At the opening of the 14th Women’s Congress in Wrocław, Jacek Sutryk, the Mayor of Wrocław, welcomed women to a city of tolerance and freedom.
“We are in an exceptional city, a city of openness, equality and solidarity, a city of tolerance and a city of Nobel Prize winners,” said Wrocław Mayor Jacek Sutryk. “In Wrocław, we know how to sense what matters. In Wrocław, in Lower Silesia, in Poland and around the world, peace matters, freedom matters, responsibility and solidarity matter. Thank you for being here, for coming here, and I count on women’s responsible voice and on your support for local government officials. Yesterday we were in Warsaw standing up for basic matters. We live in a sick country, because after 30 years, when it seemed that certain values were obvious—such as local government, tolerance, openness and civil society, which we nurture so carefully in our local governments—when we stand up for basic things, those in power begin threatening us with commissioners. But we will not give up; we will continue creating space for meetings like this,” said the mayor.
Magdalena Środa also spoke about the three scourges facing Poland.
“At the first Women’s Congress in Warsaw, 15 years ago, two women presidents were sitting in the hall: Jolanta Kwaśniewska and Maria Kaczyńska, who supported the Congress,” recalled Magdalena Środa. “At that time, Anna Zawadzka forced her way onto the stage, bypassing the men guarding security, in protest, because her political and social goal is the legalization of LGBT+ unions. For us, this is a good moment to remember that it was 15 years ago. There is still no law on civil partnerships; there are no many other laws that we fought for, and we are moving backwards significantly when it comes to rights. Despite the three scourges that have affected us—the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the authoritarian government currently ruling our country, we would like hope to prevail. The war has enabled cooperation with Ukrainian women and men, the pandemic also taught us a great deal, and the authoritarian government will soon come to an end. I would like the Congress to prepare us for a new beginning, a new democratic Poland,” said Magdalena Środa.
Below is the programme of the 14th Women’s Congress
SUNDAY, 9 October 2022
14:00–16:00 PLENARY SESSIONS
14:00. In Search of Women Leaders: Izabela Leszczyna, Barbara Nowacka, Magdalena Biejat, Urszula Zielińska, Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, Klaudia Jachira, Elżbieta Łukaciejewska, Katarzyna Lubnauer, Anita Kucharska-Dziedzic, Joanna Mucha, Jolanta Niezgodzka. Moderators: Katarzyna Kasia and Karolina Wigura
15:00 Women’s Congress Manifesto “Our Strength Is Within Us”
15:15 Women’s Congress Awards 15:30 Concert “My Mother Janis”
9:00–13:00 THEMATIC CENTRES
Violence and Care Centre
10:00–11:30 “Wartime Rapes Against a Patriarchal Backdrop: Source, Responsibility, Prevention”
11:40–13:00 “Helping Is Legal—On Women’s Shoulders”
10:00–13:00 “Guest-hood.” Polish-Ukrainian round table
Local Government Centre
9:00–10:15 “Cities of Equal Rights—Gender, Money and Privileges”
10:20–11:35 “Housing: A Right or a Commodity?”
11:40–13:00 “A Major Change in a Small Municipality. Revolutions by Women Village Heads and Women Mayors”
New Generations Centre
9:15–10:00 “What Could Our Great-Grandmothers Say to Cybergirls?”
10:15–11:15 “Young Polish Women Have Power”
11:30–13:00 “It Will Be BIG—You’re Invited!”
Leadership Centre
9:00–9:55 “Can Leadership Be Learned? Networking Women Leaders” 10:00–10:55 “Quotas and Women’s Leadership in Business”
11:00–11:55 “Women Leaders in the Media: How to Increase Women’s ‘Visibility’?”
12:05–13:05 Round table of women’s organisations
Educational Centre
9:00–9:55 “Education for Change. Is Equality at School Possible?”
10:00–10:55 “The School of Feminine Virtues and Other Hits”
11:00–11:55 “Migration in Practice. Inclusive and Intercultural Education and the War in Ukraine” 12:00–13:00 “School in Depression”
“We Want Our Whole Lives!” Centre
9:30–10:30 “My Body, My Business—Tattoos, Body Shaming”
10:35–11:30 “Motherhood and Feminism: What Next?”
11:35–13:00 “What Turns Us On, What Excites Us: Post-Pornography Explains the World to Us”
13:05–13:20 “Availability of Gynaecological Services”
Centre 1000
8:30–10:30 Premiere of the film “Nobody Talks About It” (45 minutes) and discussion: “Vanishing Women, or Pregnancy in Times of Horror”
10:45–12:15 “Work, Violence, Exclusion—What Is Happening in the Media?”
Plenary hall:
10:30–11:30 “I Don’t Want People to Die at the Border”
11:45–12:45 “Abortion Stories. On Exclusion and the (Un)availability of Abortion in Poland.”