Celebrating Women’s History Month
October is Women’s History Month, an annual celebration of women and girls happening across Canada since 1992. The 2024 theme is Women at Work: Economic Growth Past, Present and Future which “highlights the significant contributions women have made to the workforce throughout history, and the critical role they continue to play in driving economic innovation and progress that has benefited Canada as a whole” (Government of Canada, 2024). Women have fought over many generations for equitable rights across Canada. Significant progress has been made but there is much more ground to make up.
Did you know…
Women were not declared as “persons” in Canada until 1929,
Women’s rights were not preserved in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms until 1981,
Gender identity was not included in the Canadian Human Rights Act until 2017, and
The National Action Plan did not endorse an end to gender-based violence until 2022.
Despite generations of oppression and inequity, women across Canada have and continue to do incredible things in all sectors of the workforce…
In 1645, Jeanne Mance founded Canada’s first hospital in Montreal,
In 1954, Elsie Knott was the first woman elected as Chief of a First Nations community,
In 1993, Kim Campbell because the first woman Prime Minister of Canada,
In 2009, Josée Kurtz, first woman to command a major Canadian warship,
And in 2019, Karen Jensen was appointed as Canada’s first ever Pay Equity Commissioner.
In honour of Women’s History month and all the diverse people this encompasses, we at the Social Workers Association of Alberta also want to recognize the efforts of trans women and women of colour that are historically minimized or excluded from women’s history. To live in a more inclusive and equitable society, means we must recognize that “their stories and achievements provide critical insights into the intersections of gender and race in shaping our society” (Lafayette, 2023). Here are a few stories of trans women and women of colour that have been undervalued throughout history…
Christina Strang is a researcher, author, social worker, and trans woman who founded Trans Youth Toronto, as well as Canada’s first safe-sex resource for trans sex workers. (Trans Ottawa, n.d.)
Jamie Lee Hamilton, who passed away in 2019, was hailed as a community hero in Vancouver. She was the first youth to medically transition in Canada, the first to bring attention to violence against women on the Downtown Eastside, and the first trans person to run for public office in Canada. (Trans Ottawa, n.d.)
Viola Desmond was an African-Canadian born in Nova Scotia, who actively challenged the black segregation laws in public spaces and took her advocacy up to Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court. (Canadian Museum for Human Rights, 2018).
Gretta Jean Grant, who died this past February 2024 at the age of 102, was the first Chinese-Canadian woman to become a lawyer in Canada who had a rich career advocating for those experiencing racial discrimination (CBC, 2024)
Resources for Women and Girls in Alberta:
Government of Alberta Women’s Hub – online directory of programs and services for women and children in Alberta
Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters – directory for women experiencing domestic abuse to find shelter
Elizabeth Fry Society of Northern Alberta – offers specialized programs for women and gender-diverse people including an Indigenous Women’s Program, Financial Literacy Program, and Youth Program.
Employment & Education Resources for Women in Alberta:
Women Building Futures – non profit organization providing women and gender-diverse people free skills training in the trades
Higher Landing – free 12 week virtual program supporting women to overcome barriers to employment, career advancement, and re-entering the workforce
Employment Services Program – through the Elizabeth Fry Society, this program supports women who are, or have been, in contact with the legal system to support meaningful employment.
Books that highlight the history of women in Alberta & Canada:
Unsettled Pasts: Reconceiving the West through Women's History
This is an interdisciplinary book with work from various authors and contributors “ranging from scholarly essays to poetry, these pieces offer the reader a sample of some of today's most innovative approaches to western Canadian women's history”
We Need to Do This by Alexandra Zabjek
“The collection is a story of hope and survival for the women’s shelter movement and for the mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and daughters it continues to serve.”
Ghosts in a Photograph by Myrna Kostash
“Discovering a packet of family mementos, Kostash begins questioning what she knows about her extended families’ pasts and whose narrative is allowed to prevail in Canada.”
Written by social work practicum student, Amy Prystupa.
References
Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (2018, January 29). “One woman's resistance.” https://humanrights.ca/story/one-womans-resistance
CBC. (2024, March 8). Remembering Gretta Grant, Canada's first Chinese-Canadian woman lawyer. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/remembering-gretta-grant-first-chinese-canadian-woman-lawyer-1.7133292
Government of Canada. (2024, September 24). Women’s history month 2024. https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/commemorations-celebrations/womens-history-month/2024-theme.html
Lafayette. (2023). Women’s history month 2023. https://gsp.lafayette.edu/programming/womens-history-month-2023/#:~:text=Trans%20women%20are%20an%20important,more%20inclusive %20and%20just%20society
Trans Ottawa. (n.d.). Canadian trans activists. https://transottawa.ca/canadian-trans-activists/