International Women’s Day Festival is a time for debate, education, and celebration. We’re creating shared digital spaces for you, the audience, along with academics, community organisers, activists and artists to explore universal feminist topics.

Two days after she informed her employer that she was pregnant with her first child, Joeli Brearley was sacked from her job by voicemail.

She was four months pregnant and unemployed with bills to pay. Frighteningly, Joeli’s story is not unique, something she was quick to discover.  

On 8 March 2015, International Women’s Day, Joeli launched Pregnant Then Screwed. What started as a space for mothers to share their stories of discrimination has become a national movement and charity dedicated to ending the systemic, cultural, and institutional discrimination faced by thousands of pregnant people and mothers every year.

Joeli has documented everything, from the day she was dismissed from work, to how Pregnant Then Screwed’s research has positively impacted government policy in her first book, Pregnant Then Screwed: The Truth About the Motherhood Penalty and How to Fix It, released 4 March 2021.

Whether you're a mother who is sick of being side-lined, undermined, and underpaid. A stay-at-home mother who wants to work but can't afford to. A future parent who is scared that having children will affect your career. Or you simply want a stronger, fairer economy, Pregnant Then Screwed is a manifesto for change and a call to arms for all women and pregnant people.

Join Joeli as she talks about her activism, the impact of Pregnant Then Screwed, her new book, in conversation with activist, PhD researcher, community organiser, Belfast Feminist Network co-founder, and mother, Kellie Turtle.

https://themaclive.com/event/pregnant-then-screwed-joeli-brearleys-journey