I went in my capacity as steering group member of the Women Policy Forum at W.A.I.T.S (Women Acting In Todays Society) to the Women’s Resource Centre and Equality and Human Rights Commission launch of reportNot Just Bread but Roses Too: Funding to the Women’s Voluntary and Community Sector in England. at Westminster. There were four of us from the group but Anita Shervington and I represented WAITS.
Well, I was quite late because I couldn’t figure out how to get into the building and the man at the end of the buzzer gave me wrong instructions but in the end I got on the the platform lift which was hidden under the steps at One Great George Street. It was obviously designed so that it was in keeping with the front of the building architecture but not designate wheelchair users to some back entrance. I missed quite a bit of the speeches.
retreating stairs which transforms into platform lift
platform lift
After that launch on my way to my hotel I bumped into some of the delegates from Northern Ireland on the way to dinner in Chinatown, they wanted me to join them and I took them to the Wong Kei as the nearest accessible restaurant (we were on Wardour Street). I feel a bit guilty because they could have gone to a swankier restaurant which might not have been accessible but they didn’t seem to mind too much. I hope they didn’t.
late dinner at the Wong Kei
The next day, we were all well occupied with workshops and presentations at the Seizing the opportunities of CEDAW: Developing a women’s sector strategy for 2011. I must confess when I first started I wasn’t too sure what CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) meant but later I saw the cross overs and how similar it was to the Convention on Rights of Disabled Persons (CRDP). I can now see its relevance as a tool for W.A.I.T.S work. I am not convinced that it will affect the day to day running of the work in progress. To wield it as an instrument/weapon, one has to exhaust the legal structure of the originating country. But it can be used to strengthen a case and failure to honour signed protocols can be used to embarrass the government – this is what I understood unless I got it all wrong. I need to study and digest its implications fuller to understand it better. (Links to WRC blog and photos)
I went to this workshop -
Making the European connections
National Alliance of Women’s Organisations
The European Union has led on many international milestones for women (e.g. women in politics), and has a powerful voice on the international stage. NAWO is the coordinating body for the European Women’s Lobby in England. Come to this workshop to find out about current efforts to mainstream gender equality in
Europe, how to monitor the UK government on its implementation of EU directives on women’s equality, and how to lobby MEPs on women’s rights issues.
We didn’t have enough time to give the discussion justice. I think the passion, the energy of the people involved energised and gave me strength. Vivienne Hayes, the Chief Executive, is inspiring in her untiring work for women and the centre and yet she is very down to earth and always have time for people. I’ve met many people who get puffed up by their own importance, or perception of their importance, and are always too busy to say hello but not Vivienne.
To a certain extent, if I digress a bit, I saw where this feeds back to Connect Culture and what I am trying to do with it. Women is very much part of the constituency that I want to work with. I think there are certain concerns that women travelers have which differs from a man – and that includes the need to feel safe and secure from harassment and violence. There are certain things men sometimes take for granted that women have to consider – just on the very basic need for toilets, for example. And this is more so for the disabled woman than the man.
