Statement by the Organisers

Today, 8th of March, is International Women's Day, a day that we have given ourselves to remember the constant struggles that women face for being women.

We are women in math, and the number of us decreases when we take the next step in our academic career. Things have improved, but there's still a long way to go. There are cases of harassment in conferences, of not being heard by male colleagues while we sometimes have to hear misogynistic comments... and still, we put the extra work to be visible for the ones to come. But we are not just mathematicians, and all of us can empathize with the suffering women face in this country and other parts of the world.

That is why we are here: to remember, on a local scale, the closure of waiting list at the Coventry Rape and Assault Center; on a nation scale, that 800,000 women reported had been sexually assaulted in one year and that there was more than 1,600 femicides this decade; and, on a global scale, that even more femicides are happening, that raping women is one common war crime or that abortion is still penalized in some countries and in some of the ones that have conquered that right, it is now at risk.

The violence is real, and rights cannot be taken for granted.

We are here to reflect on what happens, to try to understand what happens and try to make the world we live in a better, safer and fairer place. Some of the problems are not that far, and all of us, as women, have experience them: hearing sexist comments, having been scared walking back home at night seeing a man following us or having to handle nasty comment about our bodies, the way we look or dress.

These are some reasons why to stop today 8M, IWD, reflect and share our experiences and thoughts to try and improve the society we live in at any scale we can; because the fight for women's rights and equality is an everyday fight, that won't end until all women have the same rights, respect and safety anytime, anywhere.