Hopeful for Health (Panels)

Good afternoon! I’m back in the UN again (the wifi is AWESOME here). Today, I went to three panels on “Sextortion”, Migration of Rural Women, and Girls as a Tool for Change. As you might guess, all three had different focuses and approaches lead by women and men from around the world. Through the last four days, I’ve seen panels on disaster relief in the Asia Pacific, micro-financing in Sub-Saharan Africa, technology as a tool for change, and reproductive rights in Russia. I’m enjoying attending such a diverse range of panels because I’m realizing the interconnected nature of all of these issues, especially when seen through the lens of health. Coming to CSW 56 I expected to find panels labeled “health issues of rural women”, but I’ve only seen general panels that address health of distinctly female health issues, i.e. sexual and reproductive health and maternal health. These are GREAT health topics to focus on, don’t get me wrong! But where are the panels on obesity, cancer, and diabetes (more “gender neutral” health issues) influencing rural women?

I was so determined to find this elusive health panel the first few days that I got pretty bummed at its absence. However, I’m now realizing that learning about education and land rights of rural women is JUST as important to learn because they are social determinants of health. The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as the “conditions in which people grow, live, work and age”, i.e. the environment of their lives. For instance, access to a health clinic relies on transportation (can a woman miss work, and who watches the children?), literacy to fill out forms (can the woman read?), and treatment (does she have funding from family or microfinancing to pay for medical bills for herself and/or her family?). CSW is providing me an opportunity to understand the factors that effect the environment of rural women's lives. Seeing the incredible amount of opinions laid out at panels reminds me collaboration will provide these essential perspectives to understand social determinants of health, and only then can I focus on the public health issues that emerge as a result.

I can’t wait to present with the rest of the WomenNC fellows in just three hours! So excited!

Love, Abby Bouchon

Stronger Partnerships

This post was written the first day of CSW, but due to internet troubles is only being posted now. So sit back in your seat and I'll take you back to day one of CSW...

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As I begin to process my first day of sessions at CSW, I am struck by not only the diversity of conference attendees, but by the diversity of passions and the diversity of values represented. Sometimes these intense passions manifest themselves in heated debates – many of which I had the chance to stand witness to today.

Today one of the most interesting sessions I attended was one that I had not expected to hear. I wandered into a panel on the plight of widows in Nigeria with not a clue of what to expect nor any previously established interest in the subject. Cultural tradition has not been kind to the widows of Nigeria. Women often cannot inherit their deceased husband’s property, and many times are pressured to remarry within the family of her in-laws. One woman spoke of a PhD in public health who was required to drink the water used to wash her dead husband’s body, despite protesting the mental and physical health consequences which she knew were to come.

The debate that followed the retelling of such personal horrors was nearly as surprising as the stories themselves. One of the panelists was a male pastor (one of the few males represented at CSW). His thesis suggested that women, not men, are responsible for the perpetuation of such treatment of other women. Women, he posited, control the cultural practices of communities, as women are more reticent to abandon long standing cultural norms. The room erupted in sounds of many languages and many tones – some applauding and many outraged. Many felt uncomfortable placing any fault on those who fall victim to such transgressions of human rights, feeling that men deserved the brunt of the blame. This heated debate addresses a critical element of CSW – how should we understand responsibility for inequality and in what ways can both men and women generate the capacity for change?

We must break the notion that men are the root of the problem and that women are the frustrated victims. Women have agency, which may be used for good and bad. In the case of Nigerian widows, women often conduct the practices that others decry, while others simply do not act out against it. Doing nothing in the face of gender inequality is its own form of agency. It is an active choice to ignore a critical challenge. Painting women as entirely innocent is a flawed perspective, as is removing all the blame from men. Men and women are both responsible for creating systems of oppression. Women must take action, but not alone. Coalition building serves to unite both men and women for the same cause. So few men have been in attendance at CSW; and we have all seemed pleasantly shocked that any are here at all. We must stop being surprised when men want to support women. We need to demand and expect it – just as we should expect women to use their advocacy to shape change rather than to reinforce the status quo.

CSW is clearly a powerful forum for the spread of ideas and passions, but imagine how much more effective it would be if men did not feel demonized by its messages. Only when women and men create united coalitions and partnerships can the change that we seek be achieved.

the big day is here

The CSW has been going wonderfully. I can truly say i am inspired by the works of so many women. They all came from different walks of life. There were women from the US, Central and South America, Canada, Middle East, Asia and Australia. I have yet to meet women from Antarctica. Basically, you get the point. It was well attended and for good reason.

Two days ago i went to a governmental meeting. This is where governments sent delegations to speak on their behalf. What i found amazing is how they were mostly saying the same thing in different sentences. They all started with how their country is doing a wonderful job about empowering women and having a gender equality policies. Only few delegations were actually putting these policies in practice. It was just empty words and empty promises. I am glad to experience this side of events. From then on i went to NGO events.

Today is the day we present our research. I am looking forward to it and at the same time a bit nervous i will forget to mention something. All in all, wish us luck.

Mar

Seeds and Surprises

What a day! I think one of the first things I’ve learned on this sunny, windy day was to celebrate being surprised. We are given a hefty pamphlet of NGO parallel events & governmental events that each has a short title and a sponsoring organization per event. I had carefully chosen out my events and panels with care, dissecting every word in the miniscule title that would lend evidence to whom I would hear and what I would learn. However, I was wonderfully surprised on all three NGO parallel events I attended today! The first was called “Exposing the Doctrine of Discovery: A Call for Healing and Hope” hosted by the Episcopal Church. The panel focused on a formal apology from the Episcopal Church to American Indians killed, mistreated, and displaced during Manifest Destiny. The Doctrine of Discovery was a “dogma that Christian Sovereignty could impose on Indigenous Peoples” that was revoked by the Episcopal Church in order to apologize for the genocide against American Indians. I was shocked by the five speakers who told about their history of abuse, and moved by their stories of healing through the church. We each received three grains of corn from the women as a symbolic gesture towards the essential life each seeds holds, and each seed represented the “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” of Christianity. It was a poignant and beautiful way to intertwine faith traditions.

I then went to a panel hosted by PCI-Media Impact that utilized “educational-entertainment” soap operas in Bolivia, and closed with a final NGO parallel event on rural female empowerment in Gambia. Then came one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in my life: entering the UN and sitting in on a high-level roundtable discussion! I heard government representatives speak about what their nations were doing to empower rural women from the following nations: Brazil, Norway, Canada, Denmark, Mongolia, Germany, Portugal, Mexico, Egypt, South Africa, Cuba, China, Mozambique, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and the European Union. WOW! Seeing the flags and then hearing the voices behind them was humbling and something I’ll never forget. I’ve been surprised by the incredible array of ages, nationalities, personalities and laughter, and I’m trying to take it all in. I am so joyful and grateful to be in the midst of CSW 56 right now.

Love,

Abby

Why I am here (Part 1)...

Hey all! Sorry my blogs aren't going to be as long or grammatically correct as I would like for the first couple days of the. Onference but the Internet at the hotel leaves something to be desired so all of my blogs, Tweets, emails and Facebook status' thus far have come through my iPhone (thank you Wendy and Darrell!!) I want to begin by telling you all why I am here and how I became involved in WomenNC (skip to next blog if you are more interested in the days events). When I was little I always felt that was some something wrong with why all the Disney movies I watched portrayed girls as princesses that always had to be rescued while the boys always got to fight the bad guy and save the day (Hannah's presentation does a great job of explaining this further). Perhaps this is why during some periods of my life I rebelled from these stereotypes and engaged in warrior fights with my brother (sorry mom). This underlying feeling of that I didn't measure up as a girl to my boy counter parts led me to be very confused, insecure and defeated and I thank God and my parents (and my Grandfather and friend Courtney) for bringing horses into my life at age 10 otherwise I think those inssercurities could have manifested in more dangerous ways than wanting to be a cowgirl and handle all the "men's work" on a farm. I was also so fortunate to have so many positive and inspiring female role models from my mom to my horseback riding instructors to my teachers at school to 4-H leaders. I had and still have so many great women friends to lean on and learn from. By the time I went to college I had not forgotten about gender norms but I no longer actively investigated how these issues affected my life because in a small conservative town gender roles were not topics challenged or issues that were approved as appropriate conversation. Things still happened and were said that I wasnt comfortable with - but I had learned that me standing up and saying that I didn't like men calling women "sluts" or objectivifying the women and girls at my school only got me teased and shunned. I mostly found refuge in my church where, even though topics of gender rarely occurred, everyone was loved and respected. When I arrived at NCSU I was passionate only about horses but looking back now I can see my activist longings starting to show and be nurtured through the Universty Scholars Program and learning about cultural diversity around the world but also the discrimination and violence that unfortunately occumpanies diversity too often. At the same time I was becoming more and more stoic and hardened to the way college men especially treated and talked about women as if we were pieces of meat- commodities to be used and then thrown away. I am disgusted to say I tolerated that language happening around me - but the truth is I felt powerless to stop it. (Later I will discuss how these attitudes contribute to a culture that tolerates violence against women and girls). What I did not know at the time is that one in four college women will be raped or attempted raped before she graduates- this isn't information colleges and universities like to share with parents at orientation. I wonder what the reaction would be... Before the end if my sophmore year multiple women I knew had been raped or sexually assaulted. Most by men who they knew - not strangers but "friends" they had made during their time at State - in some cases boyfriends who they had been dating for years. I didnt know what to do with that information. How could this happen? How could this happen to women I knew when society had always told me that if women are careful and took self defense classes that this wouldnt happen to them? How could this happen when we have also been told to beware of the stranger lurking under your car or inthe bushes? How do you protect yourself from these perpetrators when they could be anyone? And how would I ever be able to trust a man again when these women had trusted the men who assaulted them? How could I ever know again who was trustworthy? And most importantly of all why were these women now being blamed for the violence that another person had perpetrated against them (well what was she wearing, was she drinking)? At the same time I began working with CORRAL - a start up nonprofit the identified preteen girls in Wake County and used/s (I work for this organization today) mentoring, tutoring and horses to bring healing and growth to hear hurting girls. Many of these girls had/have been abused already in their short lives. Hearing the stories of these girls enraged me even further and made me determined to find answers to my questions In the process of finding help and answers for these women and girls (and with the help and support of friends) I found some answers through the class and student organization called The Movement at NCSU. To be continued...

Off to the Races!

Hey everyone! We have safely landed in New York City. Checked into our hotel. And are now waiting at the UN building for our passes for the rest of the conference. It is a pretty day and we have already had a wonderful time getting to know everyone better. We've discovered who are morning people and who are night owls and have split up into hotel rooms accordingly. All of the leadership scholars and our wonderful chaperones have such amazing stories and experiences to share. I am going to ask that each of the students write up a short blog tonight about who they are and how they got here because I know that you will enjoy their stories as much as I have! 10:30 AM We're now inside the UN building waiting in line to get our photo IDs. Things are a little crazy and there are tons of(mainly) women who are bustling about and chatting with each other. Just through listening I am learning do much about the women here and where they are from. It sounds like many of them have been here before. This will be interesting getting to know and understand this world. "It is a privilege to live this day and tomorrow.

Opportunities

As we prepare to head off to New York tomorrow, I cannot help but think how grateful I am for all of the experiences that we have already had. I have had the opportunity to learn more about several powerful initiatives that exist within North Carolina. I have explored the global relevance of local challenges. And I have had the opportunity to meet and work with four incredible fellows as well as our supportive mentors who have guided us through the research process.

Last month Anuja and I had the opportunity to interview North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall as part of Anuja’s research on the political participation of women. We wanted to share with you a bit of our experience through this very brief video clip.

Click here to see the video

As I page through the schedule for the week ahead at the Commission on the Status of Women, I am overwhelmed by the opportunities that are to come. I look forward to sharing the experiences of the upcoming week in future posts!