International Women's Day 2024

In line with the College’s values and commitment to promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, each year we celebrate key diversity events including International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March.

In 2024, the IWD campaign theme is Inspire Inclusion. We planned a range of activities that helped us to celebrate women's achievements and raise awareness about women's equality and gender parity.

We have also published the results from an alarming survey that revealed violence and abuse are driving mental illness in women and girls. 

Free members' webinar

We held a webinar on Still the Second Sex? Data, Disaggregation and Discrimination. 

RCPsych President Dr Lade Smith and Dr Stella Kingett, Chair of the Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group, were joined by expert speakers Professor Dame Lesley Regan (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College's St Mary's Hospital and Women’s Health Ambassador for England) and Professor Alice Sullivan (Professor of Sociology at University College London (UCL) and Head of Research at the UCL Social Research Institute who is heading up a six-month review analysing the collection of research and statistics by all public bodies on sex and gender.)

We also heard from RCPsych Presidential Leads for Women and Mental Health, Dr Phillipa Greenfield and Dr Cath Durkin who will talk about their future Women’s Mental Health Matters strategy, alongside Dr Amrit Sachar, Joint Presidential Lead for Equity and Equality.

Podcast

Our Presidential Leads for Women and Mental Health Dr Philippa Greenfield and Dr Catherine Durkin hosted a conversation with Dr Amrit Sachar, Joint Presidential Lead for Equity and Equality, and Louise Howard, Professor of Women's Mental Health at Kings College London.

The conversation looked at the specific determinants and risk factors that impact disproportionately on women’s mental health, and much more.

Blog posts

Dr Stella Kingett reflected on her first year as Chair of the Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group (WMHSIG) and her time spent 'listening to inspirational women and finding the data'.

The College's Historian in Residence, Dr Gordon Bates, has also written a post to coincide with International Women's Day. In what will become a new series, he takes a look at 'forgotten women in psychiatry'. The first post in this series explores the life and work of Jessie Murray, the driving force behind London's first hospital and outpatient service for neurotic and psychosomatic illness.

How we celebrated IWD 2023

Speakers included:

• Dr Shubulade Smith CBE: Dr Smith is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and an academic at King’s College London. She will become President of RCPsych in July 2023.
• Dr Sumi Ratnam, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT). Dr Ratnam has worked in women’s services for 19 years and has an interest in the well-being of women at work.
• Dr Philippa Greenfield is the RCPsych Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group (WMHSIG) lead for their work on Violence Against Women and Girls. Dr Greenfield is a Consultant General Adult Psychiatrist.
• Dr Stella Kingett is the incoming chair of the RCPsych WMHSIG.

In the first part of this webinar, Dr Ratnam discussed sexual harassment faced by girls and women in the public and work spheres of their life. She was then joined by colleagues from ELFT who shared findings from a survey that looked at the experiences of female doctors in their trust. The webinar ended with a Q&A.

Video interview

For IWD 2023 Dr Elaine Lockhart, Chair of the RCPsych Child and Adolescent Faculty, spoke to us about equality and equity for women in the mental health space.