By The Rev. Teri C. Pilarski
The auditorium at the Salvation Army on 14th Street in New York City was filled to capacity. Women from around the world, young and old, from many countries, colors, religions, ethnicities and cultures, gathered for the 55th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) NGO orientation. A variety of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) and their representatives were present. Some NGO’s made presentations at the orientation and most NGO’s offered flyers advertising the workshops they were sponsoring for the two week UNCSW.
The keynote speaker for the orientation was Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, and current Under-Secretary General at the United Nations and the Executive Director of the newly formed UN Women. You can read about her and her speeches <a href=http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/executive-director/> here</a>. Ms. Bachelet is an inspiring woman with great intelligence and keen insight. She holds a privileged position at the UN, one which will enable her to advocate for issues that concern women and girls, keeping them at the forefront of all UN discussions.
Later that afternoon, in a break-out session on the topic of women, girls, and education, I found myself in discussion with two women from Morocco. Dressed in headscarves the two women shared stories about the trials little girls face in an effort to acquire an education in rural Morocco. These include the risk of being attacked on the way to school by wild dogs, and or raped and kidnapped by groups of men, or being forced into household labor for wealthy urban families. Their greatest concern was the illegality of the headscarf in the classroom. Wearing the religious headscarf is illegal in some school systems. Therefore girls who wish to practice their faith and wear the scarf are prevented from acquiring and education. These women from Morocco wanted to understand the UN system of advocacy, how to make their concerns known and how to get some action for the well-being of the girl-child in Morocco.
A day earlier I attended the Ecumenical Women’s Orientation at the United Nations Church Center. At this orientation I heard a panel of speakers discuss the role of advocacy at the UNCSW. One woman named Marta said this: Go to a caucus, learn who your UN Representative is. Watch for that person to leave, perhaps go to the bathroom. Follow the person and when you catch up to them be prepared to 1. Share a short story that conveys your concern and 2. Give the representative one or two key points you want them to take back with them to UN discussions.
I shared this with the women from Morocco and gave them two flyers I had on caucuses for the education of girls. I encouraged them to go and find their representative and share their story and concerns. I told the women that I will hold them in my prayers and every time I think of Morocco I will think of them. Their story is now part of me.
When I shared this story with my Bishop one of his observations was that, I, a privileged white woman from the United States, had access to knowledge that these women from Morocco did not. He makes a valid point.
However, what I really think is that these women are smart, savvy, survivors, and they would have found the answer sooner or later. I just happened to be there. And honestly, I don’t know if the information I gave them is what they really needed or used. What I do know is that they probably figured it out. And, because of their efforts, there will be some movement toward the improvement in the quality of life for little girls in rural Morocco.
I spent a week in New York City attending the UNCSW and the parallel NGO events. Because I am currently under-employed and have had to piece together an income for the last 20 months I had no resources to pay for my trip to this event. Thankfully, and gratefully, I was sponsored by Anglican Women’s Empowerment (AWE). In the course of my life, rising up from a working class family, acquiring two Master’s degrees (and the student loan debt), and working in fields that are male-dominated, I have faced many challenges and struggles as a girl and as a woman. And even still I remain a privileged white woman. Nonetheless this privileged status is not without significant life lessons. Frankly, not all white privilege is the same. Being white can mask the ways in which I have been subjected to misogynistic prejudice, stereotypes, classism, and systems of dysfunction.
A few days ago a friend of mine was ordained. I have known her since 1995 when we were both in seminary together. For a variety of reasons her ordination process was stopped and she was subjected to some painful scrutiny. She graduated from seminary and proceeded on to a career as a hospital chaplain. Then, a few years ago, the call to ordination began to percolate in her again, culminating in her ordination some fifteen years after the process was stopped. Her ordination reminds me that the Holy Spirit is tenacious and always gets her way. Sooner or later, regardless of how humans try to divert her, the Holy Spirit ends up moving us. Her job, like the mountain top experience of the disciples who witness Jesus’ transfiguration, is to lead us into and through transformative experiences of grace. Her job is to enliven the work of God in and through us. The Holy Spirit walks us through the challenges life throws our way and sustains us with the love of Christ. The Holy Spirit is alive in us, transforming our challenges into compassion and love for ourselves and for others. The Holy Spirit enables us to turns life’s challenges into privileges of insight, self-awareness, and other-awareness. My theology professor believed in the power of the Holy Spirit to continue her work even into the after-life. By this he meant that human beings are unable to wake up to the privileges of the Spirit until we are broken open and transformed, and for some that means death comes first.
My life experiences have left me with a heightened sensitivity to the issues of women and children, increasing my capacity for compassion. I suspect that my experiences at the UNCSW, the stories I heard, the experience of being in the presence of 8500 women from around the world, and, the facts I learned, will become epiphanic, life changing experiences. I will be transformed, over and over again, as I reflect on this time. I have been made acutely aware, in new ways, that privilege has many facets. Sometimes privilege leads to abuse and oppression, and becomes life-depleting. I certainly learned a lot about that manifestation of privilege at the NGO workshops. But there are other expressions of privilege that can be life-giving.
I am privileged to have met these women and to have heard their stories. I am privileged to have worn my “collar” of ordination as a witness to the role of women clergy activists for social justice. As ordained women our role is not “better” than others. My role as an ordained woman is distinctive and particular, and comes with a privileged potential to open doors and hearts. Wearing my collar gets me into hospitals and ICU’s and people’s lives. Peter, filled with awe at the realization of who Jesus is, wanted to give Jesus a place of privilege. But Peter’s understanding of privilege would have contained Jesus, contained God’s love, to the mountain top. Jesus tells Peter, and us, the love of God is for everyone. We are all privileged in God’s eyes. The love of God exists within the beauty of our diversity. We are not intended to contain our differences nor does God intend for us to all be the same. Whether through a clergy collar or a headscarf or a prayer shawl or any other expression of faith God’s love expresses itself in the rich diversity of all humanity.
By Karen Hoenscheid, St. Margaret’s Church Plainview
For me, the big red button with the bright yellow letters said it all…AWE. Technically, this is an acronym for Anglican Women’s Empowerment, but as far as I’m concerned, it perfectly expressed how I felt after attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women with my 14 year old daughter, Emily.
At this annual conference, women, (and men) from around the world gather to discuss the 12 areas of concern that were laid out as part of the “Beijing Platform for Action” in 1995. This was the 55th time the CSW met, but only the 5th time that girls were included in the discussion. This year, the theme was “Access to Education and Jobs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) but we attended fascinating workshops and seminars on other issues such as violence towards women, human trafficking, human rights, women’s health and our personal “hot-button” issue, women in the media. My eyes were opened and my heart ached from hearing the horror stories of women and girls across the globe. I think this is when the feelings of awe really started to set in. I have great respect and admiration for these women that live with such hardship and are treated so inhumanely, yet they hold their heads up, keep going, bravely share their stories and when able, reach out to help others.
With each person I met, those feelings of awe just deepened. While Emily and I arrived each day via the 6:18 train from Northport, I was impressed with how many people travelled from much farther distances to advocate for the rights of women and girls. We met people from England, Tokyo, Tunisia, Italy and Africa as well as Texas, Kentucky, and Minnesota. And we finally got to meet the two women (coincidentally also from Northport!) that were responsible for our participation. It was Jane Appleyard Roel’s amazing article in the June 2010 edition of the Dominion that first got us interested in the CSW and Kim Robey, chair of AWE that brought our interest to fruition! These are truly two awe-inspiring women!
As part of a special Orientation for Girls, we heard passionate speeches from Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile who is now the Executive Director of UN Women, and Leymah Gbowee, the subject of the documentary , “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”. Ms. Bachelet spoke of how the world financial crisis has had a more severe impact on women and girls, with many families pulling their daughters out of school to help financially. She lamented that women make up two thirds of the world’s illiterate adults, a figure that hasn’t changed in 20 years. She also suggested that strong female leaders can change cultural attitudes by serving as role models, an idea shared by Ms. Gbowee, who blew me away with her passionate speech. She shared the story of how she got Christian and Muslim women in Liberia to end their country’s bloody civil war through non-violent protest and peaceful negotiation. Perhaps most impressive is that she began this movement with just four other women and $10!!! Ms. Gbowee urged the audience to fight for what we believe in. “If you see an issue and are touched by it, step into it and make a change”! When asked how to choose an issue when there are so many problems throughout the world, she astutely advised to, “sweep at your own feet first”, or as my mother would say , “cultivate your own garden.” Although she encouraged us to be concerned about global issues, she has found that the most successful initiatives are those that are groomed from within the community, not outside of it.
While Ms. Bachelet and Ms. Gbowee represented the secular world of powerful, passionate women, I was pleased to be in awe of two women from within the leadership of the Episcopal Church as well. On our last day in the city, we attended a Eucharist at the Episcopal Church Center chapel with Bishop Roskam leading the service. She was so engaging and sincere. I also had the pleasure of hearing Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori speak to about eighty AWE members about being open to diversity and change within our parishes, saying that , “When church becomes a club for those that are already there, it dies…and it should die.” She noted that the fastest growing religion is “none of the above”, and advised that we “go out into our communities to meet people.” Her whole speech was filled with sincerity, humor, intelligence and warmth. What a good feeling it is to have such strong female leaders as role models for other women and girls in the church.
This opportunity to expose Emily to so many strong women and to be amongst like-minded teenagers was one of my main motivations behind bringing her to the CSW. I also wanted her to see that there is a great (or sometimes not so great) big world beyond our white picket fence, Northport High School and the Smith Haven Mall. I wanted to counteract some of the shallow influences that she is exposed to, and to guide her even further towards caring about the things in life that really matter. Like all American teenagers, she is bombarded with destructive images, negative music lyrics, rampant materialism and don’t even get me started on what I call “toxic television”… shows like Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant and DeGrassi. The fact that she jumped at the chance to participate without any bribery or arm-twisting makes me extremely proud and yes, in awe of my own daughter. I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be back next year, proudly wearing the big red buttons with the bright yellow letters saying it all…AWE!
Karen is a lifetime member of St. Margaret’s, serving on the Vestry, the Search Committee and is a Sunday School teacher. For information on AWE, see anglicanwomensempowerment.org.
By Emily Lorraine Hoenscheid, St. Margaret’s Church Plainview
When my forty-three year old mother called me over from the computer last November, she informed me about a meeting at the United Nations called “The Commission on the Status of Women”. Women’s rights have always been interesting to me. At first, I thought about how intense the commission would be, and didn’t want to go. I knew that turning down her offer would make her upset, so I replied, “yeah… sure” and trotted back to Facebook thinking that it would be like everything else my mom says, “Boy, I really need to get those bulbs planted!” (They never got planted) I thought that it would be another good idea but not followed up upon. To my surprise, she did follow up on it. Realizing that this wasn’t going to go away, I turned down an offer from my best friends, Carol and Maddy to hang out, and humored my mother up until the second we arrived at Pace University on February 20th. With my heart pounding, I stepped into the Girl’s Orientation to see women and girls from around the world; Girl Scouts (called Girl Guides) from New Zealand, women from India, scholars from Africa, the Costa Rican Salvation Army – you name it. Then, Michelle Bachelet, the ex-president of Chile began to speak about women’s and girl’s issues from around the world. Although it was a lengthy speech, it eased me from feeling like such an outcast in a room full of people (as in men too) who have really lived through women’s issues. We were all the same… people. Although some of us have faced more hardships than others, I still had a say in women’s rights. I am lucky to live in a country where I don’t have to walk 4-6 hours a day to find water, but I can still talk about women’s issues in the world.
When we broke out into small groups, I felt another pang of fear, but once our conversation about women in schools started, I became interested in the subject and felt empowered that I had a voice in the conversation. The first day ended on a high note with a speech from Leymah Gbowee, a woman who stopped warfare in Liberia along with hundreds of other women in her town, dressed in white, and protested against their dictator who was giving guns to 7 year old boys. Eventually, they made a warzone – free world for their town and became the subject of a film called, “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”. Her speech was powerful and humorous. She is one of the most beautiful, intelligent, loving people I have ever met and is like a role model to me now. I was happy that I came, even though I was still frightened for the next two days to come.
On the last days I traveled into the city, I had to again, decline Carol and Maddy’s texts, asking to either hang out or have a sleepover. Carol responded, “not again!” and Maddy said, “ugh! Duuude!” We spent the final two days running back and forth between New York City’s Episcopal Church Center and the United Nations Chapel that celebrated all religions. The religious services were musical and touching with the Bishop Roskam, (who is a woman) surprising me with the fact that the Holy Spirit is, in fact, a woman and should be referred to as “She.” (I’m not making this up, she said it says so in the Bible!)
Then, heavier issues showed their ugly head in the group discussion and I have never felt so spoiled in my life. When it wasn’t a girl being sold into prostitution, it was genital mutilation, or warzones in Liberia. I stood, engaged, with an open mouth of shock, realizing how little I knew about the world outside of Northport, where I live. These were extremely interesting and intriguing topics and I took notess throughout the sessions. My final group talked about women are portrayed in the media. In my school, I take a fashion marketing elective, and we have talked about this subject multiple times. It was my favorite session in my experience at the UNCSW. We talked about shows like Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and Toddlers in Tiaras, about idiot girls who spend their lives either in pageants, fist pumping, or getting pregnant at sixteen. Don’t get me wrong, I like the shows too, but when we watch them, we might not realize how sexualized they are. Now when I watch those shows, I can see how badly they are making women and girls look… and we’re paying them to do it by watching them!
Overall, it was a wonderful experience with my mom and it actually drew us closer. Next year, I am definitely doing this again and I think that more people should too! Girls, don’t be scared to step up like I was. If you’ve got something to contribute to your world, speak up! It has been a great experience! Remember girls, your mom knows best. The whole experience was just like writing this article, I sooo didn’t want to do it, especially on a Friday night when I could be hanging out with my friends, but now, as I am writing the final sentence, I realize it was a good thing to do… and this time, I’m not just humoring my mom!
Emily is a lifetime member of St. Margaret’s, where she serves as an acolyte and is the official parish Easter Bunny!
By Jane Appleyard Roel
Article on UNCSW for The Dominion • April 30, 2010
I borrowed the title of this article from Brother David Steindl-Rast’s book, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer. I read the book during Lent and part of Easter along with members of my parish and it resonates with so much of my life and experience these days. Before I was asked to attend the UN Commission on the Status of Women, last March, as a delegate of the Episcopal Church, I had never considered myself a social or political activist. But the moment I was asked, I recognized that the invitation was itself a surprising gift, privilege and opportunity to explore new things – to learn about the work of the U.N., issues of international justice and especially gender equality – the focus of this annual 12 day conference in New York City. I attended one week of it and the experience has begun to waken me, opening the eyes of my heart to the interconnectedness of us all.
What is the UNCSW?
The U.N Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) takes place every year during the first two weeks of March at the United Nations building in Manhattan. Delegates from member nations around the world flock to New York to attend and present progress reports concerning political, legal and social advances being made on behalf of women in their own country. Additionally, hundreds of involved members of faith communities, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and others travel to New York to educate and report during side events, sharing “best practices” from real experience about the programs in which they are involved. All come to share, learn, connect with passionate peers, advocate for women and girls, and perhaps most importantly, to find strength to continue their work.
What is the Beijing Platform for Action?
In 1995, the United Nations Fourth World Conference met in Beijing, China. The dynamic, dedicated women there established what was consolidated into the Beijing Platform of Action, a set of 12 strategic objectives and areas of concern that are designed to close the gaps between governmental policy and effective results in the actual lives of women in each country. The goal – to achieve absolute equality between men and women by empowering women to have equal human rights. The UN adopted the Beijing Plan for Action and this year, 2010, was a year to review progress made by member states in each of the 12 areas of concern:
1.) Women and Poverty; 2.) Education and training of women; 3.) Women and health; 4.) Violence against women; 5.) Women in armed conflict; 6.) Women and the economy; 7.) Women in power and decision making; 8.) Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; 9.) Human rights and women; 10.) Women and the media; 11.) Women and the environment; 12.) The girl child.
What is our involvement as Episcopalians?
Our Episcopal Church has been involved in the U.N.’s work for women’s equality since its infancy. And our Anglican Communion, representing over 80 million Anglicans in 160 countries, has provided a presence and a voice at the U.N. through its Office of the Anglican Observer since 1991. We are represented at the U.N., in the person of the Anglican Observer who both conveys Anglican concerns to the UN and keeps Anglicans informed about international initiatives. Presently, Ms. Hellen Grace Akwii-Wangusa is the Anglican Observer.
This past March, I had the privilege to attend the UNCSW for the first time, joined by Jeanne Provenzano, wife of our new bishop of Long Island, Bishop Larry Provenzano. We were part of an impressive delegation of almost 90 Episcopal and Anglican women, as well as young women and men, who came from around the world to participate in the numerous events surrounding UNCSW. The day began with joyous worship service at the UN Chapel, with close to 100 women, singing, praying and dancing. We then went to the Episcopal Church Center near the U.N.,where I was surrounded by a kaleidoscope of women of all ages and nationalities, lay and clergy. The world was represented right in that room in the variety of women and gifts exhibited.
What I learned
In many countries, women cannot own land! Therefore, if they experience abuse from their husbands and want to leave, they have no right to any of the money from the home or fields, even though women are primarily the ones cultivating the land.
Death of women from pregnancy and/or childbirth is a huge and largely preventable cause of death for women in the developing world. What I take for granted in the U.S., that I can become pregnant, safely deliver a healthy child, and be back on my feet in a few days is an experience that millions of women do not have. In fact millions face physical consequences of problematic births that result in fistulas, causing them to be ostracized by husbands and villages to live and die alone. (Good news, though – just last week, a new study was released in the medical journal, Lancet, indicating that the maternal mortality rate has dropped significantly in the last 28 years, so there is cause for hope and continued intense efforts to be maintained.)
More than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women.
Women, both Christian and Muslim, together prayed and peacefully demonstrated in Liberia, resulting in an end to a 14-year civil war that had destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure. Because of the non-violent, persuasive power of those women, the warring factions were forced into the peace process, resulting in the removal of President Taylor and his violent, corrupt government. I heard one of the leaders of the women’s movement in Liberia, Leymah Gbowee talk about how critical women are as members of the ongoing security forces in countries such as Liberia where armed conflict remains.
Today, women and girl children are trafficked in the United States (and other developed countries) as well as in developing countries – a form of modern day slavery. They are trafficked for sex, servitude, and even body parts. At one of the day events, an Episcopal layperson witnessed that people were being regularly trafficked regularly in her home state of Texas for transplantable livers and kidneys.
Girls are still being forced into arranged marriages at ages as young as 10 years old! The week I attended the conference, I read an article in the NY Times about a Yemini girl named Nujood who was married at the age of 10 years old to a man in his 30’s, with her parents’ permission. He forced her to leave school, have sex with him, and then he started beating her. She ran away, found a courthouse and judge, and demanded a divorce which she received – before she was 12 years old! There are many stories like this.
Men can and must become partners with women as agents of change against sexual and physical abuse. South Africa has various advertising and educational programs targeted at the men, teaching them alternative ways to see themselves and their relationships, often resulting from being physically, violently abused themselves.
I am changed by all I have learned. It is possible I do not even know how deeply this experience has altered my understanding of our global interconnectedness and interdependence. I now have a choice to continue actively engaging in conversations and activities that promote changes in myself, and perhaps others too. I can answer, “Yes” to the invitation to belong to a global community. You can be too if you choose to learn more and open yourself to be surprised.
Below are just a few suggestions:
Read the book, Half the Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn, Pulitzer Prize Winners, which tells the inspiring stories of different women who have risen above horrible conditions, becoming empowered and productive in spite of daunting odds against them. Or look for Nicholas Kristof’s OpEd pieces that appear weekly in the New York Times.
Watch the DVD “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”, which tells the story of the Liberian women who forced the end of the long, violent war in Liberia through peaceful civil disobedience.
Consider joining a Beijing Circle on Long Island with other women who want to explore the spiritual elements through examination of the 12 areas of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Become a fan on Facebook of or donate to any of the numerous organizations that support women’s rights. Examples include: CARE, Women for Women Intl., Girls Educational and Mentoring Services’ (GEMS), Afghan Institute of Learning.
Mentor a young woman to attend the UNCSW in March, 2011. The focus will be on the Girl Child and it would be great to have a few mother/daughter teams from the Diocese of Long Island.
Email me with questions at jane.roel – at sign – gmail.com
As Br. David Steindl-Rast says in the final chapter of his book, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer, “ ‘Thou shalt love’ is a command that calls for three steps: first, saying “yes” to belonging; next, to look and see what our ‘yes’ implies; finally, to act upon that ‘yes.’ One step leads to the next. If we have said the first ‘yes’ with full conviction, we will surely care enough about those to whom we belong to inform ourselves about them. This includes exploited brothers and sisters at home and abroad…. And little as it may be, there is always something I can do.”
View the UNCSW 2010 Neighborhood Guide to find meeting spots near you.
