Anglican girls seek empowerment through radio
Episcopal News Service. March 2, 2007 [030207-02]
K. Jeanne Person, Associate rector at Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City
Five Anglican women and girl delegates to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), currently meeting in New York City, took time from their busy schedules on the morning of March 2 to be interviewed on an internet radio program reaching two million listeners. Their hope was both to spread the word about what the delegates are achieving and to experience, for themselves, the power of the media.
"I've never been on the radio before," said 15-year-old Deepti Steffi, representing the Church of North India. "I am here to tell the stories of girls from my country who, because they do not have educations, do not speak out for themselves."
The Anglican women and girl delegates are the largest non-governmental representation at this year's meeting of the UNCSW, whose stated mission is to create policies for member nations that will "eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child."
The gathering has brought thousands of women and girl delegates from around the world to the United Nations' headquarters, where they are addressing girls' issues such as inadequate education, early marriage, and the effects of poverty on girls. Delegates are attending plenary sessions, sponsoring programs about girls' issues, and speaking out about their own experiences of discrimination and violence.
For the first time in the history of UNCSW, the United Nations is welcoming girl delegates younger than 18. The Anglican Communion is sponsoring 10 girl delegates from Australia, Burundi, Hong Kong, Kenya, North India, and the United States.
Virginia Reed, whose internet radio program, "A Woman's Perspective," addresses contemporary issues, welcomed the five Anglican delegates to her broadcast studio on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and, in a hour-long program, asked them about the experiences of women and girls in their countries.
Lisbeth Barahona, a returning Anglican woman delegate from El Salvador, also had never been on the radio before. A chemical engineer, she spoke of the obstacles facing women in her field in finding jobs. "It's difficult," she said. "Some jobs are reserved for men. Or they tell you that a job is not safe for women." Barahona is especially committed to her work as a delegate on behalf of girls, she said, because "they are our future."
The other delegates interviewed were Chan Nga Ki, a girl delegate from Hong Kong, and Beth Adamson and K. Jeanne Person, women delegates from the United States who are leaders of Anglican Women's Empowerment (AWE), an international grassroots movement founded in 2003 to promote gender equality and to use the power of women to promote a humane agenda worldwide.
After the program concluded, Reed spent some personal time with the delegates, encouraging them to use their experience of being on the radio as a starting point for future media work. People will view them as more powerful, Reed said, when they are on the radio or appear in other media. "It really does lift you into a different perspective for others."
The episode of A Woman's Perspective featuring the Anglican delegates will be available as an archived webcast early next week on the Progressive Radio Network.