Why Words Matter
Every Spring, thousands of women congregate at the UN in New York to assess how women’s position in society has progressed — or not … At this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) the major discussions were around men and women sharing responsibility, specifically in relation to caring for people living with HIV and AIDS.
WOMANKIND’s Executive Director, Sue Turrell, and our Chair of Trustees, Julie Ashdown, took part, along with several WOMANKIND partners: Emilia and Thoko from ZWLA in Zimbabwe, Susan from FIDA in Ghana, Lesley Ann from South Africa, and Ednah from Musasa in ZImbabwe. As her CSW blog opens, Sue is watching a particularly depressing ‘Celebrity’ news report:
Monday 2 March: 7am
I woke up in New York to the worst snowstorm of the year — not good news when WOMANKIND was holding its event on community solutions to reducing violence against women and HIV and AIDS in three hours’ time.
We are meeting the partners at 8.30 for breakfast to discuss our presentations so we need to be on time. I am watching CNN as I get ready — there's a story about pop star Rihanna and her boyfriend Chris Brown. Allegedly Chris has been beating Rihanna and, frighteningly, some of her teenage fans think Rihanna should get back with him. A depressing start to a day which will encompass many discussions about violence against women and HIV and AIDS.
Monday 2 March: 9pm
The event was a great success — despite the snow, 35 people came along and really responded to our partners’ accounts of how violence against women (VAW) and HIV is having a profound effect on their work.
The rest of the day is spent going from workshop to meeting to discussion, interspersed with a rushed coffee or sandwich and queuing for the loo. And, no, the UN does not have enough ladies’ toilets when 3000 women from NGOs around the world turn up for the week!
I hear about how women around the world — in Kyrgyzstan, Zimbabwe, the US, Australia, Liberia — are tackling VAW and HIV and AIDS. Despite the very different contexts, the challenges are all too familiar. The day ends with a reception at the UK Mission to the UN, where the 40th birthday of the Women's National Commission <link to WNC http://www.thewnc.org.uk/> is celebrated with a cake and candles...
Tuesday 3 march: 12:30
Another day another conference room with women from all over the world... There are over 2000 women here from organisations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and North America. Today I spoke to a New Yorker, a police captain in the NYPD for 21 years, who told me how her colleagues managed (or didn't) domestic violence cases; a member of the Salvation Army who works with trafficked women in Mexico; a woman from an illegal settlement in South Africa where 40% of the 1.5 million people living there are HIV-positive. This is an inspiring and endlessly fascinating place to be and the energy and enthusiasm is catching.
Tuesday 3 March: 10pm
Another long day and I am ready for sleep. The afternoon was spent discussing the likely affects of the financial crisis on women — mostly bad. There are fears that they will be the first to be laid off, that there will be an increase in violence against women and, because the developing world does not have US$ trillions for a 'stimulus package' there will have to be massive cuts to social services expenditure — which will increase women's unpaid care work.
More positively, I heard about how Norway, Spain and Germany have managed to end up with the highest proportions of women involved in politics by changing the way the system works (no more all-night meetings) — and by actively encouraging women to consider politics as a profession (they literally roll out the red carpet for women at town halls).
Wednesday 4 March
I’m writing this in the UN cafeteria, looking over the river to Long Island, which feels very surreal. I’m at the same table where I met with Baroness Joyce Gould, chair of the UK Women’s National Commission, to hear about the progress of negotiations on a set of ‘agreed outcomes’ of the CSW. These conclusions were written a week before the CSW began and governments spend two weeks haggling over adjustments to wording, additions or removals. And words matter — in the context of the global financial crisis, many governments are trying to change the word ‘commit’ to ‘endeavour’ before all actions which will cost money.
‘Governments are trying to change the word “commit” to “endeavour” before all actions which will cost money’
The UN is a strange place, with its own language and bureaucracy, which makes you want to scream with frustration at times. But the UN remains crucial in the struggle for women’s equality. Governments sign up to treaties, resolutions and agreements, which give women around the world the framework within which to hold their governments to account — after all, it is hard to call on a government to act on an issue like VAW if it is not illegal. It is much more effective to demand that a government acts when it has publicly declared that VAW is wrong and has agreed to abide by international standards. So for now we are stuck with the UN despite its faults.
Thursday 5 March
This morning I listened to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women give a stirring speech about all women challenging cultures, religions and traditions which condone or excuse VAW.
I have also heard a range of government officials officially launch the UN Secretary General’s database on violence against women.
So, at the UN, VAW is being taken seriously as perhaps the most widespread abuse of human rights globally. But there is still so much to do. I have also heard about the experiences of women human- rights defenders in Iran, South Africa and Algeria, about their daily struggle for equality in the face of a restrictive government, massive levels of VAW and Islamic extremism. These women have been put in prison, beaten and had to go into hiding as a result of their activism and refusal to live with the status quo. I could only be humbled by their courage and grateful to the previous generations of women in the UK who fought for the rights I now take for granted.
