Thirty-six students launch a poster art series on the women’s rights, the arms trade and equality gaps on March 8th, 2019, International Women’s Day.
Who we are
Loreto Bray Peace and Justice Group, 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World
What we did
A central idea to the posters by the students and project team, on exhibition at the launch event in Bray Library in Co. Wicklow, spoke in celebration of past achievements in the women’s rights movement and in protest when comparing them to similar and ongoing daily struggles experienced in the lives of women and girls in today’s world.
Actions, not words; four stealth bombers greater than or equal to the annual cost of ending maternal mortality?; the gender pay gap; education and ‘the girl effect’ – a sample of some of the most important issues for girls and women raised by the group in the poster work discussions and exercises.
How we did it
In developing the Use Your Art to End Gender Inequality posters the Peace and Justice group marked the centenary year of suffrage activities and commemorations as reference points for young people, particularly girls, to:
- learn about and be inspired to act on women’s rights (and wrongs);
- as a reminder of and a tribute to the power of posters historically in generating conversations and interest in women’s issues, an;
- as a mirror to highlight examples of gender discrimination and violence women face every day in public life, in the labour market and at home.
Participants were involved in a range of cluster group activities over a 17 month period, including:
- Exploring (1) centenary of women’s franchise events and debates, (2) global trends and realities of violence encountered by women every day, including the #MeToo movement, (3) a series of key international standards such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with international development targets to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity, and (4) selected case studies, such as the Rohingya crisis, through a gender lens.
- Reviewing artwork from previous women’s rights poster campaigns over the last 100 years
- Meeting the chair of the Vótáil 100 committee to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage in Ireland, Senator Ivana Bacik, and visiting an exhibition on women’s suffrage in the Seanad ante-room
- Hands-on poster art making workshops and action-research ideas
- Forging links, conducting visits and sharing peer learning across an informal network amongst teachers and students in Bray.
Background data
Poster 1: Women’s Tax
- Globally, women are paid 37% less than men for similar work. In Ireland, women are paid 30% less than men for similar work. In South Africa, 45% less. In Brazil, 48% less. Source: Global Gender Gap Report 2017, World Economic Forum
Poster 2: We Can Do It
- The Girl Effect – video and article on The Guardian (2011) by Jennifer Begg in the Teacher Network
- Vótáil 100 (100th anniversary of the parliamentary vote for women in Ireland) activities, infographics and events. Source: Vótáil 100 Commemoration Committee
- Source: Missed opportunities: the high cost of not educating girls, (2018) World Bank
- Source: Gender Education Monitoring Report Gender Review 2018, (2018) by UNESCO
Poster 3: And Still I Rise
- Still I Rise – poem by Maya Angelou
- Facts and figures relating to the prevalence and global footprint of violence against women in all its forms (physical, psychological, economic, social and political) Source: UN Women
- “Gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women and girls (VAWG), is a global pandemic that affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime.” Source: World Bank
Poster 4: Greater Than Or Equal To?
- Every day, 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth around the world. Globally, that amounted to about 303,000 women in 2015. Source: UN Women
- Financing transformative health systems towards achievement of the health Sustainable Development Goals: a model for projected resource needs in 67 low-income and middle-income countries (July 17, 2017). Source: The Lancet
- Air Force B-21 Raider Long-Range Strike Bomber (October 12, 2018). Source: US Congressional Research Service
For more information on the initiative, check out the Let’s Talk project page at 80:20.