CSW Day 6 - Josh

Today was probably my favorite day at CSW so far. After attending the US Mission to the UN meeting this morning, Mina and I accompanied Beth to a roundtable discussion at the Ms. Foundation. The meeting comprised several leaders from NGOs around the country who were collaborating on a response to a statement recently released by the CSW regarding the Beijing Platform and progress made over the last twenty years. Mina and I both made suggestions about making the language more inclusive, including protections for gender protection, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and also mentioning the importance of enlisting men and boys as allies in securing women’s human rights. Later, I attended the actual writing session, where, over a two hour period, we sat down and crafted the document itself. It was awesome to be involved in something that had the potential to impact international law. I can’t believe how quickly the week has flown by – tomorrow is our last full day!

Until then,
Josh

Dina Shehata_Blog 13

Day 4 of CSW!

Today we went to several events together. In the morning we attended the US Mission to the UN and later in the evening we attended the film screening of Difret.

I’m going to focus tonight’s blog about the film screening. The film told the story of Aberash Diriba (Hirut in the film) who is an Ethiopian woman who was abducted at the age of 14 when she was on her way home from school. I won’t say the details of the film because it is coming out in theaters this summer. I will say that Aberash was the first abduction case where the judge acquitted her because she was acting in self-defense. Aberash was at the film screening and spoke on the panel after the screening was over. The film was incredibly well done and was very emotional for everyone at the screening. To see what many girls all over the world go through in terms of early marriage and even abductions showcased in a film was very eye-opening. Hearing about issues and talking about concerns is not the same as watching the experience of a woman who survived to tell her story and hearing her testimony in person. During the movie, there was a scene where the girl who was abducted (named Hirut in the film) was worried that her younger sister would be abducted as well. Later during the panel, Aberash was asked what happened to her sister later in life. She responded by telling us that after she won her court case, there weren’t any more abductions in her village for the next ten years. It became illegal to abduct women. Her sister ended up finishing high school, going on to college, and becoming a nurse. It was so amazing to hear a success story after such a difficult film to sit through.

Here are some statistics that I learned before the film and after the film during the panel:

1 in 9 girls get married before the age of 15.

I in 3 girls get married by the age of 18.

Even though there is a law against the abduction of girls for marriage in Ethiopia there is a loophole in the law. If the abductor marries the girl then he is not sentenced.

Ethiopia is aiming to end child marriage by the year 2025.

We need to support organizations who help end child marriages. There are many organizations which work very hard and funding is always necessary!

Until tomorrow,

Dina Shehata

CSW Day 6 - Alison

Hard to believe there is only one day left at the CSW. Today, I attended a wide variety of events, which demonstrated to me the amazing diversity of what CSW can offer all advocates. First, we all attended an NGO event at the US Mission to the UN. I had the happy surprise of seeing Michele J. Sison, who was the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives when I served as an intern at the embassy. At that time, I even wrote a speech for her and we had a private meeting. Turns out, she is now State Department’s #2 person at the US Mission to the UN, so that was a very nice reunion.

The panel on Difret at the Ford Foundation.

 Throughout the day I attended a panel on engaging men and boys in reducing violence against women (I heard from NGOs in South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil and Rwanda), a panel on “corrective rape” and gendercide, and finally a panel on environmentalism and extractive industries. This evening, we went to an amazing screening of the film Difret, which depicts a child marriage in Ethiopia. Following the movie, we got to listen to the producer, writer and director, woman whose story the movie is based on, and some panelists.

CSW Day 5 Blog

Today was our second to last day at CSW! We all started the day by attending at event hosted by the Feminist Majority and the Girls Learn International where many women and girl advocates spoke about the progress of women in the last 20 years since the Beijing Platform. Afterward, Josh and I went with Beth to the Ms. Foundation Fellowship where organizers, most of whom were from an feminist organization based in California, met to write a response to the response statement 700 NGOs made to the UN’s statement from CSW. We were able to add our own input into the response they were writing. Josh, especially, was able to add a more gender inclusive lens into the response.

Later, we all went to a film screening called “Difret,” about a court case in Ethiopia against a young girl who killed her abductor and rapist who was trying to force her into an early marriage sparked a change in legislation concerning abductions and child marriages in Ethiopia. It was a very triggering film, but it had a hopeful message that grassroots and local marriages could challenge and effectively change traditional practices.

By the end of the day, we had a group reflection on the fellowship itself, CSW, and what we would each take from it.

- Mina

Blog # 13- Migration and Difret- Liv

Blog #13- Migration and Difret- Liv

I always feel as though I should approach my blog in a chronological description of my day.  However, today the end of my day that is resonating most powerfully rather than the start.  This could be as a result of early morning “sleepies” clouding my memory, or that so many amazing things have happened since 8am that the most recent is ringing the loudest in my mind.  At any rate, I will begin my day at the end with what I feel was a remarkable viewing of the film Difret.

Our evening began with a reception and networking opportunity in the Ford Foundation Lobby with Cajun shrimp hors-d’oeurves and mini crème bruleé tarts.  Mixed with fermented grapes, a wonderful atmosphere was created, perfect for networking.  There were many in attendance and all were equipped with the mindset of connecting for the fortitude of the development of women’s rights across the globe.  During this time I was able to make the acquaintance of one of the women from the UN whose job is to organize the UN sessions and events.  We discussed how we are born with natural qualities that make us best suited for our jobs.  This is precisely why women make excellent leaders.  We are born strong, born with the desire to nurture and born with the overwhelming ability to be leaders. 

This leads into the film Difret which wraps the audience into the life of a young girl who was abducted with the purposes of forced marriage and was forced to make life altering decisions in her self-defense.  The film takes the audience on her legal journey as she and her lawyer fight the male dominated legal system in order to win her freedom.  This powerful representation of the struggle that women face in male dominant societies provides an excellent portrayal of what modern legal systems face when combating culture and traditions.  While traditions and culture are important, human rights trump all.  Even more powerful than the film was the presence of the woman who the film was based on.  She sat upright while the audience clapped and answered the questions during the panel with dignity.  It was powerful to be in the presence of such a strong survivor.

The second impressionable event of today was the session on migration.  I am more than familiar with the struggles that migrant workers and family face in the United States due to the nature of my work as a language teacher.  

Meeting with other NGO’s from around the world was interesting.  The United States still has the “golden child” ideal in the eyes of other countries.  This was made evident through the questions that the NGO’s posed during our group session.  They mentioned how they lose their citizens to the US and they never come back because the United States are so wonderful and accepting of migrants.  Immediately the two Canadian women at my side and I spoke up to inform the group that the US is not a good country for migrants or migrant workers.  I felt like the expert of the group amongst international professionals.  I was able to share with women from around the world my successful experiences working in a country that neglects and mistreats its migrant workers and help them to develop strategies for their countries.

New York Day 5: Dana

Today was the big day! Our presentations. We spent the morning taking pictures in front of the United Nations and doing last minute practice run-throughs of our presentations. And then 2:30 arrived. People slowly began trickling into our room and I was happily surprised by the number of people that were there - not a single seat was left. Jane introduced the fellowship and then suddenly it was my turn to get up and present everything I had been working on for the last five months. I was definitely nervous, and I felt myself shake at times, but I felt so confident about my message. I knew what I wanted to get across and I delivered it.

I think all of us fellows did a great job. Everyone delivered the best presentations they ever had. Allison literally brought a woman to tears. It was incredible. After we all presented a bunch of people then came up to talk to all of us about our presentations. I ended up talking to 3 high school girls, one of whom was from my home town which was quite the coincidence. The other two were from Georgia and had had abstinence-based sex ed in their Catholic school, and wanted to tell me that their experience with it had actually been positive. It was wonderful to hear that their experience was positive, but I did talk to them about how abstinence ed on the whole just really doesn't work, and we can't just leave it to chance and hope that someone teaches the sex ed in a correct way - we need policies in place that standardize it for all students.

In addition to our presentations today, we also went to an event on women in the Arab world that had to be one of the most moving moments of my life. One of the panelists talked about her time in Iran. She had been arrested at age 18 and held for 5 years as a political prisoner during which she was beaten and tortured, all because she was a vocal human rights activist. Her story moved everyone in the room, but what happened next was even more incredible. A Nigerian (I think that's what she said but I'm not sure) woman in the back who had been selling necklaces she makes throughout the CSW conference went up to the front of the room and embraced the Iranian woman for several minutes. As they stood together, it just struck me how universal the struggle for freedom and gender equality really is; here are these two women who likely don't even speak the same language, yet they understand each other at such a core, basic level. It was such a moving moment for me - it reaffirmed everything that I believe about the universality of the struggle for equality.

Today was an absolutely amazing day, as has been my whole week thus far at CSW. I am so excited to see what the next few days have in store, but am sad that I only get a few left. I'll really need to take advantage of the remainder of my time in this wonderful place.

Presentation Day - CSW Day 5 - Alison

Today was phenomenal! To start out, I had lunch with my family at the United Nations “Delegate Dining Room”—a very swanky buffet where I almost felt out of place. 

Dessert at the Delegate Dining Room.

Then, I prepared for our panel talk. It was a wonderful experience. Going last is of course nerve-wracking and the room was sweltering, so by the time I was up to present I think I was both overheated and extremely nervous. For about the first two minutes of my presentation my entire body was shaking but I mentally continued to steel myself to stay calm, make eye contact and connect with the audience. There were also limited technical issues, which I think I also handled well. In the end, I was so happy to hear gasps, appreciative clapping and other feedback from the audience. I didn’t use my script at all—I really just tried to speak from the heart.

Getting ready for the panel with my wonderful fellows and Jane!

With my family who came to see the presentation. My mom, Dolores, my dad, Tom, myself, my older sister, Camila, and her boyfriend, William.

 Following our session I also attended an AFL-CIO sponsored event on Bangladeshi garment workers and the International Domestic Workers Federation. Hearing from a worker herself who had been in the Rana Plaza collapse was a stark reminder of the invisible labor that makes our lives possible. This woman began working in garment factories at 16 to support her mother and younger brothers and now travels around the world giving testimony of her experience. I hope we will all think more about women who labor to create our clothing, especially from stores like JC Penney, A Children’s Place and Walmart—none of which have agreed to any binding resolution to protect workers rights. I believe we must make decisions with our dollars and continually work to create a more just system of labor around the world.