Not just a ‘woman thing’

THE Principal Delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) is calling on Barbadians to understand that gender equality is not a “woman thing”.

“It is a human right,” Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner stressed during the Bureau of Gender Affairs National Advisory Council on Gender and the Institute for Gender and Development Studies “Breakfast Leadership and Advocacy Seminar” held in celebration of Day of Women in the Americas, at the 3Ws Pavilion yesterday.

CIM, of the Organisation of American States (OAS), is the main hemispheric forum that links public policies with the international legal framework on human rights through dialogue among strategic sectors.

“It pertains to both sexes and the education must continue to make this clear on the ground. There is no peace and there is no social justice where there is inequality. And the work of institutions, such as the CIM, is focused on building and maintaining productive and progressive societies throughout the Americas,” she told leaders of women-led NGOs gathered.

Representative of the OAS, Francis McBarnette, expressed that despite all the achievements, there remains a persistent gap between women’s rights on paper and women’s rights in practice.

“This is one of the biggest obstacles of sustainable development, effective democratic governance and human security.”

He said that at the same time, several commentators have noted that the Americas is facing an unprecedented backlash against the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality that has become highly visible and contested in the context of national electoral processes.

“The popularity and eventual election of candidates that have openly declared themselves opposed to ‘gender ideology’, marriage equality, reproductive rights and a host of other issues is the most visible, though certainly not the only manifestation of a well-funded, well-organised anti-gender and anti-rights movement that seeks to stop and to roll back the rights that have been recognised as part of the Inter-American and international legal framework.

“This battle is yours to fight. It is your call to arms,” he signalled. (TL)