#metoo : A time for reflection:

As I enter the final days of my time in New York and at the UN I have had time to reflect on the learning and the knowledge that I have been exposed to in the past number of days.  At times that reflection has been on how far we as a gender have come in the past 100 years and it has been a reflection on all those who worked so hard to lobby and campaign for the rights that I, as a woman born in the 1970s, take for granted.  But with the issues raised by the #metoo campaign and the #timesup campaign it brings it home that the world is still unequal. A key message from the conference is that unless we all step up to effect a change, men and women, its likely that my daughters and others will be exposed to the same glass ceilings the women who spoke at today's conference have experienced. 

A plea came from women in regions where gender rights are less well recognized. They said that they often looked to the western developed world as a region where sexual exploitation and inequality didn't  exist. The Hollywood exposure of very powerful men and famous womens' experiences of sexual violence and violation was a shock for them. But the exposure has helped them ( mainly in African nations)  to begin dialogue and begin to organise behind this campaign. They have taken great hope , inspiration and solace from the bravery of those who said 'no more!' Delegates said that hearing from those actresses they began to realise it could happen to anyone, how it is not as a result of something they did but that the fault in this lies solely with the perpetrator. That's a hugely powerful message to send to those who feel weaken and ashamed by their violation. Many from regions where women struggle with issues of equality began to realise that the only way to stop this from happening is to speak up and be strong. But we were warned the consequences of doing so can impact on women themselves who will be ostracized locally, their  wider families can be shamed, their marriages can be at risk and most worrying their children can be targeted. The risk for some is too much and for others that risk will only be taken when they are supported by governments, powerful legislation and local leaders. 'When women stand up they need to be supported'

One quote that stuck with me was 'By speaking out the visible women of Hollywood made invisible women visible and vocal'

But in all of this the question 'what next?' has been raised. Exposing the conduct and securing convictions for those who are perpetrators is one element of it but how do we begin to use this campaign to push for something more - something that will see a stamping out of violation by those who hold power. 

A plea at the end of the session was that men need to be a part of the change. We cannot as women keep talking to ourselves. We need to bring in men tot he dialogue, listen to their experiences, we need to develop a zero tolerance of the unequal treatment of women at all levels and places in society. 

One journalist said too that we need, as women, to demand to be allowed to infiltrate the 'male only' locker/golf club and 'boys club' situations which prevent women from rising above certain pay grades in many media and corporate situations. She described situations where men in her media organisation go, that are impossible for her to go simply because of her gender, and so she finds herself 'outside the circle'. She suggested that women begin to test the boundaries and began to sit at their tables and demand to be included in these spaces and when they are not allowed or enabled they need to cry foul loudly!

United Nations and the Issue of Rural Women.

This week, our Director Kate Clifford, is addressing the  62nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of women, that is running from 12th-23rd March. Here are some of her thoughts.

The first morning in New York began with a  weather warning. Heavy snow is forecast for the coming days and a storm is making its was up the Coast. At the UN building it too feels like a huge storm is brewing but in a positive and constructive way. Women and men from around the world are working together at the 62nd Commission Special Status of Women  to address issues of gender inequality and putting a special focus on Rural Women.

There is an energy and expectation in the air that is infectious and a little daunting. This is the second time this priority theme has been addressed and participants are aware that the last conference session did not achieve its ambitions fully.

There is a dogged determination among many here that this will not come to pass this time around.

Opening the conference was Geraldine Byrne Nason of Ireland. Her focus was on setting out the ambitions of the conference and to use the work of the NGO sector/Civil Society and governments to directly address the inequality facing women and more specifically rural women around the world. She spoke about how taking time in this session to explore the real, and lived lives, of rural women and their stories, contributes so much more the development of good policy and implementation of policy across the world. But her general plea and that of subsequent speakers was that policy alone cannot change lives or address barriers to inequality only actions can do that.

A second speaker pointed out that across the world there are so many common issues that we can all agree are barriers to the inclusion of women but agreement is not enough - action to address these issues is what is required. He said ' we keep calling for things that we all agree on, but only some of us take the action to address them, that has to stop, we all need to take action. One speakers cited the #metoo campaign and the #timesup as ways in which a global coming together of women can achieve so much change. Sadly the speaker also reflected that only a handful of sexual abusers have been exposed through the campaign but she acknowledged the powerful lobby that had begun to publicly address the issue which empowered women.

So what are the asks for Rural women from this morning: Access to transport and basic infrastructure including digital broadband and mobile phone technology. Connecting rural women into urban support centers so they can articulate their needs. Acknowledgement of the role of women in building peace and reconciliation and the inclusion of women in the processes of building peaceful society.  The acknowledgement of the needs of victims of violence, in all its forms, in rural areas and supporting their voice in processes of reconciliation and justice.

An acknowledgement that rural women are half of the rural population and as such their empowerment and education lifts the economy and sustainability of rural areas long term. By building the human capital of all rural dwellers we sustain rural populations longer term.

Women in rural areas need to have access to basic health care support and reproductive rights - this helps them to take control over family sizes, who they marry, who they love this is still a critical issues in some parts of the UK not least NI where barriers to equal marriage, abortion rights still exist and  access to advice around crisis pregnancy is not readily available in rural regions.

Finally the call for gender specific data collection for rural populations caught my attention. As an agency Rural Community Network NI has worked hard to disaggregate statistics for rural regions from urban settlements, we have sought to paint a picture of the reality of rural poverty and disadvantage in NI today - to date we are still unclear as to how we can factually describe rural poverty using the data gathered at a regional level given that it is not readily available. We hold a lot of anecdotal evidence relating to rural poverty and disadvantage but we struggle to gain access to accurate statistics.  The problem is therefore compounded when  working to defining the rural gender deficit within those statistics.

Unless we can accurately define the poverty and disadvantage experience by rural women in our region we cannot hope to take account of the impact of a variety of  policies and actions once they are implemented. A call for rural specific data should be accompanied now for a demand for gender specific rural data.

Looking forward to hearing this afternoons talks on Women Peace and Security  and more specifically the UNSCR 1325 and how it is applied in the Czech Republic, Moldova and Ukraine.

Over and out,

Kate