Women sing for International Women's Day in Borough Gardens

A group of women gathered in Borough Gardens to sing songs to mark International Women's Day 2022 on Tuesday, March 8.

Songs sang by the all-female group included Bella Ciao, Stand Where I Stand and Building Bridges and finished with You Can’t Kill The Spirit, which had originally been sung at Greenham Common.

On Saturday, March 5, Metamorphosis: The Ability to Adapt and Transform, an art exhibition and music event celebrating International Women's Day was held at The Chapel in the Garden with all profits raised from the event going towards the Women's Action Network in Dorset (WAND).

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On International Women's Day, WAND launched a new strategy to tackle inequality for women and called for more women to join them.

Chairman of WAND Marianne Storey said: “Women and girls have experienced inequality for very many years, but we are just starting to experience a new time of unprecedented opportunity for women as society begins to change its views and its biases about women’s roles, abilities, needs and ambitions.

"We are launching a new strategy that celebrates the strengths of women, honours them by sharing their stories and issues and offers allyship to their challenges. It aims to create opportunities for women to collaborate and to tackle inequality by focussing on women’s strengths and resources.”

She added: “Dorset is a county of inequality, particularly in the things that determine the health of its residents – things like housing, income, work opportunities and education. And these things always impact on the lives of women disproportionately, especially women from minority backgrounds.

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"Women’s Action Network Dorset believe it’s time to tackle the inequality experienced by women in Dorset by focussing on the positives the strengths, the resources and the achievements of women."