Pupils and staff recognised International Women’s Day (IWD) with a powerful speech from Year 13 pupil, William Kayll in assembly this morning.
In his speech William made reference to the IWD theme this year #EachForEqual which aims to celebrate women’s achievements as well as calling out inequality. He said:
Yesterday, Sunday 8 March, was International Women’s Day. The day not only recognizes the achievements made by women, but also brings awareness to the obstacles that still stand in their way.
While most of us spent the day in safe surroundings, eating Sunday lunches, no doubt cooked and served by our mothers, women around the world were experiencing something quite different.
Police in Kyrgyzstan detained dozens of women’s rights activists, even after journalists had witnessed and filmed the protesters being attacked by masked men.
In India, police stood by and watched as gangs of men climb over college walls, to grope and sexually assault girls at campus festivals.
In Mexico women planned an historic all women labour day strike in protest against horrific rises in femicide, demanding government action against gender-based violence. An average of 10 women are murdered here a day.
The list could go on and on, with depressing statics closer to home. In the UK in 2018, 149 women were killed by men. Let us today think about and celebrate those women who surround and support us in our daily lives and give them our thanks.
Our mothers; mine, whose love, friendship and kindness knows no bounds. My tutor for her graciousness and support.
My drama teachers for their patience and determination in helping me to succeed. To the medical staff, to the caterers, to the cleaners, to all the women at Shiplake who help and look after us.
It’s easy for women to get lost in a sea of historic rhetoric. The words of women regularly lose out in the all-time greatest speeches polls, to men of politics and power, the likes of Winston Churchill or John F. Kennedy.
But let us finish by celebrating the greatest speech ever given and remembering that it was given on 19 August, 1588. England’s Queen Elizabeth I, gave this speech to the troops on the battlefield of Tilbury. Towering fearlessly on top of a white horse she was not just a woman, she was a monarch, a political leader, a military general and demi-goddess wrapped into one. The power of Elizabeth’s words as she rallied her troops against the might of the Spanish Armada were:
‘I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.’
Thank you William for such a passionate and well delivered speech.
As part of the day, women members of staff and Sixth Form girls have all been wearing the IWD pin which were made by the girls from Gilson House. At the end of the day, they came together for a photo to stand in solidarity for women around the world who are still facing gender inequality.
