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In preparation for the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, as people of faith it is important to take some time and space to ourselves and reflect. This year’s theme — “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS” — encourages us to look to our own daily lives for the most basic examples of how labor is divided between men and women. Who decides how such decisions are made? How much flexibility is present in the sharing of responsibilities? Who carries a heavier burden, and what kinds of tasks are allotted to which people?
As members of a religious community, the second part of this theme must give us pause. It is the faith-based community who, in the past, helped in perpetuating a negative stigma of people living with HIV and AIDS. Our role in this negative stereotyping requires repentence, characterized by a prounounced humility and tremendous courage in naming our wrongdoing. It is our role, before acting out in advocacy, to ask forgiveness of those whom we have wronged.
We can follow the example set by ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson, who spoke this past summer at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Watch him speak and act in this video to help envision how we ourselves might repent as religious leaders.
Nine extremely talented young adult women ranging in age from 19 to 26 will participate in the UNCSW from Feb 27 to March 6 through a joint effort within the Episcopal Church’s Mission Leadership Center of the Women’s and Young Adult Leadership areas. The group is diverse in their cultural backgrounds and education, but all have had opportunities to take leadership roles in the church and in other NGO’s.
The most defining characteristic, however, is their passion for human rights for women.
“In my ministry with some of the brightest young adults in our country, I am struck not just by their intelligence, but by their passion to contribute something positive to the world. At the same time, they are not naïve about the challenges we face. This is, after all, the generation that came of age on 9/11 and has always known about global warming. To involve these young women at a level that engages both the church and the political realm seems to me to be a marvelous way to connect them with structures through which they can channel their passion for justice,” says the Rev. Stacy Alan, Chaplain, Brent House, The Episcopal Center at the University of Chicago.
The members of the group are: Areeta Bridgemohan, Allison Adair, Catherine Healy, Laura Eberly, Karen Longenecker, Amy Porterfield, Kate Lemler, Andrea de la Torre, and J. Kiku Langford. Read the rest of this entry »
Parallel events for CSW53 have been announced! You can view the calendar at the NGO Committee on the Status of Women website.
Events sponsored by Ecumenical Women are:
Positive Masculinities: Gender Partnerships for equal sharing of responsibilities
March 3 – 12:00 pm
10th floor, Church Center for the United Nations (CCUN)
HIV/AIDS caregiving, race and gender
March 4 – 2:00 pm
2nd floor, CCUN
Empowering the Girl Child
March 5 – 4:00 pm
10th floor, CCUN
Faith-based Grassroots Experiences in Caregiving & HIV/AIDS
March 10 – 10:00 am
2nd floor, CCUN
