Last Friday I went to the hospital for a check up after my two cataract surgeries. It was all quick, efficient, and, unsurprisingly, really well managed. Everyone I met was a woman – from the receptionists, to the nurses, specialists, and doctors.

I asked them all if they knew it was International Women’s Day and that the theme was ‘Inspire Inclusion’. The answer was, of course, none.

Does it matter? These are professional women, working in a professional organisation. Is IWD aimed at them? For those who were working on site and not from home – like some of the male doctors were – I’m sure they’d have wanted to be included.

Of course there’s a need for IWD but stop making it a corporate performative ‘Happy IWD’ type affair. As I said a few weeks ago, use it as the reminder in the calendar to stop, pause, and reflect on what you did in the last year to support women.

And yes, before you ask, I can give you a list of things I’ve done. What I don’t do, however, is make a song and dance about it. Firstly, because I use IWD to work out what I’ve done and what I need to do. Secondly, you don’t need to hear me shouting about stuff that everyone should be doing anyway.

A week on from #IWD2024 what are you doing?