Clutching brightly coloured signs, flags, banners, noise-makers and donning knitted “cat” hats, supporters of the Women and Children's Shelter of Barrie put on their marching boots and made their way around the city's downtown Wednesday evening to celebrate International Women’s Day.
“International Women's Day is a day to recognize and support the tireless work of the women who came before us, the women in our community now and to set the stage for our future young girls and women,” said Teresa MacLennan, the shelter’s executive director.
“We want to recognize all of the work that’s continuing to be done to empower women," said MacLennan.
“We still have work to do. We are still not at the place of gender equity, so that’s why the theme for 2023 is Embrace Equity and we truly want all women to embrace their uniqueness, their talents, their girts, and how (they) can use their voice to empower, speak out and to make changes in terms of women’s equity,” said MacLennan, adding it also offered participants the opportunity to recognize the difficulties and oppression women have faced.
“Our women and children’s shelter supports women who have experienced abuse and human trafficking with their children," she added. "We see every single day how women have been disenfranchised ... and dispossessed of their power. It has been robbed from them.
"We know we need to have women in our community who have a strength right now to use their voices, because there are women in our shelter right now who need to hear it and see it. It gives them hope and tells them they can have a great hope for their future and to have a better life for their children … and there’s nobody better to do that for women than other women.”
Oro-Medonte resident Lindsay Danko has been participating in the walk for the last five years. This year, she was joined by her nine-year-old daughter, Lilah Simpson.
“I just want to show Lilah that it’s important to represent our community and be strong women, and come together and march together as a group," Danko said.
Being there with her daughter is an empowering experience for them both, Danko added.
“I want her to feel like a strong girl and a strong woman as she gets older and I want her to believe in herself … and that what she represents to the community is very important," she said.
Shannon Murree, who serves as an ambassador for the Barrie Junior Sharks hockey organization, says she took part in the parade because she wanted to bring attention to and provide support for equality and equity for women.
“It was just important for us today to form a unity," Murree said.
"We just want to make sure we have equal pay, equal opportunities and everything across the board. It’s just important to show up and represent," she added.
Nadia Broley attended with her husband and two young daughters, as well as their teammates. She said it was important to her to show the players the importance of representing how they can help, even in a small way.
“It’s nice with the Barrie Sharks … My husband coaches and we all play, so we thought it would be great for the team to be here to support the women and children’s shelter," Broley said.
Broley said she hopes being a part of today's event will help inspire them to become active members of their community.
“I hope they want to give back and help, and realize that there are a lot of problems still today that need to be solved moving forward," she said.
