Laurie Brooks attended a session on Ending Violence against Women: opportunities of ICT. It was the coolest session she attended so far. The goal of the session was to raise awareness raising, however, she would like to have seen more emphasis on solutions and actions. She learned that women can be attacked virtually, in online violence, with devastating effects on their lives. Cyberbullying and revenge porn can lead to extreme consequences including suicide. Laurie Brooks says she still hopes for solutions. She is happy to see that through the CSW sessions, so many countries become aware of the issues.
Erica Higbie, who has been a FAWCO UN Rep for over five years, said that she was not aware of cyberbullying until she started working at the UN. From her many years of experience at the UN, Erica offered that there are not a lot of solutions offered. The discussions are about really hard problems. The idea is to hear about them, learn, spread the word, and then work to come up with solutions..
Karen Boeker said that after two days at CSW, she was getting cross-eyed and feeling jet-lagged. She attended the NGO Briefings the last two mornings. The most impactful session she attended was “It is my given right to live life on my own terms.” It was way over capacity in Conference Room D. A young women from Pakistan talked about her experiences as she realized her dreams. She is now a pilot in the Air Force.
Karen was impressed by the discussion: Why did she always want to be the first? She was motivated when people told her she couldn't do it; she wanted to prove them wrong. When people said to her: that’s not what women do, she would ask why not? Who is setting the rules? Karen thought it was interesting that this session was attended by many young men.
Christine Humphreys was impressed by how many interesting events are happening. She attended a session on women's economic empowerment in Saudi Arabia. Christine lived in Saudi Arabia for three years and had heard about the recent changes, so she attended a panel of women who have done a lot of work. She sat next to an Arab man and asked him his opinion, saying that if she was in Saudi Arabia now she would have to wear hijab. Christine is very interested in what will happen there in the future.