INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day is not the same this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, with the country going into lockdown for the first time just days after last year’s IWD on March 8.
But now more than ever, women are coming together to celebrate their achievements and talk about the challenges they have faced especially over the last year, albeit virtually.
In an IWD zoom call with the Lancashire Telegraph, eight inspiring East Lancashire women came together to discuss what they have struggled with and also been thankful for.
Shen Mulla, from Humraaz in Blackburn, which helps BAME women suffering domestic abuse, said: “It has not been an easy ride for us.
“During the last year, we have all had to be superheroes in our own way, either as mums or wives or supporting clients.
“We have had to be the rainbow in everyone else’s cloud.
“I would get a call while on zoom from my son saying he is hungry as well as my husband, so I think it’s amazing how we have managed to adapt.”
CEO of The Wish Centre, Shigufta Khan, also works with women in abusive relationships and said lockdown initially made it harder to reach those women.
She said: “In the first lockdown staff had anxiety about how we could reach out to women who were living and stuck in an abusive home.
“The government’s message was to stay at home, stay safe, but these women were not safe.”
This led Mrs Khan and the Wish Centre to start a pilot project in 2020 to go out with Lancashire Police to households where domestic violence was reported, a new way they adapted due to the lockdown.
During the call, the ladies also spoke about the effects social media has had on young women during the pandemic, who may be experiencing loneliness and a fear of missing out (FOMO) when looking at other polished influencers.
Kinga Wisnioska, a community support officer in Nelson, said: “You see all these beautiful girls on social media doing all these fancy things and you start to feel like you’re not doing enough.
“It got to me so I had to distance myself from it, because I didn’t like how it was making me feel and now I’m not bothered by what I see on social media.
“I know that it is not that girl’s real life, but she is getting paid for it.”
Claire Fromm, a Clitheroe wedding photographer, who spent 13 years in the US before moving back home, said she used social media for her business primarily but also highlighted the dangers for young women.
She said: “One time I clicked on a before and after for make-up and suddenly I was inundated with plastic surgery posts.
“It’s already difficult as women working and looking after children and then to maintain this appearance as well all in a pandemic.”
Hasina Bangi, a Blackburn baker with 13k followers on Instagram, has begun to get messages from women who have struggled during the pandemic.
She said: “I do not put up everything that is going on behind closed doors, but I started getting messaged by women who just needed someone to be there for them.
“It’s sad to see how many women have been going through mental and physical abuse during this time.
“It also has taught me to post my fails more often, not to downplay my achievements but to say, look nothing is perfect, today I smashed a cake or something else didn’t go right."
Also during the call were Sarah Subhani, a dual diagnostics liaison practitioner at Royal Oldham Hospital, Atiya Shah, who runs an Islamic stationery business in Darwen, and Tylah Pierce, a homeless outreach support worker for CGL Blackburn.
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