Women’s Equality Efforts Continue in August

I would like to start off this new term with a heartfelt thank you to Sujata Tiwari, the previous Chair of the Gender Based Violence Committee, for her hard work and dedication!

I look forward to working with her and the other committee members to continue providing information and support to everyone who needs it.

In the summertime, when so many people are traveling and so many are still working, there are many stressors that can occur in both situations and other everyday life events. I would like to point out one specific group of people who have more challenges than others when it comes to gender-based violence: women and girls with special needs and disabilities.

I have worked with children and adults with special needs and disabilities since I was 13-years-old, so I am familiar.

As I prepared for this role, I reviewed the UN Women’s Handbook for Coordinating Gender Based Violence in Emergencies which has a lot of important information for all of us to know. For example, page 28 references a report about the number of women and girls with disabilities.

There are many stressors related to living with, caring for, and providing support for people with special needs. Parents, educators, friends, and neighbors are familiar with the accommodations that can and are being made to provide access. However, people who do not have a direct connection with anyone with special needs may not realize the amount of stress their neighbors have.

We all need to learn about the different aspects of the lives of disabled girls and women all over the world who are dealing with inequalities in access to services, access to caregivers, and access to communities.

I encourage everyone reading this article to do the following things:

1. Click on the link and go to the Handbook.
2. Take at least five minutes to review the Table of Contents.
3. Take a moment or two to think about someone you know who may benefit from this information.
4. Share it with them.

There are many challenges ahead, and I hope all of you will join the NFBPWC and UN efforts to help reduce the amount of gender-based violence worldwide, one day at a time. I am hoping that at least one representative from each of our 10 affiliates will join the current members of the committee to work on these challenges. I look forward to working with all of you.

Please join us for the next meeting of the Gender-Based Violence Committee on August 19th at 7:00pm EDT. Please Register via the Events page of the website.

With hope and courage.

Dr. Joanne Carfioli Naylor
Chair Gender-Based Violence
gbv@nfbpwc.org