Here are 7 ways to make a small but tangible difference to another woman's life on IWD.

Friday March 8, 2019, is International Women’s Day.

This years’ IWD theme is BalanceforBetter because a balanced world – a gender-balanced world – is a better world.

But how do we get there? What can you, one little ole person, actually do to help achieve this balance?

The secret is this: you’re not in this alone.

Rather than solving these big, intimidating problems on your own, it’s really about the small gestures we can do that don’t feel like much to us, but make a tangible difference to another woman’s life.

If you’re feeling warm and fuzzy this week (and hopefully for many weeks to come), here are seven ways to support the women in your life, as well as the ones you might never meet.

Donate to Room To Read.

This IWD, Room to Read are redefining what power looks like. Check out how women everywhere are using their super powers to make the world a better place for women and girls through Room to Read below. Post continues after video.

Together with our commercial clients and charity partner Room to Read, Mamamia’s goal is to be funding 1,000 girls in school each and every day, by June 2020.

Room to Read transforms the lives of girls in low-income countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organisations and governments, Room to Read develops literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and supports girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

Put simply, educated girls = real change in the world.

$1 keeps one girl in school for one day, you can learn more about how your money is spent with Room to Read here, and donate to Room to Read here. You can also listen to Mia Freedman’s No Filter interview with John Wood on why he founded Room to Read below (post continues after audio).

Donate to Share the Dignity.

Hands up who’s been caught in the loo without a pad or a tampon before? We’ve all been there, but imagine if you couldn’t physically afford to pop to the shops to buy a packet of pads or didn’t have anyone to ask for a spare tampon?

Period poverty might not be a term you’ve heard before, but it’s something affecting Australian women and girls everyday.

Share the Dignity is an Australian women’s charity run by Rochelle Courtenay that brings dignity to at-risk women experiencing homelessness and domestic violence by distributing sanitary items. Courtenay told Mamamia’s The Quicky podcast Share the Dignity estimates 27 per cent of female Australian high school students have missed school as a direct result of period poverty (you can listen to The Quicky’s period poverty deep dive below, post continues after audio).

You can help Share the Dignity end period poverty by donating to their latest initiative ‘Every Girl Deserves an Education’, which aims to raise $100,000 to purchase and install 10 new Dignity Vending Machines (sanitary item vending machines) into schools in low socio-economic areas across Australia.

Or, next time you go to the supermarket, pick up an extra box of tampons or packet of pads to donate to Share the Dignity’s upcoming April Dignity Drive, or donate sanitary items through their partners here. Even better, shop at Woolworths and five cents from every sanitary item you purchase will go to Share the Dignity. It might not seem like much, but five cents from every item sold across their 995 Australian stores adds up.

Donate to RizeUp.

Each week, at least one woman is killed at the hands of a man who was supposed to love her.

RizeUp is a community-based charity helping victims of domestic violence that was started by Gold Coast businesswoman Nicolle Edwards after she heard of a woman who had arrived into her community with three little kids and nothing else except the clothes on her back. She was fleeing domestic violence and she had nowhere to go. (You can listen to more from Nicolle Edwards on why she started RizeUp on the No Filter podcast below, post continues after audio.)

So far, RizeUp has helped 574 families get back on their feet.

You can support RizeUp by donating money here or email volunteer@rizeup.com.au for information on becoming a team member.

Or, you can simply follow RizeUp on Facebook where they post exactly what they need at any given time (food, clothing, a safe place to stay, services, gift vouchers) so you can donate accordingly.

Donate to Fitted for Work.

Finding a job any time in your life can be hard, but especially so if you’ve had a long career break for any number of reasons, have been forced to change job or career, or are looking for new work over a certain age. Women are discriminated against – for their age, ethnicity, socio-economic factors and being mothers, among other things – when trying to re-enter the work force.

That’s where organisations like Fitted for Work can help.

Fitted for Work welcomes all women (trans and cis), including non-binary and gender non-conforming people and all those who identify as women, who have experienced disadvantage, and are seeking employment to re-enter the workforce.

Their team provides women with practical skills through coaching and mentoring. One of the other services they offer is providing women with outfits in preparation for an interview.

You can support Fitted for Work by donating funding for specific services like interview coaching workshops, presentation skills and personal outfitting services and workplace experience, or by donating unwanted goods in good condition that would be suitable for a woman to wear to a job interview. They are always in particular need of women’s fashion ranging from size 14 upwards.

You can find out more about how to donate clothing to Fitted for Work here.

Support Lady Startups.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

An entire flat lay full of #LadyStartups . ????FEMALES TO THE FRONT???? . Meaghan from @moggy_designs received her @catchy_attitude mug Jes from @thegoodthingthings on it! For each mug sold $2 will be donated to @dangerousfemales in order to help support women victim of domestic violence and abuse. . Other #ladystartups included are @confetti_rebels @ownsitbyanna @bonmaxie !

A post shared by Lady Startup (@ladystartups) on Dec 22, 2018 at 1:50pm PST

Whether you have a little money or a lot, we have power in choosing who we open our wallets to.

So why wouldn’t you spend your hard earned dosh on products and services created by kick arse women?

Mamamia’s Mia Freedman started the Lady Startup community as a way of sharing cool things she found made by female entrepreneurs or women with side hustles on Instagram. Now, it’s a nation-wide community supporting women in business.

For inspiration and to find Lady Startup brands owned and run by Aussie women to buy from, visit the Lady Startup Instagram page. It’s a blast, and extremely colourful.

Donate to foundations researching diseases that affect women.

Just as women each have their own unique and amazing qualities, we also deal with certain diseases and illnesses that affect our bodies exclusively, or at a higher rate than they do men. Lucky us.

Here are some foundations and organisations you can donate to that research and raise awareness for diseases and illnesses that affect women:

• National Breast Cancer Foundation.
• Pink Hope.
• EndoActive.
• Ovarian Cancer Australia.
• The McGrath Foundation.
• Endometriosis Australia.

Check on the women in your life.

You never know what’s going on in someone else’s life.

It’s a saying most of us know to be true, either through hiding our own battles, or learning of someone else’s.

Check on the women in your life – your mum, sister, auntie, grandmother, friend, colleague or neighbour – and ask them how they’re going.

It doesn’t have to be much and they might tell you they’re fine. But just asking the question can have an impact on that person’s day.

To wrap it up, make IWD your day, everyday. Because we are more powerful together.

What can you do this International Women’s Day to help #BalanceforBetter? Tell us in the comments!