By Wiktoria Huber
On March 8th we celebrated International Women’s Day, as well as the 10th anniversary of the Bristol Woman’s commission chaired by Penny Gane.
Attending the commission was a wonderful experience, surrounded by an incredible and diverse group of people from many networks around Bristol acting on national and international levels collaborating together to help deliver the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life. The commission reflected on the past 10 years of work, highlighting their significant accomplishments. One of their achievements was improving the inclusion of women’s health into national and regional policy, increased the number of women in Bristol City Council and launching a successful Bristol Women in Business Charter to improve the lives of women in the workplace, of which UWE is a signatory.
The commission also recognised the pressing concern for women’s safety and worked with partners, including the police, to address male violence against women. Additionally, we heard from Oona Goldsworthy, Chief Executive of Brunelcare and Co-Chair of the One City Homes and Communities Board, who addressed the issue of homelessness and unaffordable housing, which significantly affects women. Since the BWC began working on this, women that are in danger of violence and abuse have been put into the first category for accessing social housing.
It was an honour to be involved in the 10th anniversary of the Bristol Women’s commission, surrounded by inspirational women who are making progress in tackling the challenges faced by women and celebrating the commissions accomplishments over the years!