International Women’s Day: Shattering the Glass Ceiling

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and is held annually on 8th March.

The Global theme of International Women’s Day this year was, ‘From challenge comes change, so let’s all choose to challenge‘. And, boy, did we chose to challenge with MEND’s interpretation of the global theme being ‘Shattering the Glass Ceiling’. For this, we looked at challenging the perceived perspective of Muslim women through engaging with inspirational women within the Muslim community who in their own fields have not just smashed but shattered the glass ceiling.

On 8th March we held our national MEND International women’s day event. For this, we had an inspirational panel of speakers discussing not only their incredible journeys but also the amazing women in their own lives who had inspired them while offering hints and tips on how we can all peruse our incredible journeys and shatter the glass ceiling in our own ways.

Our panel:

Nahella Ashraf Activist, Co-founder of Stand up to Racism in Manchester

Siddiqa Juma is a multi-award-winning and critically acclaimed contemporary Islamic artist

Layla Hassanali, AKA Halal Girl About Town, a full-time blogger based in London

A.M. Dassu writer of fiction and non-fiction, the author of the widely acclaimed novel Boy, Everywhere

Dr Sihra Dar Medic and founder of Scottish Vibrant Mosques.

The event was hosted by our very own Tehmina Mohammed, vice-chair Edinburgh working group, who in her own field is shattering the glass ceiling every day.

With the outstanding calibre of speakers, it was lovely to see some Fan Girling and gushing between fellow panellists as they got to meet some women who they themselves found inspirational. It was also amazing to see such humility from all the panellists who have all accomplished such outstanding achievements in their lives, including founding organisations, being nominated for and winning prestigious awards, and speaking in front of the United Nations. Truly inspiring and that was the overall feedback from so many quarters that they had been inspired by our speakers and the event as a whole.

But it was not just our national event where we celebrated IWD, no we had a week-long extravaganza with many of our regions picking up the gauntlet and bring us a range of events from Inspirational Women Around the Messenger (PBUH), to an activist webinar and baking-along webinars. Please stay tuned for blogs on each.

We also celebrated across our social media with short videos on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter of women who are shattering the glass ceiling and taboos in all areas giving us a brief look at their life, work and activities. Please see social media platforms for full videos.

Finally, we had our photo competition looking at ‘What makes you a Strong Muslim woman’. With some fantastic entries and the winner being announced by a panel of Female Muslim photographers who went live on Instagram to discuss their work, photography and the competition as a whole. The winning photo can be viewed on Facebook (and our other other social media platforms).

Please see the full MEND Talks: Shattering the Glass Ceiling webinar on Facebook