The second annual International Women’s Day Symposium helped raise awareness for issues facing women in modern-day society. The event was sponsored by Amnesty International and the Lore-El Center for Women’s Leadership with over 10 additional student organizations participating in the event. Originally planned for March 8, the International Women’s Day Symposium had to be postponed to Thursday, March 22 due to inclement weather conditions.
“International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8th since 1975 to reflect on advancements in women’s rights, gender parity, and to celebrate women around the world,” explained Penelope Halkiadakis, President of Amnesty International’s Stevens chapter. The theme for this year’s symposium was #PressforProgress, and presentations by different student organizations at the symposium addressed serious inequalities women face that restrict their everyday lives. The organizations included sororities Delta Phi Epsilon, Sigma Delta Tau, Omega Phi Beta, Alpha Phi, and Theta Phi Alpha, as well as fraternities Kappa Sigma and Sigma Nu, Stevens’ Panhellenic Council, SAVE, Society of Women Engineers, Indian Undergraduate Association, and Women’s Club Volleyball.
“This is Amnesty’s second year hosting [the event],” explained Dhivya Shankar, seated at the table for Lore-El. “We love seeing the clubs come out and educate the Stevens community of the issues that women around the world face.”
Issues tackled at the symposium included cardiac health, gender-based violence, child marriage, menstruation awareness, women in STEM, poverty and homelessness, body positivity, anorexia nervosa and associated disorders, minority women in higher education, rape culture in India, genital mutilation, women and climate refugees, online violence, the Mexico City policy, gender punishment, and indigenous women’s rights.
Next week is Lore-El Programs’ Week of Women. Check out the schedule for their events on their Facebook page.
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