THE Zonta Club of Mitchell will mark International Women’s Day with an event featuring a guest speaker – former police detective Narelle Fraser.
The night will be at Seymour Community Arts Centre on Friday next week.
Ms Fraser was a member of Victoria Police for 27 years, including 15 as a detective with the rape and homicide squads and missing persons unit.
She will present a talk entitled ‘It Isn’t a Crime to Be Stressed’, in which she discusses high-profile criminal investigations she participated in and her subsequent diagnosis with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ms Fraser is now a well-known podcaster, featuring on the likes of the Australian True Crime Podcast and now hosts her own show called Narelle Fraser Interviews.
Zonta Club of Mitchell president Janice Stanton said it would be fascinating to hear Ms Fraser’s story.
“We’ve asked her to speak because she’s a strong woman,” Ms Stanton said.
“She’s someone who is really good to listen to. She adds humour to her presentation.
“The bottom line is that she’s destigmatising mental illness and showing how you can work through it.
“It’s led her down a different pathway. She’s no longer a police officer, but she can certainly help others and that’s what she advocates for now.”
Ms Stanton said the Zonta Club of Mitchell would create a display in the foyer of the centre to tie in with International Women’s Day.
Zonta International is an organisation dedicated to advancing the status of women around the world.
Ms Stanton said the club decided to schedule Ms Fraser’s talk for Friday, March 12, rather than the date of International Women’s Day on March 8, which falls on a Monday this year, to give more people a chance to attend.
She said she hoped the presentation would be well supported by Mitchell Shire residents.
“We’re hoping we can get plenty of local people to support it – we have a limit of about 200. The auditorium holds 270 people, and I think we’re allowed to have it 75 per cent full,” she said.
“Booking in a group is the best option because we have to leave a seat between each group.
“If you book individually you’ll have empty seats between each person, whereas if you book in a group you can all sit together because you’ve been associating with that group anyway.”
Ms Stanton’s talk will be on March 12 from 6.15pm at Seymour Community Arts Centre on Anglesey Street. Tickets are $30 and can be booked at www.trybooking.com/719581.
COVID-19 protocols will be in place and anyone who displays any symptoms should not attend.
