Womens' rights have a come a long way, but there's a long way to go

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca



Seventy per cent of the world's poor are women, twice as many women cannot read as men, and though women produce 50 per cent of the world's food, they only own one per cent of the world's land.

These alarming Human Rights Watch statistics quoted by Shirley Sarna, one of three keynote speakers at John Abbot College's Immigrant Women and their contribution to society conference on Monday, served well to demonstrate the tone of the overall event.

"Women are systematically disadvantaged in most places," Sarna, interim director of the education and co-operation department at the Quebec Human Rights Commission, said.

When Sarna asked the audience of just above 30 John Abbott students what human rights issues they think women face, pay equity quickly came up. "A loony to a man is $1, but a loony to a woman is 70 cents," Sarna confirmed.

"I really don't know why (it is still this way)," she told The Chronicle after the presentation, but she said part of it could be due to the fact that only now are women catching up to men on the job market, and the process is slow. However, lack of employment equity can come in other forms than less pay for women, she added. For example, a female medical studies graduate who is just as qualified as her male counterparts can easily find herself relegated to a paediatrician position, she said.

West Island MNA and Quebec's cultural communities and immigration minister, Yolande James, was also present at the conference. She told youth that it was important not to give up their ideals and ambitions to improve the world around them. "Try to see what you can do in your own way," she said, recalling the advice given to her by Quebec's first female MNA, Marie-Claire Kirkland, when she was nervous about running in provincial elections.

"There was no bathroom for her to go to," said James, painting a picture of how difficult it was for Kirkland to be the only woman in that world of men.

James maintained it is important for men and women of all races not to close in on themselves but rather open up to the world.

The Chronicle columnist and member of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, Shaheen Ashraf, who also spoke at the conference, passed a similar message to the audience. On rare occasions, as an immigrant she has felt the sting of discrimination she said, but she advised fellow immigrants to always remain positive in such instances, either by showing a smile or making a friendly comment, which usually gets rid of the original fear that may have caused the discrimination in the first place.

Ashraf said one way of making as much positive change in society as possible is to volunteer to different organizations. "The more you get involved, the more you can affect change," she said, reminiscing how she helped gather food for the poor once by bagging left-over meals at restaurants and buffets and transporting them to the homeless.

The womens' day event was organized by John Abbott College's cultural diversity office.