The UAB to commemorate International Women's Day

The 20th Institutional Day of the International Women’s Day will take place on 10 March at 12 noon in the auditorium of the Rectorat building and will also be broadcast live. The event will be chaired by the rector of the UAB, Javier Lafuente Sancho, who will inaugurate the day and give way to the presentation of theUniversity’s gender equality policies by Esther Zapater Duque, secretary general of the UAB.

One of the central moments will be the awards ceremony held for the UAB Library Service, with a speech by its director, Núria Casaldàliga Rojas, followed by a video tribute and the presentation of the award in recognition of its commitment to the defense of women's rights at the University. Of the activities carried out by the Library Service, it is worth mentioning the exhibitions in all the libraries in celebration of International Women's Day, the exhibition entitled “Menstrual Points”, and the talks and round tables on gender-related topics in the different libraries. Also noteworthy is the participation of four of the libraries in the equality commissions of the faculties and centres.

Following the award ceremony, Núria Ferran Ferrer, rector's delegate for the direction of the UB Equality Unit and professor at the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media also at the UB, will give the lecture “The role of libraries, librarianship and information science in the construction of a more egalitarian society”.

The event will close with a musical performance by the UAB Chamber Choir, which will interpret emblematic pieces such as Bread and Roses, and Cant de lluita by the feminist musical group Roba Estesa. Those interested in attending can register here.

Activities organised at different faculties and centres

Apart from the institutional event, several UAB centres and faculties will be offering activities in commemoration of 8M:

• Faculty of Medicine: under the slogan “Giving visibility to women in the health sector”, Friday 7 March from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m. classroom M5-001 will be holding a series of presentations that address different aspects of health from a gender perspective. The day will begin with the inauguration of the exhibition “Voices of the desert, women and Berber tradition” by Mar Serra, president of the AMRAD Association. Then, Salvador Navarro, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, will be in charge of the institutional welcome, and the day will continue with various conferences on the gender perspective in physiotherapy, women and health in the prison environment, and the importance of gender training in the medical field. Finally, from 3 to 7 March, the Faculty of Medicine will install a Tree of Equality, a participatory activity where the community will be invited to post messages and reflections on the meaning of 8M. These messages will be digitised and disseminated to give them visibility.
• Faculty of Education: the faculty organises a campaign on social networks with videos where different members of the educational community explain the importance of feminism and gender perspective in education. Until 8M, these videos will be published daily on the networks and on the screens of the faculty.
• Research Group in Geography and Gender: the research group presents the screening of the documentary No apto para cobardes, by Nuria Silván Miracle. The piece gathers the testimonials of fifty women in their fifties who reflect on taboo subjects such as menopause, maturity, fear of ageing or loneliness. The screening will take place on 3 March at 10 a.m. at the UAB Cinema Hall (Plaça Cívica).
• UAB Library Service: the libraries are jointly presenting the exhibition “The UAB’s Female Honorary Doctors”, which aims to highlight the 18 honorary doctorates conferred by the UAB to women. The exhibition can be visited in February and March. A virtual version of the exhibition has also been created with all the contents on view at the different exhibitions.
• Faculty of Science, Faculty of Biosciences, School of Engineering, and Science and Technology Library offer a variety of activities such as:
  • Exhibition “Female Honorary Doctors in Science, Biosciences and Engineering” jointly organised with the Library Service on women who have been awarded an honorary doctorate by the UAB, such as Lynn Margulis and Margarita Salas. The exhibition will be on display from 11 February to 31 March at the Science and Technology Library.
  • Game “Who is Who?”: an interactive initiative that tests the knowledge about women scientists and inventors. On display throughout the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Biosciences and the School of Engineering from 11 February to 8 March.
  • Self-defense workshop for women: the workshop, given by the Món Físic club, will provide practical tools for dealing with intimidating situations. It will be held on 5 March at the Physical Activity Service (SAF).

• SAF: the centre participates in the initiative with a programme aimed at promoting physical activity for women on campus thanks to a wide range of sports activities:
  • Les Dones ens Movem is a programme aimed at UAB women and SAF women members, and includes introductory sessions to sports such as football, basketball, volleyball or rock climbing. It also includes practical workshops on hypopressive exercises, self-defense, Latin dances, etc. For more information, please visit this link!
  • Biblio Mou-te: this initiative, a collaboration with the libraries and the Healthy and Sustainable Campus, seeks to integrate physical activity into the libraries and help students study in a more efficient and healthy way.