Held over a three day period from the 6th to the 8th of March, World of Women festival or W.OW has been running for a single decade yet has still made a profound effect on society and women’s lives in general. While it is free to enter the Southbank centre during this event and complete various activities it does cost a considerable amount to attend all of the lectures. However, once you experience an event at the festival you will swiftly change your mind. I had the luck to be able to attend and this article is about my experience and those of my fellow students.
The Friday started off promptly with the esteemed Duchess of Cornwell, Camilla herself -who as the patron for W.O.W- gave a speech on how domestic violence needs to be talked about and launched the hashtag #EveryonesProblem to reinforce this point. Her intro was “well needed and powerful” as well as “straight to the point and clear”.
After her speech I witnessed a panel on domestic abuse with a group of strong women who had overcome adversity after domestic abuse. One member of the panel on domestic abuse had had her mother killed by her ex partner in front of her as he had been physically abusing the mother for years and yet possessed such courage to continue with her life that it really put your mundane little trifles into perspective. That’s the reason why I loved this festival me- a strong feminist questioning what really makes a person strong and given a whole new out-take on life that I would have never thought possible before.
The calm atmosphere of the day made it so it was easy to find the panels that suited you or the book signings that you would place on your bookshelf e.t.c. .I am thrilled that my school could take part in this event and I would recommend this to anyone as the problems talked about at this day such as illegal child marriages, toxic friendships and domestic violence are not just women’s problem. No they are everyone’s. #EveryonesProblem.
by Sian Clarke
