International Women’s Day has become an important opportunity for many people to share their stories and highlight the gross inequality that still exists today. A day is nowhere near enough time to put forward all of the issues that women face but it is a day when the world listens.
As a poet, this day has given me a renewed perspective and a chance to learn from others and support good causes, like The Nelson Trust in Gloucestershire that does wonderful work supporting women in great need. Since I was a child I learned about inequality for women, from my mother’s perspective, and from what I saw on the TV and in films.
Back then, when children are filled with love and wide-eyed optimism, it baffled me as to why anyone was treated differently. Learning about the Suffragette movement at School and in books, as just one example, was a starling and painful thing for me to learn.
My poem, ‘Raised Voices’, was written back on the 8th March 2019 after being inspired by the powerful words shared at Raised Voices, the first charity poetry event organised by The Gloucestershire Poetry Society, in aid of International Women’s Day.
