On Saturday, March 11th, on the occasion of celebrating Women’s Day, a Mentor March and a round table on the topic of female leadership in the local community were held. This time we marched in Kragujevac, and we organized the walk in cooperation with the local Association of Business Women “Vizija”.
After the march, a round table was held and the speakers were Gordana Čomić, politician and feminist activist, Biljana Stanojević, president of the Association of Business Women “Vizija” and head of human resources and joint affairs in the City Hall of the City of Kragujevac, and Sofija Todorović, director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
Asked why women in society are still in a subordinate position compared to men, Gordana Čomić believes that it is because women are undesirable. “Men don’t want to share power the way they use power. We come with a request to change all kinds of power and we encounter a great misunderstanding. The idiot’s time has passed, it is just that no one told him, but he will continue to cause problems for women who want to be leaders because they can” – she points out. She believes that women are undesirable because the structure of society is such that men have decided that women are unnecessary. “We live in spite of the roles they attribute to us, not thanks to them,” adds Čomić.
She sees the solution to improving the position of women in building a dialogue and says: “You cannot change society without dialogue, unless you organize a revolution, and that has never happened in Serbia.”
Biljana Stanojević believes that it is very difficult to change the opinion that women are an intellectually inferior species. “What I realized during my work experience is that women do not support women. Not only that we have to fight against men, but also against women, who are sometimes our fiercest opponents,” Stanojević reminds.
Speaking from the experience of an activist and young woman, Sofija Todorović states: “When you are a young woman who has an opinion, it is treated as insolence.” She shares her experience and warns that the amount of attacks is incredible when a woman points out or speaks her mind about difficult, sensitive topics. “What is needed to improve the position of women in the community is humane leadership and a safe social space for women“, says Todorović.
The round table was moderated by Zorana Antonijević, independent researcher, expert in the field of gender equality policies and feminist activist.
Mentor Marchs are organized on the occasion of International Women’s Day around the world every year and illustrate the commitment of women to the development of global leadership and highlight the achievements of women around the world. The walks are part of the action of the Global Women’s Leadership Network and the organization Vital Voices, and the initiative has so far attracted thousands of women leaders on all continents. This year, over 172 mentoring walks are organized within the Vital Voices global women’s leadership network in 66 countries around the world.
In Serbia, the first Mentor walks were held in 2008 in Belgrade and Niš. As part of the Share Your Knowledge program, the Mentor March is an opportunity to promote a program that works on the economic empowerment and professional development of women and the exchange of opinions on women’s rights and equality.
The round table and the Mentor Walk are part of the activities of the “Share your knowledge” program, which is jointly implemented by the European Movement in Serbia, the Embassy of the United States of America, and the OSCE Mission to Serbia.
