Sunday, October 16, 2016

Blog 1: Hopes and Goals for CSW Fellowship

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) proposes for states to take a series of measures in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. The incorporation of equality for men and women is a key principle under the CEDAW. Ensuring women’s equal access to education, health, and employment is fundamentally supported by the CEDAW. As a CSW fellow, I take great interest in advocating to local government officials for the implementation of the principles under the CEDAW.  

After interning at the North Carolina General Assembly for three legislative sessions, nothing interests me more than the implementation of social changes.  I enjoy researching and evaluating issues that impact many groups of North Carolina. I am incredibly excited to take on a new role as a CSW fellow because my work will be focused on local advocacy for women’s human rights under the CEDAW. I hope that my advocacy efforts will initiate Durham’s City Council to propose legislation in support of women’s equal access to healthcare services.


My goal as a CSW fellow is to research the disparities regarding access to reproductive health services in varying parts of Durham. I plan on working with Lynne Walter from the ACLU to evaluate the disparities in access to reproductive health services and the implications of the disparities.  An examination of reproductive health disparities in Durham would provide a greater knowledge of the issues that local women have due to lack of access. My goal is to summarize the findings and propose a preliminary solution to the Durham City Council. I hope that the council will consider adopting legislation in order to ensure women’s equal access to reproductive health services as proposed under the CEDAW.

-Cristy Villalobos

1 comment:

  1. Cristy - access to reproductive health services is such an important topic and I am really looking forward to learning about how well Durham pubic health departments are doing with this and any particular issues they face. As in other areas, mobile technology is becoming more and more a useful tool for access and I'm especially curious about whether Durham is using mobile tools. Since the UNCSW theme this year is Women's Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work, would love to see your research include how lack of access to reproductive health impacts the economic power of girls and women. Great topic! So glad to have you as a Fellow!

    ReplyDelete