A firefighter, a mayor and a lawyer are among the local pioneers who “broke the bias” in New Westminster.
The City of New Westminster has joined cities around the world in proclaiming March 8 as International Women’s Day. As part of the 111th annual International Women’s Day, the city celebrates women and encourages everyone to take actions against gender bias and inequity in support of the 2022 theme of Break the Bias.
The city’s proclamation noted some of those local pioneers who broke the bias – Mrs. Kirkwood, the first known women to open a business in 1863; Janet Gilley, the first practicing lawyer in the city in 1925; Beth Wood, the city’s first female mayor in 1959; and Kathy Ius, who became the city’s first female firefighter in 2001.
Coun. Chinu Das, who read the city’s proclamation at Monday’s council meeting, noted she was asked to speak at a small International Women’s Day event, which caused her to reflect on the biases she has broken down in her own life and led her to where she is today.
“It got me thinking about the many different biases that I had to break down as a woman from India, an immigrant woman, both biases in India and here, and the struggles I have had,” she said. “I grew to appreciate the support system that I had around me, and the opportunities that were provided to me as a result of my support system.”
Das said the experience also inspired her to reflect on people she knows, people like her mother.
“A brilliant woman who didn’t have the opportunities because of gender biases at that time,” she said. “For that reason, I just wanted to go forward to our community, just a small request: listen to the stories that the women in your life have about the biases that they have broken down, and reflect upon them and support them as much as you can. It’s a small step toward breaking the larger biases that we have.”
The City of New Westminster’s proclamation says International Women’s Day is celebrated globally by those who believe in gender equality and seek to improve the lives of all women and girls (trans and cis), two-spirit, gender-diverse peoples through cultural, legal economic and social change. It states that women and girls – particularly women with disabilities, racialized women, immigrant women, two-spirit and gender-diverse peoples – experience many forms of oppression.
“International Women’s Day is a time to work toward a world where each women and girl can exercise her choice such as participating in politics, getting an education, having an income and living in societies free from violence and discrimination,” said the proclamation.
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