Congress discusses women's role in Polish society

This year's congress is entitled “The bright side of the force. Equality, activity and democracy”.

The congress scheduled six plenary sessions, nine themes, workshops, and meetings with activists, artists, as well as women active in science and business.

There were also debates on culture, media and challenges facing journalists, politics as a profession and vocation, as well as health, education, business and innovation, good practices to support women, and sessions on women on retirement.

A letter read out at the opening of the Congress from Polish President Andrzej Duda recalled the Polish-born two-time Nobel Prize winner, Marie Skłodowska Curie, who, Duda wrote: “combined wisdom, perseverance and femininity.”

“We need such role models for women today, eager for knowledge and ready to fight for their dignity, often in harsh environments; ambitious and ready to believe in themselves,” the letter read.

One of the speakers at the Congress was government plenipotentiary for civil society and equal treatment, Wojciech Kaczmarczyk.

In an address to the Congress, Kaczmarczyk said that: “Wage discrimination is a myth perpetrated by women's imagination.”

These statements were accompanied by boos from the audience and calls for him to “get off the stage”, Gazeta Wyborcza reported.

Photo: Twitter.com/Kongres Kobiet

Dozens of attendees also donned paper bags over their heads on the first day of the Congress on Friday in an apparent “alert to freedom”. (rg)