Who Runs the World? Girls

Each year the United Nations Commission on Women holds a session to discuss issues specific to Women around the World. This year, the 57th session focused on raising awareness on the amount of violence that is perpetrated against women and girls around the world. CWA was afforded a great opportunity to work with Union Network International, a global union whom CWA is an affiliate, March 4-15. We had over 20 volunteers from Local’s 1101, 1105, 1180 and 1040. They were joined over the two week period by Secretary Treasurer Annie Hill and Nancy Biagini, CWA Representative. Below are personal perspectives from some of the volunteers:

Karen LeeMou, CWA Local 1105:

As volunteers we can proudly say we not only appreciate this unique experience but we each walked away with different life changing experiences. I had the opportunity to attend a session at the UN Church Center, where the topic was "Girls to Brides" and the focus was on early age marriages and how detrimental psychologically it is to girls. I was brought to tears as I listened to Humayia Ashkter, a 16-year-old girl from Bangladesh that courageously shared her life story with a room filled of over 150 strangers. She went on to tell us how she barely escaped becoming a bride to a stranger at the age of 15 and having to bare his children, yet her two friends weren't as fortunate and now they have children at the age of 16 with no future at a normal adolescent life. What’s disheartening is the parents there do it with the ideology that they are securing their young daughter’s future. I could go on and on about her gruesome details regarding what her country consider being a social norm, but I won’t! Just imagine how we take life for granted and selfishly never think how fortunate we are.

Sharon Brown, CWA Local 1105:

Volunteering in many events throughout my career, I can say that this was the most amazing experience thus far. When I was asked to represent CWA 1105 along with my fellow sisters at the 57th session, UN Commission on the Status of Women, I was excited! I can now walk away with an abundance of information to pass on to the women and girls in my community as well as the work place. To sum it up: It takes a village, and I am proud to be a part of this women’s empowerment movement.  What if you worked for a corporation that “paid” you for up to 20 days, because you are a domestic violence victim and require time off in order to get yourself together, whether that was going to court for an order of protection or simply relocating to a safe haven? Shouldn’t that be our social norm considering 1 out of 3 women are domestic violence victims?

Colleen Smith, CWA Local 1105:

I was thrilled and honored to be given this opportunity to represent my Local at the CSW. While I attended numerous sessions all with different topics everyday one particularly involving “paid” leave for domestic violence stuck out the most. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a discussion with two amazing women from Australia; Ludo captured my attention and is an incredible advocate to say the least. She not only shared with us that in her country they have a “paid leave of domestic violence” clause, she also encouraged us to begin to bargain for that right here in the United States. I never thought about how domestic violence could affect work performance, but the fact is it does. As a young female and a newly appointed steward, I realized I would hate to see anyone lose their job because they couldn’t either afford to take off or feel like there isn’t a safe haven for them.

Leticia Scrivens, CWA Local 1101:

I'm a mother of a seven year old girl and I've always been an advocate for women's rights, so when I was asked by CWA if I would be interested in volunteering for a Stop the Violence on Women and Girls Campaign, I immediately said, "Yes." I had no idea what to expect, nor did I know what was expected of me. However, what I experienced not only inspired me, but made me changed my perspective on women's issues.      

When I thought of women’s issues, I thought of issues like equal pay, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. These were the issues that I felt affected me and the women knew. Since attending some of the seminars given this week, I've heard stories of human trafficking, mother's abusing daughters and child brides married off because their parents could not afford to take care of them. These stories made me realize that all women's issues, although different in many ways, stem from a common problem, lack of empowerment, whether financial or emotional.  

These issues seem so vast and complicated that it's overwhelming to think we could ever solve them. However, working with the resourceful, strong, talented women that I met this past week and knowing how much we accomplished in such a short amount of time, gave me hope. Even though, we may not resolve all women's issues this generation, we could leave the world a little better and make our daughters a little stronger to continue the struggle where we leave off.

Anita Long, CWA Local 1101:

What stood out most for me was the “3P” paradigm which has been discussed during several parallel conferences: PREVENTION, PROTECTION and PROSECUTION. Prevention – awareness-raising is vital. Protection – it is imperative to provide psychological and/or physical recovery measure and support. Prosecution – it is essential that the appropriate laws are in place to prosecute and punish the traffickers, and compensate victims for all damages. Also, what is essential is the greater need for international cooperation, involvement of government laws and law enforcement agencies with specialized training in human trafficking for labor and sex.

Unions have always been in the forefront for women’s right, whereas women have always played a unique and powerful role in the union. As a union representative, an attendee and volunteer at the UNSCW57, the obligation has been bestowed upon me to share this fundamental knowledge and experience that I have grasped with my Local Union. The information I gathered must be allocated to the various committees within my Local Union: Legislative Committee, Women’s Committee and the Civil Rights and Equity Committee.  All unions have the duty/responsibility to decide on policies that they believe will benefit the members and the community in which they reside and then advocate for these changes with the government, employers and the public.

As our motivational women’s empowerment march from 42nd Street and 1st Avenue ended and our passionate chants died down, we realized that our week has come to an end. Our hearts sadden as we said our goodbyes to our great leaders of the week from UNI Global Union, Veronica Fernandez Mendez and Denise McGuire. Lastly, but not least we will always remember Stephanie, a 22-year-old volunteer from California that personally assumed all travel expenses and took personal time from work “unpaid” to be a part of this movement for woman’s rights. Now that is an impression we will all learn from and will never forget, as that is the true meaning of dedication and perseverance.