CEU Students Celebrate International Women’s Day

CEU students this week organized the largest celebration of International Women's Day at the university to date, hosting a series of events marking the century-old holiday honoring women’s economic, political and social achievements. 

Festivities began Monday in the Oktogon, where participants wearing “This is what a feminist looks like,” T-shirts handed out balloons and leaflets with information on the annual March 8th holiday, and screened a video on women’s rights and feminism around the world. “We wanted to point out that March 8^th is a ‘feminist’ day, not a ‘feminine’ day,” said event organizer Selin Cagatay, a PhD student in CEU’s Department of Gender Studies.

This was followed by a discussion by Daniel Vasonyi of the Morze Infoshop in Tuzrakter, a popular local cultural center, who gave a brief presentation in the Popper Room about anti-sexist autonomous therapy groups. On Monday night, the Human Rights Initiative (HRSI) screened No! The Rape Documentary by Aishah Shahidah Simmons, followed by discussion with the director’s father, Michael Simmons.

In past years, the Human Rights Initiative (HRSI) had organized the celebration, but this year the events were funded by CEU’s Student Union and the Department of Gender Studies, and organized jointly by HRSI and 10 Gender Studies students.

Organizers were pleased with the turnout and say they plan to host the celebration again next year. “We hope more feminist activism events will be organized at CEU in the future,” Cagatay said.