International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements or rally for women's equality. 

Marked annually on March 8th, International Women's Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to:

• celebrate women's achievements
• raise awareness about women's equality
• lobby for accelerated gender parity

The theme for 2021 is #choosetochallenge.

This year, BMRA will celebrate women within its membership working in yards and offices across the country who help keep metals recycling contributing to the circular economy. Along with everyone in metal recycling they are true recycling heroes.

Show us your selfies. 
Why not show your support by printing off a selfie sheet and posting your picture on social media using the hashtags #womeninscrap #choosetochallenge #recyclingheroes. Why not tell us how you are supporting women in metals recycling with the sheet 'I support women in metals recycling by...'. You can also write your own message. 

Download your selfie sheets here. 

Advice from BMRA's employment partner, Croner 

On the issue of improving gender imbalance, particularly in the workplace, this can be addressed with putting more effort into bringing female representation into male dominated workplaces. However, it is important  to note that whilst it is necessary for females to seek representation in the workplace and raise awareness of the imbalances that exist between the sexes, it must not be neglected that a sole focus on women may give rise to sex discrimination if not approached in the right way.
 
The best approach would be to review hiring practices to determine whether a gender imbalance exists and why this may be. Where female representation is lacking within a particular business, this can be addressed by bringing in female speakers to tackle unconscious biases surrounding female presence in the workplace, and by making sure job adverts do not use gender-specific language.
 
When it comes to mentoring the next generation of female leaders, it is important that men and women have an impartial opportunity to reach leadership positions. In a lot of workplace settings, it is often the case that women are not given as much opportunity to reach leadership positions when compared with their male colleagues. It is therefore important to encourage women to apply for leaderships roles, allowing them the opportunity to advance their skills in preparation for entering these roles. However, a fair hiring procedure must be used in order to avoid discrimination claims and work towards achieving the overall aim of improving gender imbalance in the workplace.

Croner also has a wealth of free to view resources . BMRA members can login to view. 

To discuss this further BMRA members can call Croner for free advice on  0844 561 8133. As a BMRA member accessing Croner information you require a code. It is available here (login required).