EMBRACING equity is understanding that if life was a race, not all women push off from the same starting block.
This International Women's Day (IWD), women and allies across the Hunter called for collective action to shift the goal posts, to recognise that women come from different circumstances and to give them what they need to reach the same success.
We all have a responsibility to see each other as connected and linked, not ranked, Hummingbird Centre director Dr Rickie Elliott said at a Zonta Club of Hunter Newcastle IWD event at Warners Bay on Wednesday morning.
"We come here today not only to celebrate, but to collectively imagine the movement for the next phase forward in creating a gender equal future," she said.
"A word free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination in which equity is nothing less than a non-negotiable, must-have need."
As a psychologist and domestic violence survivor, she talked about the gender role socialisation and conditioning that young women and men carry into adulthood - and the barrier it poses to achieving true equity.
She said women are raised to be self-sacrificing, to nurture others, please others and be agreeable - and that as a result women feel less entitled to meet their own needs than men do.
"We must harness our collective voices and stand together with passionate force to overcome general socialisation practices, and teach children about this yin and yang to counteract the gender role socialisation stereotypes we've all been steeped in," she said.
"I've used my voice to free myself, my children and to hold strong boundaries and thrive.
"My legs often buckled under the pain of escaping this, but a strong army of very strong women surrounded me and supported me through it. They carried me in their strength when I was struggling."
And, there was no shortage of strong, ambitious and impressive women celebrating IWD in the Hunter.
Founder of Got Ya Back Sista Melissa Histon, a non-profit that supports women escaping domestic violence, was awarded Zonta's inaugural Marcia Seymour Dane Woman of Achievement Award for her selfless support of others.
In Newcastle, an impressive panel including award-winning screenwriter and humanitarian Vanessa Alexander, as well as Darwish Ahmadzai who helped her get Afghan women to safety, Friends of Refugees Newcastle head Richelle Aiken, Prosperity Advisers director Megan Smith and Afghan doctor Tooba Azami discussed the meaning of true equity.
Ms Alexander shared her story about how with the help of her sisters, Mr Ahmadzai and friends, she saved 25 Afghan women facing retribution from the Taliban.
What started as a compassion project became something of a personal mission - going on to help more than 100 women and their families out of the country, almost 60 of which now live around Newcastle.
"If there's one thing I can say it's that we can make a difference," she said.
"We can make a difference to other people's lives in a really significant way."
Ms Alexander was also presented with the key to the city by mayor Nuatali Nelmes.
Cr Nelmes said the theme of embracing equity is about recognising each person comes from different circumstances and not everyone is given the same resources and opportunities to reach an equal outcome.
"I really like this year's theme, because I think those words and that they mean and working towards them is the challenge of International Women's Day," she said.
"It's not only understanding those words, but also knowing not everyone is born with the same equal opportunities to get to equity.
"I'm sure all of us in this room collectively want equity and strive for equity."
The Newcastle event raised $3200 for Ms Alexander's chosen charity, refugee support service Talent Beyond Boundaries.
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