2019 marked YWCA Canberra’s 90th year of providing quality and essential services to Canberra women and families. This important milestone was also an opportunity to reflect on the lives and future of Canberra women and gender diverse persons.
As part of our anniversary, YWCA Canberra undertook a survey of over 1000 Canberra women and non-binary people aged 18 years and over.
The results of this survey are included in Our lives: Women in the ACT, which provides insights into the daily lives and lived experience of women in the territory.
The report shows that while there is much to be celebrated about women’s quality of life and wellbeing, more needs to be done to achieve gender equality in the ACT.
Some women are leading fulfilling and dynamic lives, but for others the demands of unpaid work is overwhelming and these obligations are leaving them stressed or burnt out.
The report shows that discrimination against women is common, and that domestic and interpersonal violence is something that an unacceptable number of women face.
YWCA Canberra would like to thank the women who added their voices to this research. The responses to our survey were candid, insightful and sometimes deeply moving. You can read some of the responses we received.
We were pleased to present Our Lives: Women in the ACT as a gift to Canberra women in celebration of our 90th anniversary and a valuable policy document for all sector leaders to consider and act upon.
Building on our tradition of using International Women’s Day to focus on the lives and stories of Canberra women, we developed a short documentary featuring three local women. The video explores how the pandemic has impacted gender equality and women’s economic security and wellbeing.
For International Women’s Day 2020, we further explored the shocking statistics in this report about the lived experiences of women in Canberra by interviewing three young women on the topic of sexual harassment. Their stories are candid, all too familiar, but nonetheless saddening and impactful.
We continue to call for respectful relationships education to be implemented in ACT schools and universities to help elimination discrimination and violence against women.