Cire and local students stand together for gender equity

Cire Services has helped students from St Peter Julian Eymard Primary School deepen their awareness and the need for gender equity through their involvement in the Clothesline Project at Chirnside Park Community Hub.

The Clothesline Project aims to build on the work already being done by community houses as well as strengthen the region’s approach to preventing violence against women.  Cire is proud to be part of such a worthy and inclusive initiative led by a partnership that includes CHAOS, EACH, EDVOS, Maroondah, Knox and Yarra Ranges councils and Women’s Health East.

Cire was also thrilled to engage a mix of 20 enthusiastic male and female students from grades 4 to 6 at St Peter Julian Eymard P.S  in a recent Clothesline Project workshop session at CPCH.

A highlight of the activity was the crafting of t-shirts with insightful messages of empowerment. A display of the t-shirts will be a feature of “16 Days of Activism” at the hub from 25 November to 10 December.

The morning started with a discussion on gender, how it is commonly defined, and stereotypical gender roles. We talked about gender representation in the media, particularly in advertising, social media, toy advertising and movies. The children came up with many examples from their own lives on how they’ve felt pigeonholed by their gender.

We watched highly recommended YouTube clips to encourage further conversation (Like A Girl, Lolly Jar GenderEquality, Redraw The Balance) and the children had plenty of opinions to share! It was fantastic to hear the different points of view and experiences shared amongst the group in such a positive and open manner.

After a delicious morning tea of fresh fruit, cupcakes and biscuits, we moved on to our favourite part of the day – crafting the shirts, using a white t-shirt and coloured sharpies, containing our own personal messages of empowerment. It truly was incredible to witness the innovation, insight and intelligence of the students. The empowerment messages included:

“Equality Is Everything”
“Gender Equality: Anyone Can Do Anything”
“Don’t Tell Me I Can’t Because I Can”
“Equal Jobs Deserve Equal Pay”

To further support the “16 Days of Activism” and celebrate the involvement and social awareness of our young visitors, Cire warmly invites the students, their families and members of our local community to our community dinner at 6pm on Tuesday 3 December.  The community dinners are held once a term and the invitation to attend is ongoing.

Cire appreciated the opportunity to take part in such important community-based projects and loved that we were able to engage local students in a meaningful way to discuss such an important issue.  If you would like to know more about the project or the supports and resources available within Yarra Ranges please feel free to contact us on 1300 835 235.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the gender equity workshop a success!