Ranu was eight years old when her school days ended. She had dreamt of becoming a teacher but fate would intervene. She was married to an elderly man, because her parents needed money to educate her two brothers and also to buy extra cows. This ended Ranu’s dream for ever. At fourteen she gave birth to her first baby – a girl, which did not please her husband who was hoping for a boy. Her second child, also a girl, brought even greater displeasure and annoyance. The events which unfolded may seem quite abstract but they are the reality of one girl who ‘survived’. Ranu left – she ran away with her two young children towards a life of even greater poverty than she had previously experienced. Her husband confiscated her identity – both paper proof and also psychological. She was drawn to sex-work, to provide for her children. Had Ranu another option? She did not think so.
Ranu’s story is one of many harrowing, chilling stories of the ‘girl child’, of early and forced marriages, of gender inequality and violence against women that we heard from victims/survivors at the 57th meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations in New York. In 2013, as we see ourselves in a world with so many advancements, in a global community which holds ‘connection’ at its core, is it not shocking and startling that the theme of this two week Commission, ‘The Elimination and Prevention of all forms of Violence against Women and Girls’ has emerged as a priority theme? The purpose of this conference was to evaluate progress on gender equality and to formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide.
The Opening Ceremony in the UN Headquarters was a most moving occasion attended by ambassadors, high profile dignitaries and representatives from the UN nations. Among them the UN Women’s Executive Director of CSW, Michelle Bachelet and The Special Rapporteur for Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, Ms. Joy Ezeilo. Michelle Bachelet gave a most inspiring talk on the need for action now, on the implementation of policies, and the necessity to strategize especially through awareness – raising and engagement of survivors.
As Ireland currently holds the Presidency of the EU, Ms. Kathleen Lynch, TD has the responsibility for equality in her portfolio, and spoke on behalf of the EU Countries. ‘Violence against women and girls is a worldwide phenomenon, crossing all borders, all generations, all nationalities and all communities and occurs in all spheres in our societies. This phenomenon is far too hidden, under-reported, under-prosecuted, and under- punished. Any figure we put on the table will not reflect its genuine and alarming extent’.
NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) are not part of the negotiations teams who are responsible for the final draft outcome document. However, each morning NGOs had a very informative briefing session from a negotiator who often had worked late into the previous night. We were kept informed of what were considered the blocking issues or even words that prevented progress and we were also allowed make some further suggestions for resolution. Negotiation was not easy and consensus was challenging, as you can imagine. There were so many views and interpretations from people of such varied cultural, political, traditional, and religious backgrounds. Through the efforts of NGOs the voice of civil society provides an alternative and/or complement to the views of the governments.
As Mercy Sisters we are very fortunate to have two Sisters working full time in the UN – Deirdre Mullan from the Northern Province who is the Executive Director of Partnership for Global Justice (an NGO Coalition of 125 Congregations and groups) http://www.partnershipforglobaljustice.com and Aine O’ Connor (Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americans) who is the UN Co-Ordinator of Mercy International Association – Global Action In 2012 Deirdre published an excellent booklet ‘What Price A Girl’s Life?’ which gives examples of girl stories throughout the world and suggested steps to take to make a difference. It was great to meet Rita Parks rsm (Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americans) who assists Aine, Lynda Dearlove rsm who works in ‘The Woman @ the Well’ Centre in London and Rachel Reynolds, a young adult from Galway who has just completed her primary degree.
Over the two weeks, the series of events which unfolded were hugely interesting and beneficial to all of us. The core message was that we, as individual and collective communities have a responsibility to work towards the elimination and prevention of violence against women, gender equality and empowerment of women. 6,000 people attended, the majority women, and you can only imagine the variety of ideas and reactions/responses to issues including: Women’s Health; Education; Domestic Violence; Violence-free Sport; Female Genital Mutilation; One child policy in China; Violence against older Women; Violence against Widows; Violence and the Church; Women in War situations; Prostitution and Trafficking; How to engage Men & Boys in Elimination of violence; UN Framework for Sustainable Mining; Violence against Women, and Communities and Mother Earth. These side-events were a wonderful opportunity for networking and sharing experiences. So many of the stories we heard are areas of deep concern to us as Mercy sisters, among them being Trafficking of Persons and Cosmology/Eco–Justice.
Trafficking of Persons:
Pope Francis in his Easter Sunday address (March 31st 2013) implored peace for the world:
‘Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty – first century;’
The United Nations estimates that 2.5 million people from 127 different countries are being trafficked around the world for forced labour, bonded labour and forced prostitution at present. Ambassador Cabactulan, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN and a brother to Carmela rsm in the Philippines stated the following:
‘Human trafficking is not an issue of one country; that is why we need partnerships and resources to solve it.’
One third of all forced sex work/trafficking takes place within the context of business travel, which include corporate entertainment, hotels, airports and seaports. The Sisters of Mercy in the US have raised awareness around this issue and the time is ripe for all countries to take a stand and introduce ‘The Code’ drawn up by ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking). www.ecpat.net This will entail the training of staff in business and particularly in hotels and airlines – Delta Airlines have signed up to this code. Please do keep in mind that though we explore statistics and examine international reports, the human pain remains outside our control – that of a mother waiting for her child to return safely home.
Cosmology/Eco Justice:
‘We only have one house, one place to live and that is this earth. Whatever you do to the earth, you do to the daughters and sons of the earth. Everything and everyone is intimately connected….. Extractive industry activities are destroying the insides of the earth. Like the uterus of mother earth is being destroyed’. (Nelly DelCid – Honduran Mercy Associate, speaking at one of the workshops)
Mining, fracking and other extractive industry activities are having devastating effects, destroying livelihoods, the environment around the world, people’s lives and life choices. Drinking water is polluted with radioactive pollutants. The social cost verses the social benefits are unbalanced and immeasurable. Women continue to bear the burden of supporting children through life who are born, affected by the physical impact of mining and pollution. These local, often rural communities need the global support necessary to be supported and unburdened.
Many Sisters have asked: ‘what can we do in relation to eliminating violence against women and girls?’ The following are some suggestions:
– Become informed of Human Trafficking and encourage open discussion
– Share information and report any suspicious events to relevant authorities
– Sign Petitions and join campaigns to eliminate or prevent Trafficking eg. TORL (turn off the Red Light)
– Continue to respect the dignity of each person
– Promote Fair Trade and check retailer supply chain
– Keep the victims of trafficking and their traffickers in our prayers
– Call on educators to embed issues of gender equality and violence prevention in school curriculums from early childhood
– Learn more about mining and fracking
Find out about your country’s plans and commitments on climate change.
– Quite an inspiring, yet straight forward, vision of how we can extend support and make change a reality can be seen through the Girl Effect – a short clip online which we would encourage you to visit.
Patricia O’Donovan rsm (Congregational Leadership Team) and Mary Ryan rsm
Patricia O’Donovan rsm and Mary Ryan rsm
Congregation
