CGDS, in cooperation with AUIS and the EU, held its 2019 Women’s Week event with a number of activities for both the AUIS community and outside.
This year, CGDS kicked off its Women’s Week with a visit to Soz Women’s Mental Health Hospital (March 9). There, CGDS hosted a live music performance, held a painting activity for the patients to express themselves, and shared sweets. On the 10th of March, CGDS held its annual Campus Day. For this year, CGDS handed out posters of empowering paintings drawn by talented AUIS students, stickers that reflect the week’s message, and called students to write the names of women who inspire them on a large banner. Also on the 10th of March, CGDS hosted the talented director and articulate activist, Viyan Mayi, in screening her short film Kevoka Spi. The screening was followed by a lively discussion of Viyan’s experiences in cinema and the portrayal of women on screen and in her local society in general.
On March 12th, CGDS, in line with the theme of Women’s Week, screened the widely-acclaimed The Color Purple for its bi-weekly CGDS Cinema. Finally, on the 13th of March, CGDS honored the female custodians of AUIS by awarding them a certificate and Kurdish fabric as a gesture of appreciation for their hard work.
CGDS’ Women’s Week along with its 16 Days of Activism event are two of the center’s most prominent annual events that seek to raise public awareness of women’s rights’ issues in the region in conjunction with the International Women’s Day and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaigns.