All About Women

Oamaru Opera House is proud to host All About Women – a satellite feed direct from Sydney Opera House in celebration of International Women’s Day.

This annual feminist festival is designed to make you think and ask questions about gender, justice and equality. Returning for its seventh year, it offers talks and discussions with a stellar cast of international writers, politicians, activists and storytellers exploring ideas that matter to women.

This year’s All About Women Satellite Program will extend the reach of select live panels beyond the Sydney Opera House’s sails with audiences tuning in from across Australia and New Zealand.

All About Women features emerging new voices from around the world speaking to future directions in feminism.

#MeToo: Year Two
What are the next steps in this crucial political movement?
3:15pm – 4:30pm

A decade since the Me Too campaign began, and a year since #metoo rocked the entertainment industry, there has been a clear cultural shift. Across industries, women who were preyed upon, exploited and harassed have spoken out and sought justice, and the movement has gone global.

But it hasn’t all happened smoothly. Louis CK returned to the comedy stage. The Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Have we seen a fundamental shift in the way power functions, or is it temporary and superficial? How is #metoo playing out in different countries and cultures?

In this essential panel, we’ll be exploring how the movement must evolve to represent women worldwide, and to create long-lasting cultural and political change.

Speakers:
Tina Tchen is the former Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama and Special Assistant to President Barack Obama. During her eight years at the White House, Tina Tchen served as Executive Director of the Council on Women and Girls and led the first White House Summit on Working Families as well as the first United State of Women Summit. Tchen is a partner at Buckley, LLP, where she leads the firm’s cultural compliance practice, and a co-founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund.

Emily Steel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist, who penned explosive investigations into sexual harassment claims against Fox News host, Bill O’Reilly and Vice Media.

Sohaila Abdulali is an Indian author, former rape crisis centre worker and the first Indian gang rape survivor to speak out about her experience, expounded upon in her book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape.

Moderator:
Lenore Taylor is the Editor of The Guardian Australia.

Feminism in the Arab World
Going far beyond stereotypes, this is an invaluable insight into the underground of feminist activism across the Arab world.

5pm – 6pm

In a global feminist movement, our understanding of women’s rights needs to go far beyond the English-speaking world.

Arab women are so often pigeonholed, orientalised and othered in western discussions about feminism. But the reality is there are strong feminist and LGBTQI movements across the Arab world. This panel challenges the assumptions so frequently made by westerners, that Arab women are subjugated and oppressed, by giving space for some of the loudest activist voices across the Middle East.

This session will demonstrate that discussions about women in the Arab world can go much deeper than “why do you wear hijab?”, and explore the issues and concerns, both political and personal, for Arab women and LGBTQI people.

Speakers:
Randa Abdel Fattah is Sydney-based author, lawyer and human rights advocate.

Aya Chebbi is a Tunisian feminist who was the first African Union Youth Envoy and the youngest diplomat at the African Union Commission Chairperson’s Cabinet.

Dima Matta is a Beirut university professor and storyteller.

Moderator:
Sara Saleh is an Arab-Australian human rights and refugee advocate, grassroots activist and creative artist who will be co-curating a panel on Feminism in the Arab World.