ARC celebrates those women who inspire us
On the occasion of IDW and leading into CSW61,Ā ARC celebrates those women who inspire us. By Kim Vance.
By Kim Vance
Dear friends –
On the occasion of International Womenās Day, and leading into the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women, we would like honour and acknowledge the brave and courageous women who work to challenge discrimination, violence, gender norms, threats to bodily integrity and safety, lack of access to education, and the list goes on. ARCās politics are unapologetically feminist and we seek to constantly affirm and elevate the voices of women in this movement. We celebrate all women in this vision, and resist enforced binaries and definitions that seek to strip anyone of dignity and self-determination.
As a Canadian woman, I draw inspiration and give credit today to the brave Canadian women that shaped my politics growing up in an essentially segregated rural community in Nova Scotia. In looking for someone to profile internationally, I cannot think of a more fitting tribute than Viola Desmond, a civil rights leader from my own home town of New Glasgow, who has now become the first woman (other than the Queen) to be featured on Canadian currency. Money talks, as we often hear, and as we head into two weeks of discussion around womenās economic empowerment at the CSW, letās celebrate those women who inspire us.
