#CSW63 Reflections

Saturday 16th March 2019

So this week has been a rollercoaster, even for an experienced activist like me.

This week has given me an opportunity to have conversations with sisters who are fighting the struggle in their own ways.  Many of us feel alone in our struggles but this week has demonstrated that each little action we take in our own little corner of the world, we are all weaving in our part of the tapestry.  This week has helped me re-examine and shape my own feminist lens, but this hasn't been without it's challenges.

This week has been both exhausting and recharging at the same time, inspiring and frustrating in tandem and hope-building and despairing, all in one.

I leave this week feeling frustrated that at times we are still fighting the same issues, I am sad that our girls are still feeling vulnerable and unsafe in the very places they should feel safe and secure. I am disappointed that the same experiences I've had and spoken out in the past about are still being experienced in the present.

On the other hand, I am inspired that the next generation are increasingly not accepting the behaviours of the past, that our young sisters have got voices they refuse to allow to be silenced.  I am hopeful that our voices, united will never be defeated.  I feel recharged meeting sisters of all generations, at multiple levels of activism being in one space sharing the positives of their activism.

I am privileged to be an educator who has the space to help all young people find their voices to take our society in the next century.

We are involved in a struggle against a patriarchal system that has taken centuries to embed. It is a patriarchal system that doesn't even benefit all men, let alone women.  It is based on benefitting those with the resources and for those who don't, then they are also victims of it's success. The issue is that it sells a version of success based on a sense of ambition that is built on the degradation of others. Whether this is based on race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, class, economic status the system is balanced on a hierarchy of haves versus have nots.

This system has mutated into many forms and takes diverse shapes in different communities and countries around the work.  Based on our own intersectional identities, we engage with these systems in different ways, meaning that out fight back adapts to fight it in different ways.

Over the week I have been a part of the Educational International delegation, sitting alongside sister educators from across the world and feeling that we are all on the same page.  I have heard that a lot of the work to educate about gender equality and safe spaces for all, starts in the classroom and we are there to facilitate it.

However teachers (and women teachers) are facing battles in our profession that are trying to push us out.  Women make up about 75% of the workforce yet we are underrepresented in senior leadership roles and curriculum development positions. The longer we stay in teaching, the more 'expensive' we are, so older women teachers are often targeted for capability or are bullied out of the profession.  Our subjects are being classed as 'soft' which means they are expendable from the curriculum and we are being set up to fail through teaching subjects outside of our training.
As women teachers we face pay suppression and lack of promotion opportunities.   We are fighting to stay in the classroom so we can continue to do the vital work that is needed outside of our classrooms.

During #CSW63, one message has stayed with me through out this experience, a half of our population are having their potential restricted and limited. Women and girls inspire the next generation as we are the mothers, aunties, grandmothers who directly influence the lives of babies and children.  We are the teachers, babysitters, educators, coaches for children as women are the majority of the domestic sector, this is undeniable.

Women's rights are Human Rights!

In the words of the Secretary-General of the UN, himself:

"The bottom line is simple: When we exclude women, we all pay the price. When we include women, the world wins. We all win."

This fight is one that we have all got a role to play and we all must continue to add our single threads to the tapestry of a more equal and just society, for all.  Thank you EI and NASUWT for allowing me to strengthen the thread that I am weaving through my own experiences.

#CSW63 Taking Action

Friday 15th March 2019

And so we are coming to the end of our time here at #CSW63 and what better way to bookend a week of empowerment and engagement than standing in solidarity with NY students taking action in the youth strike for climate change.  Students and young people across the world have called for a day of action to demand that our negative impact on our environment is prioritised by those with the power to make change.

For young people who are disenfranchised through the democratic process (not able to vote) and the legal process (age of legal responsibility), the only way they can amplify their voices is often through action. 

Unfortunately this is also the why those with political power undermine the voices of young people.  "Why should we listen to young people who are just shouting?", "These young people need to focus on going to school and learning", "This is not something for children to be involved in"... These are some of the comments that get trotted out anytime young people ask to be taken seriously. So is it any wonder why children start making demands?

As a citizenship teacher, I am proud of the next generation when children and young people find methods of co-ordinating and uniting their voices. Using technology, young people are finding new ways of organising, agitating and taking action. Increasingly, they are no longer waiting to be given permission to get involved.

On Thursday I attended a session called Teaching Consent and I was blown away.  This was a session led by a panel of articulate little sisters who are building their voices in their communities.  No longer being the lone feminist voice in the school (like Kat in 10 Things I Hate About You). These sisters are now united in the knowledge that they are part of a wider community, working together. Sharing ideas, organising and communicating across the US.

The emphasis on peer-peer education shows how when young people are given the tools, they can take the lead in their communities, and organisations like Girls International, The UK Council of Women, GLA and GLI are producing the tools.

We heard about sexually inappropriate behaviour in schools and in communities, our young women are vulnerable in so many spaces and they are expected to build an immunity to it.  Our sisters told us about how campuses are supposed to be safe spaces for everyone but when they aren't? it is the sisters who are using the rules and regulations to force administrations to see the problems for what they are.  They educated us on the importance of policy (especially Title 9s), education and culture when it comes to gender equality.  

Sisters are building a guide to universities based on the level of protection and safety for women and girls on campus, so women can choose a place of education based not just on location or academic reputation, but also on how serious the school takes reports of sexual assault and harassment.

Most importantly, our little sisters are understanding the importance of using language to define and empower.  By using the word 'survivor' instead 'victim' to describe sisters who have experience sexual assault or harassment, we are recognising the strength needed rather than the cowardice of the perpetrator.

The film 'The Hunting Ground' is another clear example of how when the media tells the right stories, it is able to inspire and unite. 

These young women are building their support networks and already understanding that fighting for gender equality and respect is a global campaign, a campaign that needs a multitude of voices and actions.