what is being said, so we will be inviting the participants to write to local government for what their needs are.”
This was the fourth annual Women’s March. It’s a return to an in-person event after last year’s march was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s good to see people, to see their faces and their smiles. It’s good to be together. Sometimes a hug is good or a handshake, even fist-bumping or elbows. Just to be together is always a good thing,” said Datus.
Datus said Ubuntu wants to invite more people to look into women’s issues, and not just on International Women’s Day.
“Look at some of the issues affecting women: access to health care, equity, access to midwives. … It’s not just a day to post hashtags, but also to dig deep into some of the issues we’re facing,” she said.
Lisa Cowdery, a registered midwife, was one of the five speakers on the panel prior to the march.
“We’re in positions where we’re often receiving people who have gone through very standardized care and have had traumatic birth experiences because their identifies weren’t able to be accommodated,” she said, adding some are unable to access certain types of care due to systemic racism, homophobia, transphobia and other forms of discrimination.
“We usually come in and try to provide a different model of care where people are the centre decision-makers for themselves.”
The other panel participants: Shanzay Khan, a women and gender studies student at the University of Regina; Alex and Rhys Pugatschew, with the Red Deer Queer Community Association; and Chelsea O’Donoghue, donor relations manager at United Way Central Alberta.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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