Dundee Women’s Aid and Women’s Rape & Sexual Abuse Centre held an Anniversary Fundraising Dinner at the Apex Hotel on Friday 17th of October. The event was supported by Dundee’s Lord Provost and over ninety guests.
SI Dundee President Norma McGovern was one of the main organisers of this event.
A variety of speakers engaged the audience:
Divisional Police Commander of Tayside Eddie Smith explained the more active role of police in areas of domestic violence.
Dundee Soroptimist Pam Cairns, a retired GP, spoke of her work as an author and how she uses fiction to raise awareness of issues such as exploitation and modern slavery. Pam concluded with an account of her recent trip to the red-light district of Pune, in India, where she witnessed for herself the harrowing life of trafficked sex workers and their children.
Dundee University Lecturer and author Eddie Small, spoke of some the amazing Dundee ladies of the past who had given so much to the poor of Dundee. Author of Mary Lily Walker’s biography, Eddie has a wealth of knowledge of the hardships faced by women and their children in the city over a hundred years ago.
Author and Storyteller from Perthshire’s Travelling People, Jess Smith, entertained guests with wonderful stories of her early years and life in the travelling community.