Notes on International Women's Day

International Women's Day is a global event, shedding light to women’s rights across the world including, gender equality, reproductive health, domestic violence and much more.

We have been reporting for the Breaker stories from across the globe celebrating and raising awareness of women’s achievements.

'Gender equality just isn't enough anymore'

Reporting on International Women's Day as a man made me realise that gender equality just isn't enough anymore. There's not only a lot of stuff that doesn't affect me, but there's a lot of stuff I need to be doing. There are still a lot of women who need fairness in terms of opportunity, rather than just equality of opportunities.

My biggest challenge was actually finding interviews. A lot of women don't really want to speak to man about women's issues - which is fair and valid.

This experience has inspired me to get a lot more involved. Before this, I thought it was just a celebration of women's achievements, but it means standing up for things that need to be achieved, and listening to women.

'This is one day for women and we should make the most out of it'

To me, International Women's Day didn't really mean much because women face these issues their whole lives, and one day won't change that - no matter how many organisations or companies jump on the bandwagon. However, when interviewing, I realised that even if it is one day, and regardless of the sincerity of the support, this is one day for women and we should make the most out of it.

In terms of challenges, I didn't face many, I think that's because being a women was working to my advantage on this news day! One issue I did face was technical. My laptop broke and I lost the story I'd written along with some other work, so I wasn't able to get it published.

As a woman, I think it's so important for women's rights to be publicised and the need for gender equality shown, however given the stigma on feminism I think the goal of International Women's Day can be distorted and overshadowed by more radical activism.

'It's just reiterated it's importance and global relevance'

I found reporting on International Women's Day really enjoyable, but quite a lot of work. When I found out the theme related to digital rights and digital equity there was someone I wanted to speak to you straight away, but because of her profile, she had a lot going on for International Women's Day, and was about to fly to Rwanda to take part in a conference, so had to do it straight away.

One of my teammates, Sam, he also had a really good interview lined up with a Commonwealth gold winning wrestler from Nigeria. We tried to set up the online call but we had a lot of problems with that. So, it took a long time to do and I was a bit worried about upsetting a wrestler, but luckily she's very patient and stuck with us and got some really good content there.

One of the interviewees said to me how important shared experiences were because that can help people find the new ways to tackle problems. So, in terms of what I've learned about International Women's Day, is that the first word, International, is crucial because there's a lot of common themes around the world.

I wouldn't say my perceptions of International Women's Day has changed, but it's just reiterated it's importance and global relevance.

Tolu and Margaret's Stories

For International Women's Day, Tolu and Margaret have spoken to women in Sierra Leone and Nigeria to show the importance of achieving equality, globally.

Tolu

For me, the International Women's Day means that day has been set aside to celebrate women across the world. Women play an important role in our society. They are mothers, they are sisters, they are friends.

I covered International Women's Day from Sierra Leone, virtually, of course. I spoke with civil unions about what gender equality is in the country because Sierra Leone is one of the countries that has a very low ranking when it comes to gender equality, and so covering this story means a lot to me. I think it’s a story worth telling.

In January 2023, the President of Sierra Leone signed a law which gave 30% representation quota to women in government, executive, Parliament, in ambassadorial, in administrative and public and private organisations. This law can be described as a turning point for women in Sierra Leone in their quest for gender equality.

I spoke to quite a number of people, including a former minister, Women's rights activists, civil society, NGOs and a couple of female journalists who have been affected by the gender inequality in the country over the years.

There were quite a number of challenges because of the time frame, one of my interviewees, we're asking to schedule the interview for Wednesday, but I was like, “oh no, I need it now. I have a deadline for this story!" She was able to give me 20 minutes of interview session and I was able to use that judiciously.

International Women's Day calls for reflection because the United Nations gave us 2030 as a deadline to achieve gender equality around the world, but unfortunately, as it stands, no country in the world is yet to attain that level of gender equality. Even in Europe there are still calls for Gender equality so, it means that there's still a lot that needs to be done. It’s beyond woman to reach that level, the men also have a role to play.

Margaret

I used to feel like it's just a day that goes by like every other day. There was no special meaning to it, but now, International Women's Day is a big deal to me. It means that every woman is meant to be celebrated.

It is not easy to be a woman here, but this particular day is set aside so that we can recognise women achievers. We can recognise the struggles that women have to go through. There are women who are forced to go through these struggles. They’re young girls out there that are forced to go into early marriages, to have children at very young ages, women that go to physical abuse. And so, this day is set aside as it is to celebrate women, to fight for women that are still struggling in any area of their lives.

For the stories that I covered, I noticed one thing, they all struggled to get to where they are today. They are all career driven and for them to have climbed the ladder to where they are today, they had to push their way through. They were discriminated against and treated unfairly because they are women. It was almost as though they were wishing not to be a woman. For one of the women, they didn't care about her skills or her experience. It was a matter of “are you a man? If not, you know you can't have the job”.

I've had issues with my interviews. Initially, the interview wanted to do I couldn't do it because I couldn't get consent, I had to go through the hierarchy of the chain of command, and the time frame for me to do that was too tight. So I had to start looking for somebody else to run my interview. That was like the major challenge I faced. Another thing was I think network issue because we had to do it online and networkers be a huge, huge barrier.

Some takeaways from Tolu and Margaret's experiences

" I feel like International Women's Day should not just go by anymore. I mean, women should be recognised, they should be celebrated, they should be appreciated. They should be encouraged." - Margaret

"This experience has really given me a shift in perception regarding International Women's Day, like what it is, how we should celebrate it. Speaking to my interviewees, one of the key things I learned is that despite the laws that has been introduced in Sierra Leone, there is still the cultural belief that men are always on top. It’s high time men change their perception. If the men themselves are not aligned with the idea of what gender equality really means, then the purpose of gender equality may not be achieved." - Tolu

This week Lewis Hunt and Nissrine Ouazrouti have been experimenting with AI, using chat GPT and DALL-E. Utilising and understanding the use of prompts in order to enhance and create a hybrid feature article which explores women in the digital age.

We published 13 feature articles on The Breaker on International Women's day. The articles that were produced explore a variety of stories from women in different backgrounds including women in sport, experiences of trans women from India and the role of female journalists around the world.

Reporters have put in their best efforts to weave together the impactful stories they have gathered from across the globe, ranging from North America to Asia ensuring women's voices are heard.

A few of the team worked on a podcast which is around 15 minutes long, which discusses this year's International Women's Day theme #EmbraceEquity, as well as Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality. The interesting conversation hosted by Jack Webb explored these topics whilst interviewing Dr Eleanor Drage and Erin Thomas Wong

The social media team produced videos that talked about the history of International Women's day and inspiring stories of women from different walks of life.

We asked our reporters what their key takeaways have been working on International Women's Day during the different aspects of production.

"Chat GPT and DALL-E have helped me to understand how AI can assist journalists to quickly format detailed features, helping to reject the premise that AI will replace journalists in the future. It is my belief that AI does not function as a news reporter without the human journalist"

-Lewis Hunt

" For me, this third day of News Day was much more productive. When you understand the mechanism you can planner better the work and be more efficient. I could see all the production running more smoothly and everyone enjoying more. At every new project, as we can see, you can really have the taste of how intense the newsroom can be"

Ana Bombardelli

"Today has been a totally different experience for me as I was able to learn more on the job and working as team member on the web group"

Oluwatoyin Omodara