by Christine Mangale

There was only one session on care giving at the recent International AIDS conference, but I could tell that this was an issue that needs much more attention.

Women and girls comprise nearly 90% of care providers globally especially in rural areas. Women are not just caring for family members, some are trained in home-based care and work in their communities as full-time volunteers because there are no formal health care services available.  And yet, this is rarely recognized and only propels the cycle of poverty. The experts at the session seemed to conclude that this current situation is seen as tolerable since women are the ones going through this.  A question that summed up the session was: “If it was men who are mostly involved in home-based care, wouldn’t a solution already have been found?

The value of time, energy and resources required to perform this unpaid work is rarely recognized. In the African context, this traditional practice is overly exploited, and caregivers that work full time as volunteers to countless patients may only receive a meal for their labor, while just like everyone else, they need money to support their families, especially pay for their children’s school fees. Why can’t some of the billions currently poured towards the AIDS response be targeted towards women who dedicate all their lives taking care of the sick? To care for the sick, girls are dropping out of school and women are suffering in silence. We must advocate for solutions to this care giving crisis, such as community financing systems. This is key to restoring the dignity of these women.

This conference, sponsored by two Ecumenical Women members, the United Methodist Women’s Division and the National Council of Churches will be an opportunity for faith based leaders to explore best practices and new approaches for working together to end human trafficking.  It will be held in New York at the Church Center for the UN from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

Check out the registration form:

information-and-registration-form-_final_

Contribution from Valli Boobal Batchelor, Australia

Recently returned from a simply awesome experience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, I am writing to reflect on dance choreography of a controversial biblical story titled Bathsheba’s Voice which premiered at the 42nd International Choreographers Showcase -a high profile art event.

Valli Batchelor

As the choreographer, I felt that I was able to challenge many minds (especially my own) under the creative and safe zone of artistic expression. A review from the British Theater Guide published that “Valli Boobal Batchelor’s Bathsheba’s Voice uses Australian and Indian dance forms to tell the biblical story of Bathsheba as a metaphor for violence against women. There are arresting moments, such as Bathsheba’s seduction by David which here is portrayed as rape…”

My choreography was inspired by the UN’s White Ribbon pledge “not to commit, condone or remain silent on violence against women and children” and is a dedication to the reclaimed voices of Australian victims of clergy sexual abuse. It explores a biblical story on the sexual violence and subsequent cover up by King David against Bathsheba, his loyal soldier’s wife. It symbolizes the reclaimed voices of violated survivors of gender based violence by spiritual leaders in churches. The choreography draws from traditional dance forms yet allows freedom from the constrictions of techniques to enable the expression of experiences. It consists of intricate steps in varying speeds and rhythmic measures of various counts. The dancers portrayal of emotions are communicated through the slower tempo and high melodic vocals of Rasa [experience] and Bhava [expression] adapted from the south Indian Bharata Natyam classical dance style.

The acts of committing, condoning and/or remaining silent on sexual violence within churches are contemporary issues and should no longer be ignored. Last month, I attended a conference titled “Sexual Abuse in religious context” in University of New South Wales, Sydney. The devastating effects from the pain and hurt from such betrayal of trust is a huge immeasurable cost to Australians and churches worldwide. As a believer of Jesus, I feel it is significant for churches to work together with survivor groups and secular society to lobby decision makers for necessary changes in order to create safer places of worship and healing for vulnerable members of the public who choose to attend churches.

The Division for the Advancement of Women has very recently posted a description of the communications procedure of the Commission on the Status of Women on the website of the Division for the Advancement of Women.   Hopefully, this will make the Commission on the Status of Women a more accessible procedure to use for individuals and organizations that are engaged in advocacy work on women’s human rights and gender equality issues.   The new communication procedure is LINKED HERE.

I originally wrote this post for Idealist in NYC, but thought Ecumenical Women readers might like it as well. Enjoy!

In a country where the larger part of our population is religious, and where our current president believes that social change should come about through religious organizations, Former NYU Professor James Carse’s message might be hard for some to swallow: religion, he argues, has very little to do with belief.

To Carse, religion is all about longevity rather than belief; it’s what unites people over millennia. Additionally, Carse dismisses attempts to find some underlying unity to all religions. This idea, I would say, is fairly unpopular among many religious people, either because they want to avoid being exclusionary or because they want to find a common thread in humanity’s search for meaning. As a current student at Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan, I find Carse’s arguments in this Salon.com article incredibly interesting and compelling.

But I bet a lot of folks would wonder: If we remove the idea of belief from the religion, would we lose our ethics as well? And with them, our propensity to act?

Carse’s answer, I imagine, would be no: most of us are governed by a belief system of our choosing, but that doesn’t mean it must be a belief system solely provided by a particular religion. “You can be religious without being a believer,” says Carse, “And you can be a believer who’s not religious… [in fact,] very passionate believers are often not at all religious.” Meaning, even if we separate religion from systems of belief, people who aren’t religious can (and likely will) still believe in something — whether they read the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, Kierkegaard, or nothing at all. The point is, people operate based on intricate patterns of belief and ethics, whether or not they’re religious.

This means that for some, the motivation to do good in the world might come from the lessons taught by a Rabbi. For others, it comes from the careful observation of the world around them, and a clear internal discernment of right and wrong. As for me, and like many others, I find myself somewhere in between: using both my inner moral compass and seeking out external resources (sometimes including religion) to construct my own system of beliefs and ethics. Hopefully, this will help me act in ways that better the world.

Read Salon’s interview with James Carse

For some of our Ecumenical Women superstars, they’ll remember that the theme of CSW 51 was “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.” Well, when we came across this video at Britt Bravo’s blog Have Fun Do Good, we thought it would be a good time to revisit the topic of the girl child.

The video isn’t perfect: it is a project of the Girl Effect, and aside from being partially funded by the Nike Foundation — whose track record isn’t glowing — we wonder if it isn’t a little too simplistic (what? a cow is really the answer?).  But in a world where pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls aged 15 through 19, and where educated girls and women fosters the education of children… well, we’re willing to get on board.

Just some food for thought.  What do you think?

You are invited to participate in the online discussion on Women and men: equal sharing of responsibilities organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations, which will run from 7 July to 1 August 2008.

To register, please click here.

You are encouraged to register before 3 July 2008.
You will receive an email with your username and password before the start of the online discussion.

The online discussion will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the issue of equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS, and to identify good practices and strategies required to accelerate gender equality in this regard. The discussion is part of the preparatory process for the 53rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2009. It will provide background information for an Expert Group Meeting organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women on this theme.

On June 19, the U.S. used its presidency of the Security Council in June to host a thematic debate on “women, peace and security: sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chaired the debate and read the following presidential statement. Secretary Rice was not the only woman seated around the table, seven others joined her representing their countries, including the Minister of Gender of Liberia, the Baroness of Scotland and the Ambassador of South Africa.

When I, along with the members of the women leaders working group, first began looking at this issue, we realized that in the 60 years of UN peacekeeping, only seven women had held the post of Special Representative to the Secretary General. You immediately took the lead in helping to address that, Mr. Secretary General. And today, Margrethe Loi of Denmark is now the Special Representative in Liberia. We applaud you for your commitment and we look forward to working with you on this critical issue.

I also want to commend all of you here today, my fellow Council members, and I want to thank a number who have traveled from very far to show their dedication to this important issue of ending the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence as instruments of warfare. Rape is a crime that can never be condoned, yet women and girls in conflict situations around the world have been subjected to widespread and deliberate acts of sexual violence. As many of you know, for years, there’s been a debate about whether or not sexual violence against women is a security issue for this forum to address.

The US is expected to introduce a new resolution that builds on the achievements of resolution 1325, focusing on sexual violence. Some speculate that this resolution was inspired by the new documentary, “The Greatest Silence” about rape in the Congo by HBO. The U.S. hosted a showing of the documentary at the UN earlier in the month.

Read an updated overview of the implementation of 1325 by the council, written by Security Council Report.

As a precursor to this debate, on May 15, 2008, the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight held a hearing, “U.N. Security Resolution 1325: Recognizing Women’s Vital Roles in Achieving Peace and Security.” The purpose of the hearing was to inform the House’s debate on House Resolution 146, which calls for US compliance to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and highlights women’s contributions to peace building and security. Read some of the hearing testimony.

Reverend Ann Tiemeyer, the NCC’s representative in Ecumenical Women, has been targeted for her outstanding service and passion this month at faithandfeminism.org. Giving us special insight into how her own faith guides her social activism, which women have been influential in her life, and what issues are important to her and why, Tiemeyer is eloquent and passionate in a way that makes Ecumenical Women proud:

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Woman extraordinaire, experienced community organizer and Lutheran pastor, the Reverend Ann Tiemeyer is Program Director for Women’s Ministry at the National Council of Churches, USA.

Congratulations, Ann!

Some of you might remember Leymah Gbowee from Liberia, Director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa, talking about the protest for peace in Liberia at CSW 52. Christian and Muslim women were tired of seeing their husbands and sons killed in a devastating civil war and therefore went out on the streets for sit-ins and other kinds of peaceful protest. The film “Pray the davil back to hell” featuring Leymah Gbowee and her protest movement was recently awarded “Best New Narrative Filmmaker Award” at the Tribeca film festival. So far the documentary is not yet available on DVD, but the trailer can be seen on the website.