Rebecca Woodcock, BA Politics at Newcastle University

As the GCA’s week of focusing on gender equality comes to a close, it’s great to look back on the events our interns and staff at Newcastle University have been involved with in the fight for SDG 5.

First, Elle, one of our interns and PhD student researching adolescent girls’ empowerment through citizen scientist afterschool clubs, attended COCO’s #EachforEqual event at Newcastle Business School. The event explored COCO’s aims and missions towards achieving gender equality, voices from local entrepreneurs supporting BAME communities and speakers challenging gender bias in the workplace and the taboo of menopause. The event notably celebrated women from all backgrounds, cultures and locations as we strive for gender equality in our region and beyond. Some of the stand out quotes were as follows:

Salha Kaitesi, who works with Teakisi, an online platform creating a space for African women to empower and celebrate each other, stated that ‘representation is empowering communities’ when talking about the experiences BAME communities face in society. Salha went on to discuss the inequalities that African women and WOC face in society, such as the persistent racial inequalities in the labour market, education, home ownership and employment in the public sector.