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SU International Students Share Stories of Struggle Toward Women's Rights at Home

Scott Willis
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WAER News

They're from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and  Macedonia.  Also, Germany, Ethiopia, and Guatemala.  Even Bolivia, South Korea and here in the U.S.  

  Nine student panelists from around the world spoke Wednesday at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School in commemoration of 20th anniversary of the United Nations Fourth  world conference on women. The panelists shared their personal stories of injustices faced as women in their own countries.

The original conference produced the Beijing declaration for women and a platform for action which helped advance women’s rights.Professor of public administration and international relations at Syracuse University Catherine Bertini was one of the speakers at that U.N. conference on women in 1995.  

 

 Bertini says social media and technology have made it easier to educate and spread information about gender equality.

 “Cellphones in particular are a huge boom for the process of educating, not just in basic education, but information needed in order to improve their livelihoods. They are also really important to share information”

 

Credit http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/ / United Nations
/
United Nations
United Nations 4th world conference on women was held in 1995

Bertini says there has been great progress on women’s health issues and education, but those are just stepping stones in the larger effort toward equality. She says there is still more that needs to be done especially in concern with violence against women.

Some of the student panelists were reluctant to tell their stories to the media or have their information published in this story for fear they could face retribution from their government.  One of the panelists remarked that going back to her home country will most likely make her a target for the growing human trafficking problem there,  but will not stop her from doing so.  “If no one does anything then the situation will stay the same. As people say, ‘when if not today, who if not me?’ I have to try at least.”

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.