UN Commission on the Status of Women March 2017 Focus Area on the Empowerment of Indigenous Women
As called for in the UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Outcome Document, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) has designated the Empowerment of Indigenous Women as the Focus Area for this year’s 61st Session. In support of this important UN discussion, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, Indian Law Resource Center, National Congress of American Indians, and National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center will again join in sponsoring a panel discussion to examine various legal and policy barriers that contribute to the extreme rates of violence against indigenous women, particularly in the United States, and shared challenges facing indigenous women along common national borders.
“The event will identify reforms states must undertake to empower indigenous women and discuss how the international human rights system can also be used to advance the work to end this violence and contribute to the empowerment of Indigenous women,” said Jana Walker, Staff Attorney, ILRC. “We will hold this event to provide an opportunity for interactive dialogue on these issues on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.”
For the past several years, the Indian Law Resource Center, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, National Congress of American Indians, and other organizations have been participating in sessions of the UN CSW held annually at UN Headquarters in New York City. Our work at the Commission offers an important opportunity to urge the United Nations to act now to end violence against Indigenous women and to meet directly with UN member states, UN officials, and other advocates from around the world on addressing this human rights crisis.
In March 2014, a delegation of representatives from the Indian Law Resource Center, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women, including Lynn Hootch, tribal councilwoman at Emmonak Village Alaska, and Joann Horn, director of the Emmonak Women’s shelter, participated in the 58th session of the Commission to raise awareness about violence against indigenous women in the United States, with particular attention to Alaska Native women. The delegation met briefly with representatives of states, the European Union, and Rashida Manjoo, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. We presented an oral joint statement to the Commission, urging states to adopt recommendations for combating violence against indigenous women at the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples and highlighting the Millennium Development Goals’ failure to address violence against women and girls. The Commission’s agreed conclusions referenced these issues raised by the delegation’s advocacy.
On March 22, 2016, during the Commission’s 60th session, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, the Indian Law Resource Center, the National Congress of American Indians, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and the Native Women’s Association
of Canada co-sponsored Together We Are Stronger: Indigenous Women’s Movements to End Violence Against American Indian, Alaska Native, and Aboriginal Women. With a full house attending, this event recognized, strengthened, and honored the growing global movement to end the human rights crisis of violence against indigenous women and girls. The delegation also met with representatives of UN member states, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as the European Union and key UN officials to discuss the extreme rates of violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women in the United States and to find out more about how to use the UN system to respond to the problems indigenous women here face.
Important Links to Commission on Status Women 61 Preparation Materials
Link to the CSW61 website with the posting of the Organization of Work:
www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw61-2017/official-meetings
Link to the PDF of CSW61 Organization of Work:
http://www2.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/ sections/csw/61/meetings/csw61%20organization%20of%20work.pdf?v=1&d=20161214T193440
Link to the Indian Law Resource Center for additional information on advocacy for Indigenous women internationally:
