“It’s
hard to prevent people taking drugs because
they don’t have places to spend their
time.”
–Farzana
Abduljhafoor |
|
The aim of International
Women’s Day is to unite women all over the world
from different cultural, economical and political backgrounds
to promote equality and put women’s issues on
the agenda.
At a recent health event at Verdon Recreation
Centre, I spoke to women about issues affecting them
and what International Women’s Day means to them.
Fatima Musa, Community Health and Development
worker, said:
“There is drug/khat use in the
area, but people don’t talk about it openly. Women
are the ones who pick up the pieces, it’s either
their partners or sons who are the drug users. Local
events for women can offer guidance and support.”
But drug use is only one of the issues
affecting women in the area, the focus of the event
to celebrate International Women’s Day (advertised
below) will be wider. Saduf Khan, Parental Involvement
worker from Burngreave and Firvale SureStart told me
there would be workshops in the morning and pampering
sessions in the afternoon. She said: “We want
to encourage the women to be seen not just as mothers,
but to have time for themselves and to show their full
potential.”
|
“We want
to do many things but we need different
facilities. For example, a place to do massage
or prepare different kinds of food from
many countries.”
–
Anhad Sharif |
|
Farzana Abduljhafoor believes these events
allow women, especially from ethnic minorities, to learn
about health and beauty, food and to overcome language
barriers. She said: “It’s important that
women are involved in community groups and learn from
them so they can help prepare themselves for work and
to care for children.”
It seems however, that International Women’s
Day itself is not much of an event in Burngreave; many
of the women I spoke to were not aware of it. Chetna
Patel of North Sheffield Primary Care Trust said: “We
need to raise awareness about what it is. We say international;
that means different cultures and countries, but people
from different cultural backgrounds don’t know
about it. One of the aims of International Women’s
Day is to praise women who have fought for equality
and women’s rights, but ethnic minority women
do not appear to receive any of the credit.”
It seems we need more events to celebrate
International Women’s Day, to give all women the
chance to get involved and to get the recognition they
deserve.
|
