Konica Minolta Australia has launched a week of activities in support of International Women’s Day 2016, with the opening of a new exhibition, Out of the Shadows: Portraiture of Domestic Workers in Nepal, at Konica Minolta House in Macquarie Park.
The exhibition will feature portraits and stories that highlight the challenges faced by female domestic workers in Nepal, including limited access to education, caste-based discrimination, child labour, forced or arranged marriage, violence and poverty.
The exhibition will feature 15 portraits by emerging Seattle-based photographer and videographer, Monica Frisell, with research by Laura McManus, Konica Minolta’s Ethical Sourcing Consultant.
Cindy Reid, Director of People and Culture at Konica Minolta said, “The aim of the exhibition, which brings to life stories of courage, resilience, and survival, is to both challenge and inspire. While the subjects in the exhibition might not be Australian, the narrative is a familiar one, and highlights the aspirations we all have: an education for our children, saving to buy a house and being treated with respect at work.”
The launch of the exhibition will also feature a talk by Jenny Stanger, National Manager of the Salvation Army’s Freedom Partnership to End Modern Slavery. Jenny will talk about the Salvation Army’s work to provide support to victims of modern slavery in Australia, including domestic workers exploited in diplomatic homes.
Cindy Reid said, “The theme of International Women’s Day 2016 is ‘Pledge for Pay Parity’. The exhibition is aimed at Konica Minolta staff, and the general public to recognise the importance of continued advocacy for pay parity among all women, no matter where in the world they work.”
The exhibition is only one of the initiatives Konica Minolta is launching in support of International Women’s Day 2016. Konica Minolta Australia’s Managing Director, Dr David Cooke has pledged that, this year, the company will seek to achieve ‘Employee of Choice’ status with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), which promotes and improves gender equality in Australian workplaces.
Additionally, Konica Minolta Sydney staff will attend the UN Women’s IWD breakfast in Sydney on March 8. On the evening of International Women’s Day, Konica Minolta’s Melbourne Branch will host a screening of He Named Me Malala to raise funds for the company’s charity partner, Project Futures, working on anti-human trafficking projects in Cambodia.
Out of the Shadows will run from March 8-11th.
