08/03/2026
We didn’t talk about glass ceilings.
We talked about chains.
Happy International Women’s Day to all the women out there!
Last Thursday, I sat in a room full of women and allies at an International Women’s Day event hosted by Monteiro, Migrant Resource Centre and Ruth , Founder of Freedom For Humanity.
The panel shared more than insight; they shared lived reality:
• Professor Jennifer Burn AM,
• Lackner (Life Without Barriers),
• Fadi Chalouhi (lived experience),
• Mans Carlsson OAM,
• Rabbi Zalman Kastel AM (Together For Humanity).
Modern slavery.
Not as a distant headline, but as a lived reality in our communities — on our doorsteps, in our supply chains, hidden in the shadows of systems we all benefit from.
This year’s IWD theme is .
Most people hear that and think:
“Give more opportunities to women, and we all gain.”
True.
But sitting in that room, it landed differently for me.
To 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 in the context of modern slavery is to:
• Give up the comfort of “I didn’t know”.
• Give our voice, our platform, our time.
• Give attention to the women whose stories rarely make the stage.
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁, 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲.
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻, 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵.
One moment really stayed with me.
The panel facilitator, Macpherson, asked Rabbi Zalman:
“How do we shift from 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 / 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦 to 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦?”
It made me realise how often we live in protection mode —
guarding our rights, knowledge, assets, dreams and people.
Necessary, yes.
But it also keeps us in a constant state of high tension.
It can quietly limit our creativity and our humanity.
The chains in our systems.
The chains in ourselves.
Are we keeping ourselves enslaved to other people’s standards?
What happens if we gently turn it around?
From 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 to 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁.
Same desire for safety and dignity.
Completely different posture.
Open-hearted instead of closed-fisted.
Relational instead of transactional.
I’m curious: in your own life or work, how do you see
𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 playing out?
And thank you to Freeman Fung and Jacqueline Lo for walking alongside me on this journey and being there with me at the event.