International Women’s Week

From the 18th to the 22nd of April, Wallington High School for Girls has been holding International Women’s Week. Nishi Shah, a Senior Prefect who helped organise the week, shed light on some of the events that took place.

What is International Women’s Week? What’s the purpose of it?

International Women's Week is something the Senior Prefect Team created, it's basically an extension of International Women's Day. The purpose of it was to celebrate our power and achievements as young women and also embrace international cultures.

What different activities have been taking place at school throughout the week, in honour of International Women’s Week?

There were numerous activities held last week, the main ones being during form time. We had activities such as quizzes which enabled everyone to learn more about inspirational women in history and what they achieved even if the society they lived in was a hindrance to them. We also tried to make it more relevant to the girls in the school, so one of the activities was a 'Wallington's Wonder Women' award show for each form. Each form had 5 certificates all different categories and the form had to nominate people they thought deserved the award best. There were categories like 'most inspirational', 'most likely to be the next prime minister' and 'most likely to be the next Beyoncé'! This was a really good way to celebrate each others' achievements and boost some people's confidence a little bit. The main event we had was International Women's Day. This was when you came into school wearing your international dress (or someone else's!), everyone had to pay £1 and the money went to charities chosen by the Senior Prefect Team. we had an international food stall at lunch with foods from many different places such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Wales, Norway and many more. We also had one of our senior prefects teach a Beyoncé empowerment dance mixed with some Afro beats in the hall. This was a really fun day, everyone got to embrace different cultures, not just their own.

Why do you feel the week/feminism is important?

International Women's Week was important as it was a reminder of how far women have come but also a reminder of how far we have to go. As young women that will go out into the world fairly soon, it's important to have that faith and belief in yourself because when you get out there, people may not be as supportive. In terms of culture too, the week was very important. I think most people are born and brought up here in the UK and often our original culture and heritage becomes something to feel embarrassed about because it is too 'fresh' or 'weird'. It was good for people to have a day where they came in their international dress and everyone else was dressed differently, hopefully this showed them that it's okay to look different once in a while and it's okay to go out in public with your international dress. Hopefully from this people realised that people are not as judgemental as they seem, and hopefully the week of celebration encouraged them to be proud of their culture instead of embarrassed.

What is feminism to you?

To me, feminism is simply the equality of men and women (I think that's what the dictionary says too!). There's a huge stigma around feminism and that it is 'man hating' and want women to be above men, but that's not the case at all! When you're young, it's very easy to fall into the trap of not wanting to be labelled as a feminist because of what other people think feminism is or how its portrayed in the media.

Would you encourage other schools to hold a similar week?

I definitely encourage other schools to have an International Women's Week, especially girls' schools. The atmosphere that was apparent throughout the school through the whole week was one of mutual support and respect. To me, it really highlights the reality of modern day feminism and what women can achieve when they work together.

By Shivani Bhatt, Wallington High School for Girls