Date Week of March 8 | ||
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Observed by Men and women, worldwide Type International civil awareness week 2016 date March 7–13 (2016-03-07 - 2016-03-13) 2017 date March 6–12 (2017-03-06 - 2017-03-12) 2018 date March 5–11 (2018-03-05 - 2018-03-11) | ||
Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week {abbrv. WOAW Week} is an annual global observance that takes place during the week of March 8. The awareness week managed by the Institute for Women Of Aviation Worldwide {abbrv. iWOAW} celebrates women's past and present contributions to the betterment of the air and space industry and promotes industry opportunities to girls and women.
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As of April 2016, Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week activities have been organized in 40 countries on 5 continents. 140,000 individuals have directly participated in the week's activities. 30,074 girls and women have been introduced to flight in a small aircraft in response to The Week's Fly It Forward® call to action.
History
In January 2010, Mireille Goyer, an aviation educator and pilot, launched an international grassroots initiative to celebrate the centennial of the first female pilot license worldwide earned by Raymonde de Laroche on March 8, 1910.
Her Fly It Forward® call to action encouraged pilots from around the world to introduce record numbers of girls of any age to aviation during, what was then dubbed, "Women Pilots' Week". In 2011, the one-time celebration evolved into the annual "Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week" as the world celebrated the centennial of International Women's Day.
By addressing the female population's lack of exposure to aviation activities, Goyer's Fly It Forward® initiative aims to fulfill the dream of the pioneering women pilots of 1910, namely to see women participate in all aspects of aviation.
On September 10, 2012, Mireille Goyer founded the Institute for Women Of Aviation Worldwide, a not-for-profit global alliance of industry organizations. It organizes The Week's various contests and tracks The Week's activities in addition to managing other initiatives that facilitate women's integration in the industry around the year. Led by a gender-balanced, all-volunteer, Board of Directors, iWOAW's mission is to foster gender balance in the air and space industry through outreach, education, and advocacy.
Activities and observances
Female-centric activities take place at airports and aerodromes around the world as well as in museums and aerospace businesses. Special commemoration flights are often conducted.
iWOAW organizes multiple challenges and contests during the week. The best known challenge, Fly It Forward®, rewards top performers annually with awards including "Most Female Pilot Friendly Airport Worldwide", "Most Dedicated Female Pilot Worldwide", and "Most Supportive Male Pilot Worldwide".
Each year, a theme is selected to highlight the anniversary of historical and world-scale achievements by outstanding women of aviation.
Controversy
In 2017, Canadian Jewish human rights groups sharply criticized Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week for choosing Hanna Reitsch as their reference for the Week's 2017 theme "Let's swirl. 80 years of female helicopter pilots".
Reitsch was already a record setting pilot in 1937 when she was ordered to report to a Luftwaffe testing station for duties as a test pilot. Later that year, she was the first woman to fly a helicopter and eventually became Hiltler's favorite pilot.
In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Goyer said "If you're aiming to talk about her maybe controversial part in political history, to me, that's not relevant." Goyer said the details of Reitsch's past were left off the event's website because the event is "not into making a political statement." Instead, a link to an extended biography of Hanna Reistch in history website maintained by the association was included.
Steven Slimovitch, legal counsel for B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights, called the choice of Reitsch as part of the aviation week unacceptable. “As far as they’re concerned, the fact that she was an incredible pilot, that’s sufficient for them,” he said. “The fact that she appeared in Nazi propaganda in the ’30s and ’40s, that doesn’t seem to bother them too much.”