Two important personalities of the Greek diaspora, Mrs Varvara Athanasiou-Ioannou and Mrs Marilena Mela, each distinguished in her field, hosted today on “Take Your Time” with Prokopis Angelopoulos, on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
Ms Athanasiou-Ioannou stressed that this day should be celebrated every day and added that according to the statistics he read recently, it will take two hundred and eighty-six years for equality to be fully obtained. He also added that while the Australian Metropolitan Government has fifty percent men and fifty percent women, in decision-making centers, there are not as many Greek women as there should be.
Referring to femicide, she stressed that it is a global phenomenon and there should be stricter legislation for the perpetrators. Her latest venture as a volunteer is the organization of the first World Conference on “Women and Hellenism” to be held in Ioannina between 2 and 6 September, with the support of other volunteer women in the “Food For Thought Network: Greek Australian Women’s Network”.
Ms Varvara Athanasiou-Ioannou comes from Epirus and is the Founder and Head of the“Food For Thought Network: Greek Australian Women’s Network” and a writer. She is the founder and president of the non-profit “Food For Thought Network Inc” and the global learning platform “Greek Australian Women and Friends Global Forum”. She is also the author of the book “Her voice: Greek women and their friends”, collaborator of school teaching programs and co-author of more than 60 children’s books in Greek.
Dr. Marilena Mela, Director of Clinical Laboratory Genetics at the Genome Center in the US, said that Women’s Day should be celebrated every day, however, today is the opportunity for another celebration. At the same time, he pointed out the obstacles encountered by a Greek who goes to America to complete his studies. She then noted that the fact that she is a woman and is involved in molecular biology makes situations more charming, challenging herself.
Ms Mela comes from Lefkada and lives and works in Boston. She currently serves as Director of Clinical Laboratory Genetics at the nonprofit academic research institute New York Genome Center.