Horsham Town Hall hosts 2022 International Women's Day forum

Women's Health Grampians hosted the event, which provided an opportunity for the community to reconnect and discuss current women's issues affecting the region.

Melbourne University head of obstetrics and gynecology Professor Martha Hickey gave a presentation at the event discussing gender bias in medicine and menopause.

Women's Health Grampians Wimmera regional consultant Melissa Morris said the event was successful despite some setbacks due to COVID-19.

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"The purpose of the event was really a chance to recognised International Women's Day and to provide an opportunity to get together and catch up," she said.

"Professor Hickey briefly spoke about a few things such as gender bias and how it can affect research and outcomes and women's health, as well as menopause, how it is a natural part of every woman's life and how we need to normalise conversations around it."

In 2022, International Women's Day's campaign theme was 'Breaking the bias'.

Ms Morris said biases impeded women in many different ways, especially at the intersection of race, age and ability.

"Bias exists in many forms. Obviously, there is unconscious bias when we make assumptions that are based on stereotypes, and that can influence outcomes for people," she said.

"Then there is structural bias, sometimes in our systems we inadvertently by not considering the needs of people there can be biases built into policies and systems which a disadvantageous."

She said 2022's International Women's day asked people to consider internal and external biases, and how they may act as a barrier to achieving equality.

"We see sometimes women from diverse backgrounds have a higher rate of violence against them, maybe higher rates of workplace sexual harassment. It is a combination of gender bias and other biases which can lead to those outcomes," she said.

"In the notion of breaking a bias as a theme for international women's day, we know biases can exist and we need to remove and unpack them so we have better and equal outcomes for people."

Such exercises have been used in programs ran by Women's Health Grampians, which offers services such as active bystander training to community groups and organisations.

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The group works with groups such as councils, businesses and sporting clubs, each a part of the Communities of Respect and Equality Alliance - which provides a guiding vision to Women's Health Grampians work.

Ms Morris said while much has been gained in the past two years in the area of gender equality, many voices were still being unheard - namely the 55 recommendations from the Australian Human Rights Commission's Respect@Work council.

"The women who have spoken out over the past two years have clearly shown that workplace sexual harassment, discrimination, sexual assault exists, can affect anyone, and occur anywhere," she said.

"We have seen that in a wide range of organisations and institutions where that has occurred.

"The respect at work report that was done by the Australian Human Rights Commissions had 55 recommendations, and they have not been implemented by any means.

"If we do such thorough pieces of work, the call has been for those works to be implemented."

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