CSW 57: Enough is enough!

New York, 11 March: While sitting and waiting at John F Kennedy International airport in New York for my flight back to South Africa, I contemplated my first Commission of the Status of Women (CSW57) experience. The trip was a turning point in my work as it afforded me the rare opportunity of seeing a broader picture of gender activism and its impact on the ground. The main thing I took from the whole trip besides gaining a glimpse into the universal suffering of women across the world was the commendable work being done by civil society to influence change at policy level as well as changing individual perceptions on gender and equality.

However after spending a week attending dozens of side events organised by Non-Governmental Organisations that ran parallel to the official United Nations 57th Commission CSW it became very clear that women have become tired of rhetoric. Enough is enough, women are demanding action.

Every March 8, leaders and civil society organisations from across the world commemorate International Women’s Day with undue enthusiasm and a pat on their backs for pushing ‘forward’ the gender equality agenda.

While expecting thousands of women to be marching down the streets of New York to celebrate their special day it was sobering to note that many participants at CSW found no real value in celebrating when women continue to be raped daily, all forms of violence against women persists unabated and that women’s equality is far from reach.

On 7 March, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvana a prominent gender activist and Secretary General of the Young Women’s Christian Association posed serious questions in response to the presentation by Gender Links on the gender based violence (GBV) research results from five countries in the SADC region.

A pamphlet summarising the results from the five countries reveals that in Botswana at least 67% of women reporting to have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime and 44% of men admitting to have committed some form of violence against women in their lifetime.

Results from four districts in Zambia show that the country has the highest level of women who reported experiencing some form of GBV in their lifetime, and 72% of men admitted perpetrating violence against women in their lifetime.

Zimbabwe emerged as second highest with 68% of women having experienced some form of GBV, and 46% males have perpetrated some form of GBV against women in their lifetime.

A four province study in South Africa places the country fourth (after Botswana) with 50% women having experienced some form of GBV and 39% men having perpetrated some form of GBV against women in their lifetime.

The lowest figure of 24% of GBV experiences among women is from Mauritius with 23% of men saying they had perpetrated some form of GBV against women in their lifetime.

Gumbonzvana could not hide her shock and asked the audience why women are not angry enough to do something about the rampant GBV in local communities.

She is not the only one who is angry. National coordinator of the Zambia chapter of Women and Law, Maimbo Ziela also raised the question when her organisation launched shocking results on the high rate of sexual abuse in schools.

According to the report many girls in Zambia are raped, sexually abused, harassed, and assaulted by teachers and classmates. They are also subjected to sexual harassment and attack while travelling to and from school. 54 % of students interviewed said they had personally experienced some form of sexual violence or harassment by a teacher, student, or men they encountered while travelling to or from school.

Climate justice activists also added their voice to the growing anger among gender activists on GBV. An activist from Colombia noted that the large-scale agro-fuel production in Colombia negatively affects the livelihoods of rural and indigenous women in the country. “Impacts due to land use change are displacing entire communities with detrimental effects on women as they are confronted with direct and indirect violence of companies that try to grab their land. This ‘green land grabbing’ violates their social, environmental and human rights”.

As part of the Women’s day commemorations the SADC Gender Protocol Alliance held a cyber-dialogue, which connected women from across the world via internet chat. The same feeling of anger came out clearly in the chat exchanges.

A participant from Cameron bemoaned how her country seems to have lost the plot on the real meaning of Women’s Day. She said, “The money is spent on buying the women’s Day fabric, food and drinks. In fact it is terrible what happens here in Cameroon. Institutions are bound each year, to buy this fabric for all their female workers, and their wives, organise parties and whatever, for them!”

From Lesotho another participant expressed her anger, “I strongly believe that it is not only our government issues to fly their flags high on Women’s Day but it must be women’s agenda they should be granted a chance to raise up their voices, I believe that we can have a way forward, together a positive change.”

In her key note address to mark Women’s Day UN Women Michelle Bachelet acknowledged the work being done in local communities to end GBV, “Never before have we witnessed such global momentum and mobilization by men and women, girls and boys, demanding an end to violence against women and girls. Never before have we witnessed such open, widespread public outrage and calls for change and action, said Bachelet.

She also cited some of the achievements of women since the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) the include; the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the ICPD+5 Key Actions, the Platform for Action of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Security Council’s landmark resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and all other international human rights conventions.

UN Women used Women’s Day to launch a song entitled One Woman, which is a celebration of women worldwide, featuring 25 artists from 20 countries across the globe.

The song calls for change and celebrates acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who make extraordinary contributions to their countries and communities on a daily basis. The song inspires solidarity and the need for a continued commitment from men and women across the globe to continue the fight for women’s equality and ending violence against women.

Lucia Makamure is Alliance and Partnership officer at Gender Links. This article is part of GL’s special coverage of CSW 57.