International Advocacy
After watching the recent telecast Half the Sky Live with 30 of my southern sisters, several questions came to mind. The one that surfaces this morning, more than likely because Iraq just held its challenging elections, is the issue of arranged child marriages. How the elections play out, and whether or not the fate of girls and women in Iraq will change, depends largely on the new president’s stand on Article 14 of the Iraqi Constitution, which allows for girls ages 9 to 14 to be “given away” in marriage.
I had the opportunity to meet the First Secretary of the Mission of Iraq to the United Nations last Wednesday eve at the delegate reception given by S
usan Rice.
He spoke of the elections, but the reception was not the time to speak of the political specifics of global women’s empowerment. He was most interested that women had the right to vote, but the issue of child marriage did not come up.
In the photo: Sherry Ludwig, AAUW CA International Advocacy Director; Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the United Nations
As we saw portrayed so eloquently and powerfully in the film segment of Woineshet by Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone last Thursday eve, the fight against centuries of age old customs in a particular culture can be accomplished even by just one young woman. And what a brave young woman she was at 14 years old and still is now! Do you remember the scene where the young man apologizes to Woineshet’s girlfriend by kissing her feet? It’s a start....
So from child marriage in Iraq to young women in Ethiopia being “taken” as brides after being violently raped to the cultural practice of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) throughout the African nations, women around the world continue to suffer cultural injustices by mere virtue of the fact that they are women. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are doing an amazing job as journalists in spreading the seeds of knowledge and the message that oppression can be turned into opportunity. Similarly, I attended a workshop sponsored by Goldman Sachs last Wednesday as part of the 54th UN Commission on the Status of Women that was titled “From Turbulence to Tolerance”. The panel addressed the issue of change and what needs to be done to bring it about in the United States and in the global community.
I toss the question out to all of you to hear your thoughts, ideas and opinions. How can we mobilize our efforts beyond educating our membership into some concrete actions to advocate for the women of the world? “Women hold up half the sky.” (a Chinese proverb)
Sherry Ludwig
AAUW CA International Advocacy Director
