Page 784 - Week 02 - Thursday, 10 March 2011
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expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world, which saw a booming population growth and the rise of rapid free thinking and practising of new ideologies.
The first official International Women’s Day was held in March 1911, making this year the global centenary. On this day in 1911 more than one million European men and women rallied throughout several European countries calling to allow women the right to vote, the right to work and the right to hold public office. For 100 years International Women’s Day has been drawing women together in unity and in friendships to celebrate past achievements and highlight social, economic and political issues.
The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many young women today believe that there is nothing left to fight for, that all the battles for women have been won, but there are many here in this room that will know that, while things are better, there is still so much more to be achieved.
That said, great improvements have been made. Women now have real choices. The tone of International Women’s Day has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder of the negatives to a celebration of the positives. One positive victory for women and the women’s movement overall is the story of Anne Summers and her determination to establish Australia’s first women’s refuge, Elsie, in Sydney in 1974.
I, along with Ms Hunter, earlier this week attended the ACT Women’s Services Network’s International Women’s Day breakfast, and there I had the pleasure of hearing Elizabeth Broderick, the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination, speak about Anne Summers and Elsie. I just wanted to share this positive story of courage and determination today.
During the 1970s a wave of feminism was swelling across Sydney, and Anne Summers, along with other like-minded women, acknowledged the need for a safe haven, a space where women could gather and meet and safely remove themselves from domestic violence situations. Summers and her colleagues found a perfectly-suited abandoned house located in the Sydney suburb of Glebe. However, this house was owned by a local church, who refused permission to access for the purpose of a refuge. But it seems apparent now that this did not dampen or hinder Anne Summers. Indeed, it could be said to have encouraged her and her passion to help women and champion women’s safety.
One evening Summers and her friends took up their shovels, enthusiasm and courage and indeed broke into this abandoned house in Glebe and established their ownership as squatters and christened their house Elsie women’s refuge. Shortly after entering into Elsie and setting up the refuge, women from all across Sydney were coming together and fleeing from their violent homes and openly discussing their stories with one another. From this courageous act, led by Anne Summers, the women’s refuge movement had begun.
Madam Assistant Speaker, this is just one of the many positive victories that we now recognise and reflect upon as we come together to celebrate International Women’s Day. Though we reflect on the positives, we must also acknowledge that there is still some way to go.
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