International Women's Day celebration

Each year, around the world, International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8.

Tassie McDonald, Silen David, Lucy Stephen, Flora Matthew and Lency Pedro celebrate International Women’s Day at the Tagai Secondary Campus morning tea.

Hundreds of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.

And while the day is often seen as a day just for women, this was not the case at Tagai TAFE on Thursday Island.

The Mura Kosker Sorority joined with the TAFE to a different slant on their morning tea celebration by inviting men and boys from the TAFE to join in showing their support for women.

Speaking at the gathering, LJ Shibasaki said the day was about the boys appreciating women in their family and their lives, and acknowledging all the work they did for them.

“Hopefully when you go on to have your wives and daughters, you will be appreciative of what they do for you,” she said.

Lena Passi Women’s Shelter service manager Georgina Binjuda said it was important for teachers and students to show leadership in stamping out bullying in schools and among young males.

“Bullying can lead to domestic violence in later life,” Ms Binjuda said.

“At Lena Passi, we are running the Getting On program among 15- to 25-year-olds to help combat this.

“We are also working on a music DVD for the under 15s with an anti-bullying message.”

The Lena Passi Getting On program received a highly commended award in the Indigenous category of the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Awards in 2009.

The first IWD events were run in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland in 1911 and attended by over one million people.

100 years on, IWD has become a global phenomena celebrated across many countries, and is an official holiday in approximately 25 countries including Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Cambodia and Zambia.