Page 754 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 21 March 2017
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exactly what women can achieve when they are given the opportunity. I hope many more women follow in her footsteps.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (10.36): I rise to speak in support of this statement. I thank Minister Berry for speaking on this issue and discussing what she and the government have been doing for gender equality. Since our last session I have been busy out in my electorate and would like to talk about how these policies will affect women in Yerrabi and how Yerrabi has been addressing these issues.
Late last year I had the pleasure of meeting some of the young women enrolled at Harrison school. At the time they were approaching college and starting to consider their career paths. Talking to them about this, I was reminded of the diversity of young women. Some were interested in becoming writers, others were pursuing careers in engineering, and we talked about the underrepresentation of women in STEM. These young women are driven and enthusiastic and it is up to us to support them. We discussed ways of obtaining leadership roles for women and the importance of mentoring.
It was a matter of personal importance to the students that efforts to increase women’s representation in positions of power are inclusive and intersectional. It was encouraging to see our young people recognise that gender discrimination experienced by them and others differs when combined with factors such as race, age, ability and ethnicity.
I was also able to attend Gungahlin College’s International Women’s Day forum with Minister Berry. We heard students of all genders engage community leaders in debate on how to achieve gender equality and we were able to talk to the students before the event. At one stage a young man enrolled at the school described his confusion at the introduction of women traffic light symbols in Melbourne. He inquired of a female friend, who explained the symbolic significance of the change and what it meant to her. It was incredibly encouraging to see the productive discussion such a seemingly trivial change had generated and the way our young men are looking to learn about, rather than dismiss, women’s issues.
Earlier that day some of the young women attending Gungahlin College were invited to discuss their thoughts about International Women’s Day with Louise Maher on 666 Canberra. For these young women, being a woman means experiencing challenges not faced by men. While these girls are aware of structural boundaries for women, it is more often cultural and behavioural expectations that affect them day to day.
The issues they raised included media influence and body image, gender roles, and double standards and contradiction. They acknowledged the women who had gone before them in the fight against patriarchy and highlighted the international aspect of International Women’s Day. While they acknowledged Australia’s privileged position internationally and their privilege within their communities, they reiterated the importance of international resistance against gender-based discrimination and disadvantage.
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