Horizons magazine is published by Presbyterian Women (PW) the national women’s organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Issue link: http://horizons.epubxp.com/i/521232
May/June 2015 35 A f ter three inspiring, comprehensive orientations, I w as ready to take on CSW. Or as ready as one can be to choose between hundreds of possibilities that speak to one's passions! By the end of the week, I had attended ten parallel events and the Latin American Caucus. Each of these events explored some dimension of women's rights and empowerment. I learned about progress made (and progress still to be made) toward gender equality; gender and advertising; violence against women; the role of faith communities in responding to and stopping violence; the role of men in equality for women; and, what would become my passion from the event, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW was adopted by the United Nations in 1979. It is commonly referred to as an international bill of rights for women. While many UN member nations have ratified it, the United States has not. National legislation for this framework seems unlikely, so advocates for gender equality are lobbying their cities to legislate equality at the local level until a national commitment is made. At the beginning of the week, I knew a few people whom I'd met at other events. By the end of week, I felt connected to more sisters and brothers. The PC(USA) delegation included a number of young women, who are an inspiration to me. One young woman in particular has my heart: my granddaughter, Lisiann Rodriquez. Having my granddaughter as a roommate gave me the opportunity to get closer to her as family, but also to listen to her views and opinions about what we were experiencing. Sometimes we agreed and sometimes we didn't, but we heard and listened to each other. We also walked together at the International Women's Day march. I came home tired but invigorated. Since then, I've been processing the ideas, issues, solutions and recommendations presented during CSW. I feel as if I've seen a whole, new, enormous world that I was missing. Now what? CEDAW really caught my attention as something that I can initiate. I am dreaming big. Can my hometown, San Sebastián, be the first in Puerto Rico to become one of the Cities for CEDAW? Florence Vargas is a member of the Presbyterian Church in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, a former CCT member, Hispanic Latina Presbyterian Women Moderator and this was her first (but hopefully not last) CSW. CSW! Now What? B Y FLORENCE VARGAS Left to right: Lydia Tembro and grandmother–grandaughter team Florence Vargas and Lisiann Rodriguez take their witness for justice to the streets!