HallySiddons
Mrs.Siddons
Canada
Why Violence Against Women Parliamentarians Concerns us All: March 16m 9:00 – 11:00
Canadian Association of Feminist Parliamentarians and NGO/NY
Women in power and decision-making, Human rights of women, Violence against women, Women and the media
SDG16 – Peace and Justice Strong Institutions, SDG17 – Partnerships to achieve the Goal
Harassment (2016), Tolerance of Minority Groups (2016)
Concern for the harassment of women in the workplace
Rosa Galvez, a Canadian Senator spoke of her harassment as a senator and offered that any act that targets a woman and her speech is an attack on democracy. She feels too it is seen as discouraging for younger women who may aspire to such. The second speaker from UN Women noted violence takes place against women in the government by media, by the public and by colleagues. It can be vicious and will be to no point as it is these government officials who are often the innovators and those that are more apt to challenge orthodoxy. The silencing is often done by men and the media often enforces the perception that men make better leaders. Despite the statutes we do not have legislation in place to deal with it. People need to be educated. Why is this so 25 years after Bejing? Violence against women in politics is violence against democracy. The third speaker from South Sudan reiterated that violence against parliamentarians should not be tolerated and can make parliamentarians lose confidence in themselves. We have to fight to show we can do it and we stand together. In Sudan it is not usually physical abuse but verbal. A young lawmaker from Congress in the Philippines talked about teh climate of fear among young leaders but they are very vocal, identifying issues and concerns and the need for
change. The last speaker was from Armenia and shed fascinating light on the role of female parliamentarians in the time of conflict and peace.
It was a wakeup call and an alarming fact that the organisers were not able to obtain the presence of an American politician
This morning’s grouping of participants confirms this is a world wide issue and the possibility for collaboration does exist
