Welcome the sun!! After the most extraordinary weather over the last two weeks, we are so pleased to see the sun shinning through. I do hope that you and the family were able to keep safe and that you didn’t experience any damage to your property. We are aware that a number of our families have been impacted by flooding which is problematic. Please let the College know if you need any support or assistance during this time.

Last Tuesday was International Women’s Day. We had planned to mark this day last week but the rain and the anticipated east coast low made it too dangerous to proceed. I am aware that International Women’s Day will trigger mixed emotions across communities. I know that as a strong advocate for the equality of women in society I always have to temper my rhetoric as there are some in our communities for whom the conversation of feminism and the promotion of women’s rights generates strong opposition or they just turn off. I would like to add this is across genders and generations. Last year I was invited to speak about girls' education at a forum and I began the address by speaking about the inequity that is still present in the community. One of the opening statements from the audience was “You are wrong! Things are much better now.” It was in that moment I was shut down and the research and data that supported the fact of inequality was made invalid. That was the voice of only one member in that organisation and there were numerous supportive comments that followed, however women have experienced this for many years. Speaking on equal rights is not about advantaging one gender above another, it is about allowing all to be winners in this space.

The theme for 2022 International Women’s Day is “ Break the Bias”. Biases regulate women’s behaviour, opportunity and access at every point of contact between the sexes. A frequent refrain has been that women only need to be more confident and self-assured to overcome bias-fuelled disadvantage. But this would place the blame for the inequality and disparity of opportunity at the feet of women. Once again it is an example of victim blaming rather that seeing the real cause of this inequality. In this culture, girls and women are encouraged to overcompensate for the inequalities of life. A culture of self-improvement and empowerment distracts us from contesting the structural and cultural inequalities that continue to marginalise women (Seers and Hogg, 2022).

Rather, what is needed is a collective societal push to correct the bias driven inequalities that women face, from kindergarten to Parliament House. We need to invest in building and sustaining social structures and policies that support, ensure and reinforce women’s safety, well-being and power (Gill and Orgad, 2022). Only then will we break the bias and allow individual girls to be just as happy and successful as an equally confident and self -assured male child emerging into the world we have shaped for them.

At St Patrick’s College, we support and encourage the girls to be articulate and confident in their skin. There are no biases at the College so the environment is safe and encouraging for them to develop into the person they have the potential to become. It empowers them as they face adversity and injustice, however, there is an ongoing need for all of us to challenge the biases in our society so that in a generation, our daughters’ daughters are not facing the same inequities that our current young women are having to deal with today.

I will leave you with a prayer used for International Women’s Day.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal

Lord, make me an instrument of peace:
Bless all women who daily strive to bring peace to their communities, their homes and their hearts. Give them strength to continue to turn swords into ploughshares.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love:
We pray for all women who face prejudice, inequality and gender disparities. Help us to see and to face the discrimination against women in all the many forms it may take.

Where there is injury, pardon:
Comfort all women who suffer from the pain of war, violence, and abuse. Help them to become instruments of their own reconciliation and peace.

Where there is division, unity:
Forgive all women and men who let differences breed hate and discrimination. Let your example of valuing all of creation help us to see that we are equal partners in the stewardship of your world.

Where there is darkness, light; where there is untruth, truth:
Comfort all women who struggle in the darkness of abuse, poverty, and loneliness. May we stand with them in light to acknowledge their suffering and strive to remove the burdens of shame or embarrassment.

Where there is doubt, true faith:
We pray for all women who live in fear of their husbands, fathers, and forces that control their lives. Help them to be empowered to be their true selves through your everlasting love and faith.

Where there is despair, hope:
We pray for all women who live in the despair of poverty, violence, trafficking, slavery, and abuse. May the light of your love bring them hope.

Where there is sadness, new joy:
Help us to see the strength and goodness in all women and men.
Transform our hearts to celebrate the love and grace of all people.

Amen

Source: www.godpsacelight.com