The Commission on the Status of Women (also called the “CSW”) is the UN’s global policy-making body dedicated to gender equality and the advancement of women. To support the work of the CSW, every year UN Member States gather in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate policies to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment globally. This year, the deliberations at the CSW focused on violence against women and girls. Since we know that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and youth are at particular risk of violence, both within the family and in society at large, and that rates of violence against transgender women have reached truly staggering levels in many regions, it is disappointing to note that the UN could not agree on language to give voice to this oppression that is so often silenced or ignored.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who represents our country at the United Nations, expressed our country’s disappointment at the omission. See her statement here. You can read more about the work of the CSW here: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/
Unbelievable that this continues as is!!