As I walked with Erica Higbie, FAWCO's UN Rep in New York, to the UN area, I was filled with anticipation - nervous and excited, imagining myself in the UN Great Hall / the General Assembly with dignitaries from member states. However, Erica informed me that the so-called "Paralllel Meetings" put on by NGOs are outside the UN buildings and open to anyone, I don't even need to get a UN Grounds Pass. She was going "inside" for meetings, while I was to attend the Parellel Meetings in the Church Center across the street. Though a bit disappointed that I will not get my "UN Blue" Grounds Pass today, I quickly got very excited looking at the list of dozens of Parallel Meetings available today.
Being a mother of young boys, I chose "Millennial Parenting Skills for Raising Confident, Happy, Respectful Children" as my first session. It was put on by United Families International. If their pro-traditional-family views could be ignored, the rest of what presenter Nicholeen Peck offered makes sense. She advocates "Traditional Strict Parenting" over "Modern Progressive Parenting" (the lenient anything-goes parent) and the Tiger Mom "Bullying Fear-Based Parenting". Clear principles and communication in a calm manner give the children the security that they need. It teaches them self-government. Though interesting, the session did not specifically address women, except to say that being a mother (or mother-surrogate) is the most important job we have. For more information, go to www.teachingselfgovernment.com.
The next session, "Use and Misuse of Technology: Protecting Girls from Internet Exploitation", was eye-opening. A panel of experts discussed how technology has, on the one hand, increased child exploitation but at the same time has made things more transparent with digital footprints. If we know the behaviors of the perpetrators and the victims, we can develop technology to help combat these crimes. The experts were from ECPAT, Facebook, Family Online Safety, Thorn and Social Impact Lab. ECPAT, an international organization in 75 countries, works to stop trafficking at the source. They work closely with the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking. While ECPAT works on the "illegal" activities, Family Online Safety, based in London and Washington, works on the borderline "legal/illegal". Their survey "Teen Identity Theft" shows that girls are more concerned about safety on the Internet, yet they are much more likely to share their user name with someone other than family (often boyfriends). For the full report, visit www.fosi.org/research. CEO Stephen Balkam talked about the 3Ps (Public Policy, Best Practices and Parenting) as the key to internet safety. He then says that parents should talk to their children about the 4Cs: Content (inappropriate), Contacts, Conduct, and Commercial Exploitation. He says that a fear-based approach is counterproductive; rather, empower your children to take control. Emily Vacher, Head of Global Security for Facebook and a former FBI agent in the Crimes Against Children unit, assured the audience that teens are more savvy than they are given credit for; the key to safety is communication and then giving them the tools. Facebook's safety approach includes Policy, Partnerships (corporate, governmental agencies), Education, and Tools. Go to www.facebook.com/safety for more information. Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children uses technology to fight trafficking. For example, they had surveyed survivors about their experiences: how were they recruited, how were they kept, how did they communicate, etc. They found out that the girls had mobile phones to call their pimps but of course, they couldn't CALL a hotline, but they could text. So Thorn worked to have a quick text BEFREE implemented with hotlines and in several months, had 500 calls and 5 live extractions.
I found this session enlightening and encouraging. I had no idea that these organizations existed and that there was this kind of non-governmental collaborative work going on to combat crimes against our children.
I then very much looked forward to my next session "Empowering women and girls: the role of science and technology". Unfortunately, the session was cancelled which made me think: how telling! The FAWCO Foundation launched a new award this year for young women studying information technology which received no applications, and now this cancellation. I definitely think the issue needs to be brought to the forefront and our girls need to be encouraged to get into these fields of studies.
My third sesion then was "Gender Equality" put on by Voices of African Mothers. I regret I do not have the names of the panelists. The session opened with a speech from one of their youth ambassadors, a young graduate of Cornell University who was an extraordinary orator. I am talking at the level of Martin Luther King. She was speaking to girls, urging them to stand up and be who they are. At the end of her speech, I think the audience was ready to jump up and march with her wherever she was going. Then a woman judge encouraged the audience to collaborate and do more. She read a nice poem about
I am One
I am only One
I don't know everything
What I don't know, I will learn
What I know, I will teach
Together, we will make a difference.
We then heard about Gender Equality in China from a corporate banker and Women's Rights in Egypt from another youth ambassador, a young man. Unfortunately, both of these speakers spoke only superficially about the topic, and were challenged on some points by the very informed audience.
My last session of the day was supposed to be a screening of a documentary on "Forced Marriage", put on by African Women for Good Governance. We did not get to see the film because of technical difficulties, but the panelists were excellent. They named poverty as the key root cause of parents selling their little girls to older men for marriage. Maternal and infant mortality, fistula, isolation and depression are the physical and psychological consequences of Forced Marriage. The panelists shared many heart-breaking stories of young girls imprisoned, tortured and killed by their husbands. The stories moved the audience to ask "What can be done? What are the solutions? What can Americans do here/now/?" The answer was always the same: spread the word, raise awareness, then together pressure governments to ban this practice. It is NOT a domestic issue, it should be considered a crime - pedophilia, slavery. And lastly, put more women in governement leadership.
My first day at CSW 58 was invigorating. It was interesting for me to see who is in the audience, who is talking about women's issues, and who is doing something about these issues. Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
My-Linh Kunst