Briefing
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| Nancy Hutchison, Financial Secretary, Ontario Federation of Labour at briefing. |
Labour women gathered this morning to share events of the
previous day. At the briefing, the initial three committees organized on the
first day (language drafting, lobbying, and communications) reported back to
the larger group. The drafting committee reviewed the international labour
delegation's priorities and we spent the morning analyzing and debating what
priorities would be lobbied on. The Canadian Delegation is advancing the
following priorities to be included in the Agreed Conclusions for CSW 57:
Violence in the workplace
The trade union delegation is seeking a strong paragraph on
violence in the workplace that explicitly refers to ending sexual harassment at
work, recognizes the important of trade unions as legitimate stakeholders when
it comes to violence at work, and acknowledges the spillover effects of
violence, ie. the importance of support measures for women workers who
experience violence outside the workplace
Decent Work
The labour delegation is seeking a specific reference to
full employment and decent work.
Public Services
We are seeking a specific reference to public services in
the agreed conclusions. We firmly believe that public services are part of the
solution to preventing and eliminating violence against women, and that direct
investments by member states in public services, including services directly
linked to supporting women who are victims of violence, are part and parcel of
their responsibility to preventing and ending violence.
Role of education and educators as stakeholders
The trade union delegation is seeking strong and inclusive language on the role of educators and educational institutions in preventing and eliminating violence.
Trade Unions as
legitimate stakeholders
The trade union federations are seeking the recognition of
trade unions as legitimate stakeholders in the prevention and elimination of
violence against women and girls.
CSW57 Parallel Event Medical Women’s International Association - “Women Doctors and the Health System in the Elimination and Prevention of all Forms of Violence against Women and Girls”
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| Sisters Cheryl Robinson, Dr. Shelley Ross, and Julie White. |
Keynote speaker Lopa Banerjee, Chief, Civil Society Section of UN Women spoke on the
theme “What will it take to end violence against women in our lifetime?”
UN Women’s Commit initiative began in November of 2012, to accelerate the
implementation of state commitments to end violence against women.
This initiative calls on governments to implement international
agreements on ending violence against women and to commit to, in this year, one new concrete step to end
this Human Rights violation. As of this
week, 41 countries made clear implementable national commitments in their countries to end violence
against women and girls and more pledges are expected in the coming days of CSW
57 and going forward.
Banjeree explained the 5 key points of focus
that UN Women is advocating for:
1) Strengthening Implementation of laws and
policies: Governments
need to ensure that legal frameworks
are in place in all settings -
conflict, post conflict and transitional -
and to ensure they are fully resourced.2) Promoting and Protecting Human rights for all Women and Girls: Gender inequality and discrimination is at the heart of violence. The state must ensure equal rights on social security, education, and reproductive rights.
3) It is critical to change attitudes and beliefs and behaviours that condone and perpetuate violence, measures must be adopted such as awareness raising community mobilisation, education programs and especially programs for young people exposed to violence. Building the capacity of institutions that respond to violence is necessary; working with men and boys to foster gender equality and respectful relationships including targeted programs and strategies are essential for preventing violence; and the involvement of all segments of society is an imperative.
4) Preventing and responding to
violence must be addressed as part of a
comprehensive and coordinated strategy. States must act at every opportunity beginning
with preventing violence, but also responding to violence in its aftermath. Comprehensive
multi-sectoral services and responses must
be established.
5) Reliable data is necessary; developing methodologies and systems for evaluation and monitoring programs is absolutely key.
Bannerjee said "Violence against women is a global pandemic and
unless governments treat it as such, we are not going to see an end to violence
in our lifetimes or in future generations. UN Women is
determined to build alliances with civil societies and the women’s movement,
with governments and all stakeholders to fulfill our common aspirations and
make a difference in women’s lives so that we may live without fear, with peace
and dignity and justice."
Engaging men and boys in preventing violence against women and girls - Side event at the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
CAW delegates also attended a side event that addressed the need to engage men and boys in preventing violence against women and girls. This panel was moderated by Todd Minnerson, Executive Director of the White Ribbon Campaign. CAW readers may be familiar with Todd as a past guest speaker at our own December 6th presentation at 2010 CAW Council. As well, this event was opened by the Minister of the Status of Women, Rona Ambrose.
This side event was livestreamed on the UNwebcast site and is now an archived video on the site. In lieu fo a written report, we have included a link to the side event here.
Looking Ahead
Wednesday promises to be an exciting day as CAW Women's Department Director Julie White speaks as an invited panelist at the UNCSW side event: The Impact of Domestic Violence in the Workplace. The event will take place on Wednesday, March 6th 2013 at 1:15 pm. It is possible that this may be livestreamed, so check the UNwebcast site. A full report on the side event will be posted here later in the day.
In sisterhood and solidarity,
The CAW Women's Delegation to UNCSW57
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