Kaitaia women speak in the Big Apple

LAST month I had the privilege of attending the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) in New York with two Far North women who were presenting at the event, and a documentary-maker based in Whangarei.

Ciaran Torrington and Teri Stout both presented at an event speaking on sexual harm, and Alison Davie was along to capture film footage to include in a documentary about Ciaran’s life.

Both Ciaran and Teri do great work for sexual harm survivors in the Far North, and their presentation in New York was both professional and heartfelt.

CSW is organised annually under the umbrella of UN Women, a programme funded by the UN General Assembly. Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) are invited from the UN member states to report on the status of women in their countries. The aim is that these NGOs influence the UN’s agenda on what work still needs to be done with regards to women’s and girls’ rights.

This year’s focus or theme was rural women and girls and the issues they face, such as lack of education, sanitation and information technology. In some rural areas, for example, where education and information technology are not readily available, patriarchal systems are entrenched, resulting in the denial of the basic human rights of women.

I was fortunate to have conversations with and be part of the audience listening to passionate, strong advocates for women from all over the world. But what stood out most for me were the New Zealand women.

I was amazed especially by the calibre of the young Kiwi women I met who are out there on the world stage, doing their part to make the world a fairer place for women in New Zealand.

On that note I had a chance meeting with a teacher from Colorado, who takes six girls from her school to CSW every year. On informing her that we were from New Zealand, she became excited, wanting to know what it is about New Zealand culture that we have had women Prime Ministers and were the first country in the world to give women the vote.

The question really got me thinking. Is it the combination of pioneering women who came here, together with the strong Maori women who were already here? Are our men generally more progressive in their understanding of women as capable, contributing members of society?

I don’t know, but it made me proud to be from a small country that leads the way for other countries, such as the US, which are more advanced than us in other areas.

The whole trip was a great experience in so many aspects, some very surprising.

Thank you to the directors of PKF Francis Aickin Ltd for the generous donation towards the trip and for supporting my personal development. And a really big thank you to Ciaran and Teri for inviting me to be part of their team and for a trip I will never forget.