The Okotoks United Church and the Rowan House Society are teaming up for another International Women’s Day celebration on March 8.
As part of the One Billion Rising campaign, Rowan House and United Church are hosting a walk and potluck dinner for the past five years to fight for gender equality and to bring awareness to violence against women for the fifth year.
“Rowan House Society is an organization that provides safety and protection for women and children fleeing domestic violence,” said Ally Cramm, community relations co-ordinator for Rowan House. “We have an emergency shelter in High River serving all of the Foothills, and our mandate is also to do work in the community, to raise awareness about domestic violence, and bring an end to violence.
“So this One Billion Rising global movement is all about ending violence against women, and violence in all its forms, really fits within our mandate so it was something we decided we wanted to be involved in.”
According to the One Billion Rising campaign site, “One Billion Rising is the biggest mass action to end violence against women (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender-based violence) in human history.”
Originally launching on Feb. 14, 2012 in order to call others to action based on the statistic that one in three women will be beaten or raped during her lifetime, adding up to more than one billion women and girls amongst the total world population.
The worldwide movement has been featured in the Foothills since 2014, when Rowan House
organized its own One Billion Rising march that is held alternately in Okotoks and High River each year.
“Rowan House got involved in 2014, and we move the event between High River and Okotoks each year, and this year we’re back in High River,” said Cramm. “We gather a bunch of our partners in the community and we do a short, peaceful march through the downtown core of either town, and try to raise awareness that we will not tolerate violence.”
While the march is taking place in High River this year, the Okotoks United Church will be hosting the potluck dinner celebration, which is free to attend, on March 8 at 5:30 p.m.
Carol Price, one of the event organizers at the United Church, is passionate about International Women’s Day and what it means to be involved.
“International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world in lots of different ways, and it’s just a way for us [the United Church] to recognize all the contributions that women have made in all areas, and an opportunity to talk about equity for women in the work force, in the community here in Canada,” she said. “It’s quite amazing what happens in the world on International Women’s Day, so this [event] was something that we could do here.”
The potluck celebration is free to attend and will feature artists from the Foothills displaying their work, as well as a guest speaker, Sinela Jurkova. As a doctorate student, Jurkova will be speaking on her studies in multiculturalism and the challenges women face around the world, and how that affects their experiences when they come to Canada.
For the dinner itself, Price said they usually have around 30 to 40 people attend. Dinner offers a selection of potluck meals, a sparkling juice toast to the International Women’s Day. Speaking to the impact of the march on the community, Cramm said it’s about awareness and challenging people’s thoughts, and is a positive part of the community.
“I think it’s just a great reminder to the communities that we need to challenge social norms, and we’ve had a lot of people come out and support this over the years, so we know that it is something that the community agrees with and it’s great to see people participate in that solidarity,” said Cramm.
