Amethyst Celebrates the Centennial Anniversary of International Women's Day

March 8th, 2011 marked the centennial anniversary of International Women's Day, and Amethyst celebrated this momentous occasion by holding its second annual Feminism: the Other "F" Word? event. This year, the event featured five panelists from community minded organizations in the Ottawa area.

Panelists included:

  • Denise Spitzer, Author and Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Women’s Studies;
  • Vivian Chan-Brouillette, Crisis & Counseling Services for Immigrant Women Services Ottawa;
  • Ubah Hersi, Tenant and Community Worker-Community Support for Ottawa Community Housing;
  • Yamikani Msosa, Public Education Coordinator for the Sexual Assault Support Centre;
  • Marjolaine Fournier, Former Amethyst client, current Amethyst Board Member and professional musician for the National Arts Centre.

The panliest discussion was followed by a World Café interactive workshop that was facilitated by Amethyst's Dianne Rogers. The World Café allowed for further audience participation in exploring definitions of feminism and how the feminist movement is perceived by today’s society. 

The event was held at the University of Ottawa, and received a great amount of media attention by a number of local outlets including CBC, 'A' Channel, Rogers 22 and EMC Community Newspaper. The number of event attendees and media attention showcase that feminism is still a very relevant topic, and one of interest to the Ottawa community.