Thursday, February 28, 2013

Interesting announcement for IWD by the Status of Women Canada

March 8 is International Women’s Day. International Women’s Week begins from March 3 to March 9. Each year at this time, Canadians celebrate progress toward equality for women and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.




Canada’s theme for International Women’s Day and Week 2013 – Working Together: Engaging Men to End Violence against Women – provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the impacts of violence against women and girls, and how we can all be part of the solution. You can promote this special week by:
·         sharing information on this year’s theme for IWD; or
·         participating or organizing an event.




Also, we would like to take this opportunity to inform you of a new web site dedicated to this topic, which includes information on what we can all do to help end violence against women and girls: www.women.gc.ca/violence.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Briefings of the NGOs by UN Women and the NGO committee

Please see below the final version of the table for the NGO daily briefing during CSW:
 
The schedule of morning briefings and UN Women participation at the CCUN, 2nd Floor, 8:45-9:30 a.m. each day, starting on Tuesday, 5 March.
 
 
Date
Attended by
Tuesday 5 March
Lakshmi
Wednesday 6 March
Lopa
Thursday 7 March
Saras
Friday 8 March
Lakshmi
Monday 11 March
Kristin
Tuesday 12 March
Gulden
Wednesday 13 March
Saras
Thursday 14 March
John
Friday 15 March
ED and Lakshmi Puri

Message from the Candian Delegation to NGOs

Hello,

The Canadian Delegation will be hosting all Canadian NGO representatives to a reception on Monday, March 4 at 6pm.  Please see attached for the invitation.  Please note that an RSVP is necessary in order to ensure that guest names are included on the security desk lists.  Given space is limited, we are requesting that groups with large delegations limit the number of representatives to ensure that all groups are represented at the reception.

Canada will also be hosting a number of side events during the first week of CSW.

  1. Violence Committed in the Name of Honour (Monday, March 4th, Conference Room 7)
  2. Engaging Men and Boys in the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls (Tuesday, March 5th, Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, UN Headquarters)
  3. The Role of the Healthcare System and Doctors in Responding to Violence Against Women (Thursday, March 7th, Conference Room B)
  4. Every Woman Every Child; Early and Forced Marriage (Thursday, March 7, Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, UN Headquarters)

Finally, the draft agreed conclusions are now available on the UNCSW website at the following link:  http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/57sess.htm#ac

As in previous years, members of the official Canadian delegation will be providing daily briefings with Canadian NGO representatives.  These briefings will be taking place daily at 1:00pm in the photo exhibition section of the Visitors Centre, Main entrance (UN Headquarters) beginning on Monday, March 4.

Please note that NGOs will require a ticket to access the side-events. These will be made available one day prior to the event and can be obtained during  the daily briefings with the Canadian delegation.

We look forward to seeing you in New York

Monday, February 25, 2013

WORLD PEACE - LINK BETWEEN STATE SECURITY & WOMEN'S SECURITY

The evidence is clear: The best predictor of a state's stability is how its women are treated. Book: Sex and World Peace.
 
By Valerie M. Hudson - April 24, 2012

In the academic field of security studies, realpolitik dominates. Those who adhere to this worldview are committed to accepting empirical evidence when it is placed before their eyes, to see the world as it "really" is and not as it ideally should be. As Walter Lippmann wrote, "We must not substitute for the world as it is an imaginary world." 

Well, here is some robust empirical evidence that we cannot ignore: Using the largest extant database on the status of women in the world today, which I created with three colleagues, we found that there is a strong and highly significant link between state security and women's security. In fact, the very best predictor of a state's peacefulness is not its level of wealth, its level of democracy, or its ethno-religious identity; the best predictor of a state's peacefulness is how well its women are treated. What's more, democracies with higher levels of violence against women are as insecure and unstable as nondemocracies. 

Our findings, detailed in our new book, Sex and World Peace, echo those of other scholars, who have found that the larger the gender gap between the treatment of men and women in a society, the more likely a country is to be involved in intra- and interstate conflict, to be the first to resort to force in such conflicts, and to resort to higher levels of violence. On issues of national health, economic growth, corruption, and social welfare, the best predictors are also those that reflect the situation of women. What happens to women affects the security, stability, prosperity, bellicosity, corruption, health, regime type, and (yes) the power of the state. The days when one could claim that the situation of women had nothing to do with matters of national or international security are, frankly, over. The empirical results to the contrary are just too numerous and too robust to ignore. 

But as we look around at the world, the situation of women is anything but secure. Our database rates countries based on several categories of women's security from 0 (best) to 4 (worst). The scores were assigned based on a thorough search of the more than 130,000 data points in the WomanStats Database, with two independent evaluators having to reach a consensus on each country's score. On our scale measuring the physical security of women, no country in the world received a 0. Not one. The world average is 3.04, attesting to the widespread and persistent violence perpetrated against women worldwide, even among the most developed and freest countries. The United States, for instance, scores a 2 on this scale, due to the relative prevalence of domestic violence and rape. 

It's ironic that authors such as Steven Pinker who claim that the world is becoming much more peaceful have not recognized that violence against women in many countries is, if anything, becoming more prevalent, not less so, and dwarfs the violence produced through war and armed conflict. To say a country is at peace when its women are subject to femicide -- or to ignore violence against women while claiming, as Pinker does, that the world is now more secure -- is simply oxymoronic. 

Gender-based violence is unfortunately ingrained in many cultures, so much so that it can take place not only during a woman's life but also before she is even born. On our scale measuring son preference and sex ratio, the world average is 2.41, indicating a generalized preference for sons over daughters globally. And in 18 countries, from Armenia to Vietnam, childhood sex ratios are significantly abnormal in favor of boys. The United Nations Population Fund suggests that, as of 2005, more than 163 million women were missing from Asia's population, whether through sex-selective abortion, infanticide, or other means. Demographer Dudley Poston of Texas A&M University has calculated that China will face a deficit of more than 50 million young adult women by the end of the decade. Think of the ways this imbalance will affect China's state stability and security -- and in turn its rise to world power -- in this century. 
 
Other global indicators are equally disheartening. In family law, women are disadvantaged in areas such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. This inequity in turn serves as a foundation for violence against women, while also undercutting their ability to fend for themselves and their children. My colleagues and I found that the world's average score for inequity in family law is 2.06, indicating that most countries have laws that discriminate to a greater or lesser degree against women. And some of the countries in the Arab Spring, including populous Egypt, are actually poised to regress on this scale. Maternal mortality, meanwhile, clocks in globally at 2.45, a truly lamentable comment on state priorities and the value of female life. 

Lastly, the inclusion of women's voices in decision-making bodies, as captured by the level of female participation in governments, measures an abysmal world average of 2.74. This is no surprise, given that the level of participation of women in government is less than 20 percent. But it's also true that some of the worst countries when it comes to the representation of women in national government include democracies such as Japan (13.4 percent in the Diet) and South Korea (14.7 percent), not to mention Hungary (8.8 percent). The United States is below average, with only 17 percent female participation in Congress. Ironically, when the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, it urged that these countries have a minimum of 25 percent female participation, and now both countries score higher than their invader on this indicator: Afghanistan's parliament is nearly 28 percent female, and Iraq's is just over 25 percent. In that one respect, the United States has done better by Afghan and Iraqi women than by its own. 

The evidence of violence against women is clear. So what does it mean for world peace? Consider the effects of sex-selective abortion and polygyny: Both help create an underclass of young adult men with no stake in society because they will never become heads of households, the marker for manhood in their cultures. It's unsurprising that we see a rise in violent crime, theft, and smuggling, whereby these young men seek to become contenders in the marriage market. But the prevalence of these volatile young males may also contribute to greater success in terrorist recruiting, or even state interest in wars of attrition that will attenuate the ranks of these men. For instance, the sole surviving terrorist from the 2008 Mumbai attacks testified that he was persuaded by his own father to participate in order to raise money for the dower that he and his siblings needed in order to marry.
We also know through experimental studies that post-conflict agreements that are negotiated without women break down faster than those that do include women, and that all-male groups take riskier, more aggressive, and less empathetic decisions than mixed groups -- two phenomena that may lead to higher levels of interstate conflict. 

On an even deeper level, the template for living with other human beings who are different from us is forged within every society by the character of male-female relations. In countries where males rule the home through violence, male-dominant hierarchies rule the state through violence. This was most poignantly expressed by male Iranian dissidents who, during the ill-fated 2009 Green Revolution, explained their decision to wear headscarves as a sign of protest against the regime -- and an act of solidarity with the women long oppressed by it. As one supporter of the protests explained it, "We Iranian men are late doing this.… If we did this when rusari [the headscarf] was forced on those among our sisters who did not wish to wear it 30 years ago, we would have perhaps not been here today." This is a profound statement: Men who see women as beings to be subjugated will themselves continue to be subjugated. Men who see women as equal and valued partners are the only men who have a true chance to win their freedom and enjoy peace. 

In a promising sign, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has declared women's issues a central focus of American foreign policy, explaining in 2010 that "women's equality is not just a moral issue; it's not just a humanitarian issue; it is not just a fairness issue. It is a security issue," which, she added, is "in the vital interest of the United States." But given the overwhelming evidence that improving the security of women improves the security and stability of states, it is amazing that some still balk, suggesting that third parties are helpless before ingrained cultural practices. The most pressing example right now is Afghanistan, where senior U.S. officials looking toward the United States' 2014 departure state baldly, "Gender issues are going to have to take a back seat to other priorities." We cannot but assume that the situation of Afghan women will only get worse when U.S. troops leave -- Afghan women themselves tell us it will be. And how does that square with Clinton's view?
The United States is not impotent to assist Afghanistan's women, even as it leaves that benighted land. It can at least attempt to ensure a softer landing for them after 2014. Before the United States leaves, it could set up an asylum policy for Afghan women facing the threat of femicide, or a scholarship program to send the best and brightest female Afghan students to American universities. It could ensure that women are well represented in the peace jirga talks with the Taliban. It could encourage the pursuit of International Criminal Court indictments against top Taliban leaders who have ordered femicides. It could complete funding for a Radio Free Women of Afghanistan station and establish mosque-based female education. The United States could insist to the Afghan government that women's shelters not be taken over by the government. And it could continue to condition aid to Afghanistan on specific and measurable improvements for women there. Hopefully, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and others will actively investigate these possibilities. 

The evidence is clear: The primary challenge facing the 21st century is to eliminate violence against women and remove barriers to developing their strength, creativity, and voices. A bird with one broken wing, or a species with one wounded sex, will never soar. We know that. Humans have experienced it for millennia -- and paid for it with rivers of blood and mountains of needless suffering. The countries of the world must try a different path, one that we have every empirical reason to believe will lead to greater well-being, prosperity, and security for the entire international system. Sex and world peace, then, with no question mark.

Friday, February 22, 2013

More on Passes and Access to Events at the CSW

The following types of passes will apply during CSW57:

• United Nations grounds pass:
a blue plastic badge that has a photo of the bearer on it. By itself, it does not give access to the
North Lawn Building. It must be used with a secondary access pass.
• Secondary access pass:
a laminated coloured cardboard non-photo pass that is only valid when it is accompanied by a
valid United Nations grounds pass. During CSW57, they will be issued to give access to the North
Lawn Building. This pass can be used for the duration of the session. It is transferable and
may be shared with any NGO representative who has a grounds pass.
• Side event ticket (SET):
a coloured cardboard ticket with the date, time and location of the room to which it gives access in
the North Lawn Building or the General Assembly Hall.
• Temporary Non-Photo ID pass:
a laminated cardboard ticket with the name of the bearer, which is valid for no more than five days
or a specific meeting or event. They are usually used by speakers.
Secondary access passes give participants access to official meetings or overflow rooms in the North Lawn Building.
SETs are needed for access to the opening of the session in the General Assembly Hall (fourth balcony for NGOs) and
for side events that take place in the North Lawn Building.
Two secondary access passes will be given to each organization to be shared amongst its delegates. These passes will
be given out, as long as supplies last, at the CSW Information Desk in the General Assembly Lobby (see diagram). Any
registered representative may pick up the secondary access passes on behalf of the delegation. A copy of the CSW57
confirmation letter should be brought for verification purposes.
Distribution of SETs for side events will take place at a location and time stipulated by the event organizers (see advisory
2 on side events).


NGO Advisory 21 February 2013
SECONDARY ACCESS PASSES FOR OFFICIAL CSW MEETINGS
For more information visit: http://www.unwomen.org/csw/csw57/
You can also follow @UN_CSW on Twitter for the latest updates and information before and during the session.


And join the Twitter conversation using #CSW57 to share information about your own events!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Communications Initiatives for the upcoming CSW

As CSW57 is a short time away, we wanted to take the opportunity to update you on various communications initiatives.

1.       Website
·         All logistical information about the session and side-events: http://j.mp/WuZCYb
·         In Focus page (will go live on 27 Feb): comprehensive web page on the issue of violence against women and girls (stories, multimedia, facts & figures, etc.): http://j.mp/Xx17VT (English), http://j.mp/UIKdVL (Spanish), http://j.mp/XpE65y (French)

2.       Social media engagement
·         You will be able to access the latest information on logistics, the official sessions and the side-events through @UN_CSW on Twitter and UN CSW on Facebook. The hashtag is #CSW57, which you are invited to use when tweeting from events and to share your thoughts.
·         We will also engage in extensive social media outreach around #CSW57 and ending violence against women through our UN Women accounts:  @UN_Women (English), @ONUMujeres (Spanish), and @ONUFemmes (French) on Twitter; UN Women (English), ONU Mujeres (Spanish), and ONU Femmes (French) on Facebook.
·         We are holding an #AskUNWomen Twitter chat with our Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri on CSW57 and ending violence against women and girls on 25 February at 11am EST. You are invited to ask questions to her through the hashtag #AskUNWomen on Twitter or on our Facebook page, and to follow her responses coming from the @UN_Women Twitter account.
·         When you are at the Visitors’ Entrance, take a picture of you in front of the CSW banner displayed at the fence and tweet it out via the hashtag #CSW57. You might be retweeted by @UN_CSW!

3.       Say NO – UNiTE platform
·         Through the global advocacy platform Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women, we want to highlight your campaigns and initiatives to end violence against women and girls, and generate public engagement. Post your initiative on www.saynotoviolence.org or write to us at saynotoviolence@unwomen.org. In the context of the COMMIT initiative, we are highlighting government commitments on ending violence against women at www.saynotoviolence.org/commit and through the hashtag #SayUcommit on Twitter.
·         We will engage in extensive social media outreach around #CSW57 and ending violence against women through our Say NO – UNiTE accounts: @SayNO_UNiTE on Twitter; Say NO – UNiTE on Facebook. We invite you to donate one tweet through the crowdspeaking platform Thunderclap, which stores all tweets and releases them together on 4 March: http://j.mp/YvRlS4
·         The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign has proclaimed every 25th of the month as Orange Day! Wear orange on 25 February to take a stand on ending violence against women, take a picture and tweet it out through the hashtag #orangeday, or upload it to the Say NO – UNiTE Facebook page.

4.       International Women’s Day (IWD) and One Woman song launch, 8 March 2013
·         The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day on 8 March is “A Promise is a Promise – Time to take Action on Ending Violence against Women and Girls”. More information and material will be posted at http://owl.li/hQvy7. The hashtag on Twitter is #IWD2013.
·         On the occasion of IWD, UN Women will launch its theme song “One Woman”. It is the first theme song for a UN agency. Overall, 24 artists have participated, making it a truly global endeavor. The teaser website will be launched on 22 February at http://song.unwomen.org, where the song and music video will be available for downloading and sharing on 8 March. The hashtag is #1woman. Donate a tweet through Thunderclap to be released on 8 March, download the song and share it with your friends!
·         Love the One Woman song? Come sing with us! We will set up a karaoke booth in the Mandela space of the North Lawn Building (1st floor). Please look out on the events calendar, social media, and the screens in the lobby for the exact date and time. You might be the next YouTube star!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

NGO Advisory - Access to CSW57

NGO Advisory 19 February 2013
NGO ACCESS AT CSW57


For more information visit: http://www.unwomen.org/csw/csw57/
Follow @UN_CSW on Twitter and join the Twitter conversation using #CSW57!
Dear Organizations with registered representatives for CSW57,


NGO access will again be extremely limited at official CSW session meetings and events in the North Lawn Building, due to the significantly high number of NGO representatives who have registered. However, all official meetings will be webcast.


You are welcome to follow these broadcasts live or on demand via the CSW webpage at http://www.unwomen.org/csw/csw57 or the United Nations Webcast at http://webtv.un.org/
You can also follow @UN_CSW on Twitter to find out about side events, room changes, when check-in lines are shortest and when to pick up side event tickets. Join the Twitter conversation using #CSW57 to share information about your own events. 


Please note:
The United Nations grounds pass will not be sufficient to gain access to the North Lawn Building, where official CSW meetings will take place. Secondary access passes must also be presented to gain access to the building. Two secondary access passes will be given out to each organization as long as supplies last. These are transferable and may be shared with any NGO representative who has a grounds pass. Any registered representative may pick up the secondary access passes on behalf of the delegation. A copy of the CSW57
confirmation letter should be brought for verification purposes.


Tickets for the opening of the session in the GA hall (seating for NGOs is in the fourth balcony) will be distributed together with secondary access passes at the CSW Information Desk in the General Assembly Lobby starting on Friday, 1 March 2013.


Kindly have a signed and completed grounds pass form and an official photoID (passport
if travelling from abroad) ready before queuing for a United Nations grounds pass. The
form is available in the organization’s account on CSO-Net.


Please be reminded that the United Nations will not make arrangements or pay for any costs in connection with travel, visa or accommodation. Such arrangements and costs are the exclusive responsibility of participants. The United Nations does not charge any fees for participation in the Commission on the Status of Women sessions

Twitter account for the CSW

Hi everyone -
Be patient - i am going to use twitter while at the CSW - you can follow #maryscott100. 

Be patient!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Selected Readings on the Theme

I just came across an excellent listing of Readings on the theme of the 57th CSW - It is http://www.ngocsw.org/csw57/csw-57-readings.

Do check it out - most seem to be on line.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Costs of Violence Against Women in Canada

The following article is from the CCPA (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives), writen by Kate Mc Inturff, who has attended the CSW in the past. An excellent piece that talks about what Canada should include in a Canadian Action Plan to address violence against women.

 

Sweet heart, bitter pill: Rising, dancing, and costing violence against women in Canada

February 14th, 2013 

by Kate McInturff, Policy Analyst Candian Centre for Policy Alternatives

On Valentine’s Day this year women around the world will be dancing. One Billion Rising, a new initiative from Vagina Monologues’ author Eve Ensler, calls on women to dance their way to a future without violence.

Now, I’m all for dancing, but I’d like to add a little counting into the mix. VAW_candyheart
Each year, more than a million Canadian women and girls experience violence because they are women and girls. They are beaten in their own homes; they are harassed on the street; they are raped in their dorm rooms. The human cost of that violence is beyond measure. The economic cost is not. Violence against women in Canada costs our economy more than $7 billion each year. Understanding what violence against women costs us can help us understand what we need to spend to put a stop to it. Not to mention how inadequate the current response is.

For example, last year the federal department tasked with addressing violence against women and girls, Status of Women Canada, allocated $14.2 million to organizations for that purpose. That works out to $2.45 per person, per year.

That and sixty-five cents will by you a large double double and a maple dip.

Let’s talk numbers.
Statistics Canada tracks numbers for two types of violence experienced predominantly by women: spousal violence and sexual assault. The most recent General Social Survey on violent victimization found that 2.4% of Canadians over the age of 15 reported having experienced sexual assault in the past year and 2% of Canadians with a current or former spouse reported being physically or sexually victimized by their spouse in the past 12 months.

That works out to 1,087,081 Canadians.
Every year.

The survey also found that 7 out of 10 incidents of spousal violence and 9 out of 10 incidents of sexual assault were never reported and rates of reporting overall were going down. Double double that 1.1 million.

Let’s talk money.
In addition to the human cost of violence for survivors and their families, violence against women and girls costs Canada billions of dollars per year. That is “billions” with a “b.” A Justice Canada survey of the cost of spousal violence alone puts the price tag at $7.4 billion. According to Justice Canada: “Victim costs ($6.0 billion) accounted for the largest proportion (80.7%) of the total economic impact for cost items such as medical attention, lost wages, lost education, the value of stolen/damaged property, and pain and suffering.”
There are no parallel studies of the cost of sexual violence in Canada. However, analysis of the economic costs of sexual violence in similar, high-income country settings indicates that they are similar to those of spousal violence. Thus, the combined costs of sexual assault and spousal violence is surely well past the $10 billion mark.

Let’s talk alternatives.
Although the federal government has named violence against women as one of its priority areas, there is no coherent federal policy addressing violence against women at the moment. Federal spending on programs that address violence against women and girls is spread out across a number of departments and agencies and amounts to just over $56 million in total. To address a problem that costs more than $10 billion dollars a year and directly affects millions of Canadians.
This is a complex problem and one that requires multiple points of intervention. However, complexity is no excuse for incoherence or a lack of coordination. Nor is it an excuse for inadequate funding. Quite the opposite.
More than a dozen countries around the world have developed national action plans to address violence against women – including governments with similar federal systems, such as Australia. The United Nations has called on all governments to have a national action plan to address violence against women by 2015. Analysis of the experiences of these countries demonstrates the effectiveness of a more coherent and coordinated strategy. They also suggest what a Canadian plan should look like.

To be effective a Canadian National Action Plan to Address Violence Against women should include:
  • adequate human and financial resources earmarked specifically to carry out the program of action set by the plan;
  • clear benchmarks for measuring progress based on the collection of data on levels of violence against women over time;
  • meaningful and substantial participation by community and other civil society organizations, including adequate support for those organizations to participate in the implementation of the national action plan;
  • strategies that address the specific needs and vulnerabilities of different communities (such as women with disabilities, Aboriginal women, racialized women, young women);
  • initiatives to address socio-economic factors contributing to violence against women;
  • policies that work to prevent violence against women and policies that work to respond to survivors of violence.
Next month, a delegation of provincial and federal government representatives will attend the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women – the theme of which is violence against women. Here’s hoping they come back with a plan. Billions of dollars and millions of Canadians are counting on it.
Kate McInturff  is a CCPA research associate and an expert on gender budgeting and women’s human rights.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Schedule of Side Events for the CSW (you need to sign up)


Update for NGOS attending CSW
 
19 February 2013 is the deadline to sign up for oral statements and discussions for interactive panels.

For more information see:
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/57sess.htm#org

For the schedule of UN side events see:
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw57/side-events.htm

Please note: You need to sign up with the contact person to attend side events at the UN as space is limited.

Informal consultations on the CSW Outcome document will begin on 7 March at the UN.

Check the UN website to see the draft document.
 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Nearly 21 Million People are Victims of Forced Labour, many women and girls

Human Trafficking a Major Challenge to the International Community

 
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 2013 (IPS) - Human trafficking continues to pose a major challenge to the international community even though some positive trends are visible, according to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2012.


The study, released here Tuesday, says human trafficking is a crime that ruthlessly exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes, including forced labour and sex.
“This global crime generates billions of dollars in profits for the traffickers,” said Yury Fedotov, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

According to the International Labour Organisation, nearly 21 million people are victims of forced labour globally. At least 136 different nationalities were trafficked and detected in 118 different countries.

The report quotes women, migrants and children, who are easy targets for exploitation in the sex industry, as the most vulnerable people to be victims of human trafficking.
The trafficking of children appears to be increasing, given that from 2007 to 2010, 27 percent of all victims detected globally were children, while from 2003 to 2006 that number was 20 percent.

“We, therefore, need to work harder at detecting and punishing this shameful criminal activity,” said Fedotov.

However, some positive developments can be extracted from the report. For example, 134 countries and territories had enacted legislation criminalizing trafficking in 2012. Another development is  the decline of trafficking from Eastern Europe and Central Asia since 2000.
“The report is a stepping stone in the right direction, and it highlights the dedication and commitment of member states to tackle this crime. But I call on countries to do more”, said Fedotov.

“We need comprehensive data about offenders and victims in order to assist in the development of sound policies and appropriate criminal justice responses”, he added.
“Human trafficking is a widespread crime in the early 21st century. It cannot be allowed to continue into the 22nd century,” he declared.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Comments welcome on the NGO North America/EuropeanDraft Document!

For CSW 57, NGOs have an exciting opportunity to tell the UN what we want the governments to do about Violence Against Women and Girls. 
Give us your organization's comments on the NGO North America/Europe draft document, available here. This document has been drafted by the independent editing committee appointed by the NGO CSW/NY. Your inputs will be considered for Draft TWO of the NGO North America/Europe document that will be shared with governments and the UN. 

Deadline is 25 February to post your group's ideas.

What is this document? Click below: http://api.ning.com/files/rRlLHC*Dey2XIHHmgKnKxmwzHXSEBrv9e*Cm8rwxc*cnB*XJG8*ujHG-ByHS7KnjYDHKytfb6yIJRIf*Hszobk2*Ahc03xl4/NGOCSWdocumentforNAmericaandEuropeDRAFT1_20_FINAL.pdf

GUIDELINES:
  1. Share this document with your NGO
  2. Identify your organization's own editor or group to collect your members' comments and rewrite into one message 250 words or less 
  3. Post your organization's ideas to the dedicated social media network
  4. ONLY organization-wide comments can be posted; individual’s comments will be deleted
  5. Comments must be synthesized into 250 words or less
  6. Deadline is 25 February 2013
For more information, contact voices4NGOs@gmail.com.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

RED SHOES PUBLIC ART DISPLAY TRIBUTE TO WOMEN & GIRLS KILLED IN CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO

This Art Display is similar of one that a young artist has done here in Winnipeg - the RedDress Project. . Jaimie Black has collected several hundred red dresses, each representing one of the more than over 600 missing or murdered aboriginal women or girls.

More than 200 pairs of "Red Shoes" are put on display by visual artist Elina Chauvet in honor of the hundreds of women and girls who have been killed in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.




Elina Chauvet: ‘Zapatos Rojos’ (Red Shoes) | Vulbus Incognita Magazine | Scoop.it

Saturday, February 9, 2013

The Right of Women and Girls to be Free from the Violence of Prostitution

An interesting session sponsored by CFUW (The Canadian Federation of University Women):
 
Title: "The Right of Women and Girls to be Free from the Violence of Prostitution"
 
Date: March 6 (Wednesday)
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: 777 United Nations Plaza

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Session on the missing links between women's rights, conflict and peace

Women’s Learning Partnership
in partnership with


The Center for Public Scholarship & the Gender Studies Program at
The New School
invites you to attend


Human Security: The missing link between
women’s rights, conflict, and peace


3:30 PM – 7:30 PM, March 6th, 2013
at the The New School's Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th St., New York, NY

Seats are limited | Register Here

Click here for a full list of WLP's 2013 CSW public events.


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

February 6 is End Female Genital Mutalation Day

FGM is a serious crime against women. 

FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
The practice of FGM has no health benefits, causes severe pain and has several immediate and long-term health consequences. It is mostly carried out by traditional providers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths.



FGM is affecting about 140 million girls and women, and more than 3 million girls are at risk every year. A special focus for WHO this year, is the troubling trend of health-care providers increasingly being the ones performing female genital mutilation, and thereby contributing to legitimize and maintain the practice.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Panel on the UN Convention Against Toruture and Non State Torture Victimization

I want to share the following information on an excellent Panel Presentation coming up at the CSW - The Date is march 5, 10:30 am. This will be an excellent presentation that will be of wide interest to many, and also what more needs to be done. If you would like to read a fact sheet about torture in the private sphere, click here.

GENDERIZING THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE (CAT) & NON-STATE TORTURE VICTIMIZATION

March 5, 2013 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Salvation Army Auditorium - 221 East 52nd Street, New York City


Brenda Wallace, CFUW Vice-President of International Relations will Chair the session and introduce Panel Participants.


THE PANELISTS ARE:
Felice Gaer, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee against Torture will share the evolutionary process that has led to how some manifestations of gender-based violence have come to be addressed under CAT. She will explain how women may utilize the CAT as an instrument for recognizing human rights violations.


Denise Scotto, as a Member of NGOs International Federation of Women Lawyers and International Federation of Women in Legal Careers, will speak of legal benefits that may develop for women who have endured non-State torture as the CAT develops a gendered perspective.


Jeanette Westbrook, is a member of NGO WG-USA, a social worker, and a woman who today speaks of her life beyond non-State torture victimization thus she will share what it means to her life and human rights to have the Committee support that some women and girls are indeed subjected to non-State torture.


Linda MacDonald & Jeanne Sarson: With 20 years of working with mostly women, reporting non-State torture victimization, they define ‘classic’ non-State torture; share how, as members of CFUW, a breakthrough of support occurred at the Committee against Torture. Sharing professional experiences and those of women so victimized they explain how the defining elements of torture have assisted them in advocating for non-State torture as a specific form of violence against women and girls. Resources at: www.nonstatetorture.org
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The CFUW/FCFDU is an equality-seeking, advocacy organization that works to advance the human rights of women and girls in 112 CFUW Clubs across Canada and at the national level.
CFUW http://www.cfuw.org/ is the largest of the 67 affiliates of the International Federation of University Women.