International Women’s Day 2022: Celebrating Women in Drowning Prevention

To recognise this year’s International Women’s Day, the international drowning prevention community gathered virtually to celebrate and acknowledge women in drowning prevention across the planet.

A global audience over 150 people joined in to hear from seven inspiring female leaders, spanning the UK, Norway, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, all from different backgrounds and roles.

Speakers included:
* Dawn Whittaker, Chief Executive of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, and National Fire Chief Officer lead for water safety and drowning prevention in the UK, Chair of the UK Water Safety Forum
* Claire Ann V Alfonso, President, Norges Livredningsselskap (Norwegian Life Saving Society)
* Catherine Greaves, Chief Executive Officer, Life Saving Victoria, Australia
* Dr Jagnoor Jagnoor, Injury Program Lead, The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
* Dr Chanel Phillips, (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), University of Otago, New Zealand
* Dr Rebecca Sindall, Evidence Manager, RNLI, UK
* Dr Colleen Saunders, University of Cape Town, Life Saving South Africa

Three engaging sessions explored leadership and the role of women’s roles in water safety around the world in different contexts. The speakers reflected on the on the challenges and opportunities as well as the positive changes for women in their respective sectors. The key theme of breaking the bias and equity provided engaging and thought proving discussion for the audience, as well as motivating and inspiring advice for the next generation.

Key insights from the speakers:

• Ensuring women are more involved at the upper level in leadership roles
• Women in drowning prevention are powerful advocates for families and males
• Education is key to foster gender equality in the next generation
• Males allies are important
• There is a need for greater female representation in the front-line roles
• Cultural challenges in reducing drowning risk for women is a real and complex issues, and how to best overcome these taboos
• Vital to have voices in the room of those we are trying to advocate for
• We need to consider intersectionality in drowning prevention - it’s not just about gender
• Under recognition of the role of women in drowning prevention, particularly to reduce drowning risk in young children
• Role of culture and connection to water important for Indigenous cultures and for challenging the mainstream perspective of water safety and drowning prevention

Thanks to everyone who was involved in bringing this webinar together and for everyone who promoted this among their networks, we hope you enjoyed the session.