Anne Summers AO – A message to Sydney Women’s Fund supporters
We’ve been in touch with Anne Summers AO, Author and Feminist, a leading voice for women’s equality throughout her career. Anne has been isolated in Manhattan during the pandemic and has written a thoughtful message here to Sydney Women’s Fund supporters.
Anne has also kindly shared with us her Journal of a Pandemic from her home in New York city which you can read here.
“It is only June, half way through the year, and already 2020 has turned to be perhaps the most tumultuous year that many of us have lived through.
“Epic bushfires, a global pandemic requiring us to lock ourselves away in our homes and practice unprecedented levels of hygiene and, more recently, an outpouring of support to overhaul brutal police practices and bring justice to black people everywhere.
I kept a journal of the first month of the pandemic in New York City, where I am currently living, in an effort to chronicle these unprecedented times. I did it because I believe that it is important we never forget how quickly and drastically our lives can be upended.
We also need to be mindful how the pandemic might provide cover for other, equally awful social ills. For instance, there was a very real fear that coronavirus-induced social isolation might lead to increases in domestic and family violence and that women and children could be trapped, unable to seek help.
Fortunately, this risk has received widespread public attention which has enabled bodies such as Sydney Women’s Fund to respond immediately and direct urgent support to women’s shelters working on the frontline of delivering assistance to those who need it.
SWF’s work in supporting women and girls across so many areas of need is admirable but it is the kind of work that never ends because, unfortunately, even after all these years, we are still so far from our goal of achieving true equality for women.
So many women and girls across the great city of Sydney need help with education, with employment, with financial skills and other tools for navigating a society that still discriminates against women and against certain women in particular.
We need to stand together to prevent this and there is no better way to do this than by donating to Sydney Women’s Fund to ensure their many worthwhile programs have the support they need to continue this essential work.
I am a supporter and I hope that you are as well. If not already, from now one."
– Dr Anne Summers AO –
