March 8 is designated around the world as International Women’s Day, a day for recognizing women’s achievements, as well as the inequities that women face. This year, the United Nations’ theme is Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality, focusing on the UN’s 2030 Agenda. The theme for Status of Women Canada – #YouAreEmpowerment – is also about working towards gender equality.
At MediaSmarts, the issues affecting women in media and online are important concerns that we work to address through our educational resources and awareness programs. This International Women’s Day, we invite you to familiarize yourself with digital and media issues facing girls and women and help to support this year’s theme of gender equity by using and sharing our resources:
- Representation of Women and Girls in the Media Portal
- Encountering Racist and Sexist Content Online
- Deconstructing Online Hate
- Half Girl, Half Face Workshop
- Body Image – Girls
- Talking to Your Kids About Sexting – Tip Sheet
We encourage you to share your favourite resources and advice on social media, using the #IWD2016 and #YouAreEmpowerment hashtags. We also encourage you to let us know how you’re supporting media issues affecting women, whether on International Women’s Day or year-round. To do this, you can tweet at us, post on our Facebook page, or send an email to info@mediasmarts.ca.