International Women's Day: Dozens attend discussion at Mettricks

Dozens of people came to Mettricks Guildhall on Wednesday night for the panel discussion on International Women’s Day focussing on violence against women.

The event was organised by Reclaim the streets Southampton and enabled speakers to reveal their experiences at their workplaces.

Among others, the line-up included Daniella Ellman, a medical student and the president of the University of Southampton Jewish Society and Mabel Wellan, Chairwoman of People’s Pride Southampton.

[Left to right] event organisers Ellen Groggin 22 and Beth Mitchell, 23, (Image: Newsquest)

Beth Mitchell, 23, one of the event organisers said: “It is about celebrating women. When we talk about International Women's Day and women's safety, there can be a lot of heavy topics that can be quite upsetting.

“So we want to obviously talk about this year's topic, but also make sure that we're celebrating women and celebrating achievements.”

She added: “It's a safe space and we can showcase these great organisations where they can talk about the work they're doing, they can bring awareness to the work they're doing.”

Group of panellists at Mettricks (Image: Newsquest)

READ MORE: Women's safety discussed at jam-packed event

Yellow Door is a Southampton charity which helps women affected by domestic abuse.

Holly Press, 29, one of the speakers on the panel, and a volunteer for Yellow Door said: “It's an amazing opportunity to spread the amazing work that we do at Yellow Door.

“We prevent and respond to domestic and sexual abuse in Southampton and Hampshire. And it's really important to be here to let people know that we're here if anybody does need support, but to also highlight that violence is unfortunately really high.”

Elyssa Nurden 22, and Laden Tekeli, 22 (Image: Newsquest)

Elyssa Nurden, 22, a master’s student at the University of Southampton, said: “This is my first time coming to one of these events and I've been trying to get more in touch with understanding my femininity and being more confident in talking to people about issues. And so I just felt like coming something like this, you get to build a community.”

Laden Tekeli, 22, said: “I came to hear people’s experiences here but also see people having these discussions that hopefully will lead to a change in Southampton.”