International Women’s Day is March 8th – here are some of the events taking place!
If your Amnesty chapter or group is organizing an International Women’s Day event, let us know so that we can promote it on our channels! Contact afry@amnesty.ca to share the details.
In the meantime, mark your calendars for two IWD events you will not want to miss.
Solidarity with Iran
The Amnesty International Canada Gender Rights Specialized Team invites you to a screening and panel discussion of the animated film Persepolis to raise awareness of Iranian women’s protests against systemic gender oppression that have been ongoing since the arrest and death of Masha Amini in September 2022.
Persepolis Film screening: Sunday February 26th at 4pm EST. This is an online screening. A link to the distributor’s platform and access code will be provided to registrants upon zoom registration.
Panel Discussion: A week after the screening, we invite you for a panel discussion to take place on Sunday March 5th at 2:30pm EST. This is a free, online event. Guest speakers TBA.
Persepolis (2007)
Director: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
Animated film, 96minutes
Film Synopsis
In 1970s Iran, Marjane ‘Marji’ Satrapi watches event through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah’s defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses firsthand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study for a better life. However, this change proves an equally difficult trial with the young woman finding herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and homeland have changed too much, and the young woman and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs.
Take Action
- Want to organize your own virtual or in-person film screening of Persepolis with your friends and community? We got you! Reach out to afry@amnesty.ca, 10 business days prior to your event, to get the screening license and a film discussion guide.
Persepolis (2007) is available in three language formats: (1) original language of Farsi and French (with subtitles); (2) original language of Farsi and French (no subtitles); (3) Dubbed entirely in English
‘They Won’t Silence Us’: Indigenous, Black and Racialized Women, Politicians, Journalists and Activists Speak Out
Black, Indigenous, and racialized women in public-facing professions such as politics, activism, or journalism are increasingly the targets of discrimination, harassment, violence and hate speech, as a result of the intersections of gender, race, Indigeneity and religious affiliation. This has included vandalization, hate mail, online slurs, abusive tweets, trolling, death threats and physical attacks of violence. In 2022 alone, the constituency office of Toronto MPP Jill Andrew was vandalized, racialized women on the campaign trail were harassed, and the Canadian Association of Journalists was forced to write to Prime Minister Trudeau to draw attention to the “targeted, vile threats of violence” targeted at women journalists. As a women politician was quoted in the media:
“When they attack us, they’re saying we don’t belong there. They’re trying to shut us down, intimidate us, silence us, or distract us so that we’re not dealing with the real issues we want to deal with. That’s why a lot of them do it. It’s because they really don’t think that a Black woman belongs in these spaces.”
Join us for a panel discussion, with Dr. Jill Andrew, Velma Morgan and Brandi Morin, in Toronto on March 7th to explore the nuances of intersecting racialized and gendered political violence targeted against women in the public domain. The event will be inclusive of performances by spoken word poet Cassandra Myers and expressive vocalist Quisha Wint, along with a digital exhibition by artist Lindsey Tipewan. It will be held at the Toronto Reference Library from 5:30pm – 9:00pm. Click here for more details and to register!
