Menu Close
CMHA WW encourages you to #EmbraceEquity this International Women’s Day
Mar 7, 2023
On March 8, CMHA Waterloo Wellington joins individuals and organizations around the world to #EmbraceEquity in celebrating this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), an annual event held to mark the social, economic and political achievements of women.
The IWD website specifies the basic difference between equality and equity, noting:
Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.
Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
Among other issues, gender bias has a significant negative effect on medical diagnosis and the quality of health care women receive, leading to substantial delays in diagnosis and misdiagnosis. This includes delays in receiving mental health care, as research has found that women experience depression and anxiety twice as often as men, but experience more barriers in getting care.
Did you know?
- Locally more than half of the calls we receive for Crisis Services through Here 24/7 and IMPACT (Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team) are coming from women. Women are reaching out for support with issues like anxiety and depression, suicidal ideation, and relationship conflict.
- Referrals for Eating Disorders programs at CMHA WW have tripled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 4% and 20% of young women practice unhealthy patterns of dieting, purging, and Binge Eating. According to NIED, 1 in 20 young women in the community currently has an eating disorder. Unfortunately, with a mental illness such as an eating disorder; the situation can get worse for people if they need to wait a long time for support. Eating Disorders have the highest overall mortality rate of any mental illness, with estimates between 10-15%.
- Psychosis can happen to anyone, 1 in 100 people may require treatment for it in their lifetime and youth are particularly at risk. Women entering the 1st Step program may be experiencing social phobia, bipolar disorder, and generalized anxiety. The key to a successful recovery is early diagnosis and getting help fast.
Further to the official IWD 2023 theme, the Canadian government has its own campaign it has dubbed Every Woman Counts. The federal government says IWD is a reminder that all women, from all ages and walks of life, have a place in every aspect of Canadian society, including in the economic, social and democratic spheres.
Show your support for IWD 2023 by visiting the International Women’s Day website and sharing how you #EmbraceEquity on social media.
Healthy women, create health communities. Your participation in the Shoppers Drug Mart Run for Women means quicker access to critical local mental health resources for our daughters, mothers, sisters, grandmothers, friends, and coworkers, so that that they can get the help they need now. Be the difference this International Women’s Day. Save $5 and support the women in your community with promo code ‘EQUITY23’ March 6-13th when you register for the Shopper’s Run for Women in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington.