On Wednesday businesses throughout the area may be short on female employees. The women will be on strike.

Meg Heriford, owner of Ladybird Diner, said downtown Lawrence will be without her restaurant for the day.

Jolene Andersen is retired, so she’s not skipping work, but she’ll be right alongside Heriford and the others in Watson Park, 727 Kentucky St., showing solidarity for women and the other “indivisible groups” who support them.

Heriford, Andersen and others will be in Watson Park for the International Women’s Strike, which will begin at 11 a.m., according to the group’s Facebook page.

Heriford said she’ll be closing her diner to attend and she has also heard that a number of downtown businesses will either follow suit or give their female employees the day off.

“I don’t think it’s going to grind anything to a halt here in Lawrence, but it’s a good opportunity for the women who do want to participate to reflect on how much our contribution matters every day,” she said. “The importance of the health and safety of women as it relates to the GDP of our country is undeniable.”

Heriford said she will also be speaking at the event, partially about why she has made an active decision to include her activism in her business model.

“It’ll sort of relate to why I choose to be outspoken,” she said. “I don’t make any secrets about my feminism.”

Wonder Fair, 841 Massachusetts St., said in a Facebook post that the business would be giving the shop’s female employees a paid day off “to attend the Women’s Strike Solidarity Event, volunteer their time, and do work in our community.”

Andersen said she believes Wednesday’s event is a continuation of the recent women’s march on Washington, D.C. — which she attended — which brought hundreds of thousands of people together in support of marginalized groups and in protest of the current presidential administration.

“Society is changing; the whole world is changing,” she said. “We’re moving away from war and competition and the administration, which is, I believe, the last gasp of the old order. And women are leading the way.”

“We are gathering our strength, finding ourselves, finding support in each other and we’re moving ahead,” she added.

Which is not to say men are excluded from the event, Andersen noted. In fact, she’d only prefer to exclude “haters.”

“This movement is about inclusiveness,” she said. “And we’re moving away from hatred and prejudice.”

The day will include speakers, live music and informational resources from a number of local organizations. The event will run until 6 p.m.

I report on crime and courts for the Journal-World. I can be reached by email at cswanson@ljworld.com, by phone at (785) 832-7284 or on Twitter @Conrad_Swanson.