Join us on September 23rd for the Fourth Annual Rosemary Brown Memorial Award

Annual Rosemary Brown Memorial Conference – Sexual Assault: Support, Prevention, Education

On September 10th, 2016, UNA-Vancouver, the SFU Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, and the Rosemary Brown Award for Women Committee will host the 3rd Annual Rosemary Brown Memorial Conference at SFU Harbour Centre. This year’s theme is Dialogue on Campus – Sexual Assault: Support, Prevention, Education.

This free half-day conference will feature speakers from SFU and the Vancouver community in order to foster a much-needed discussion about sexual assault both on university campuses and in the broader urban context.  Speakers include:

• Kaayla Ashlie, SFU Alumni working towards a campus-based Sexual Assault Support and Prevention Centre
• Sheryl Thompson & Treena Chambers, SFUA students representing Aboriginal perspectives and concerns
• Rebecca Longmead & Lisa Ogilvie, SFU Health and Counselling
• Arian Barer, Women Against Violence Against Women
• Stacey Forrester, Hollaback! Vancouver
• Julie Glazier, SFU Security and Police Liasison
• Wendy van Tongerin, former BC crown prosecutor
• Tracey Porteous & Kate Rossiter, Ending Violence Association of BC

The Annual Rosemary Brown Award for Women will also be awarded to Dawn Black, former Assistant Deputy Speaker of BC Legislation, during the conference. Black was successful in establishing December 6th as a National Remembrance Day and Action Against Violence Against Women in Canada following the massacre of fourteen women students in a Montreal campus for simply being Engineering students.

The Rosemary Brown Award for women recognizes a BC woman or BC based organization that promotes the values and ideals Brown championed during her life. These values and ideals are reflected by demonstrating exceptional qualities or achievements in one of the selected areas: children’s rights, women in the labour movement, women’s equality issues, human rights, political activism, women in politics, social justice, community development and/or international development.

Welcome remarks start at 9am in room 1700 at Harbour Centre.

 

2nd Annual Rosemary Brown Conference

Please join us on September 19th at SFU Harbour Centre to remember and celebrate the legacy of human rights activist, Rosemary Brown. This year’s theme is Confronting Gender Violence.

Speakers will include:

• Ariana Barer & Irene Tsepnopolous-Elhaimer (Women Against Violence Against Women)
• Daphne Bramham (Vancouver Sun)
• Claire Robson (Queer Imaging & Riting Kollective for Elders)
• Margaret Jackson (FREDA Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children)
• Leah Horlick (SFU Women’s Centre)
• And a performance by, Youth for Change

No reservation is necessary.

To download the event PDF for distribution: 15-GSWS-0337 Rosemary Brown conferenceVfinal_lr

Rosemary Brown Conference, Pt II

A Feminist Perspective on Human Rights: Cont’d

Last week’s post highlighted the key themes of the first portion of the Rosemary Brown Annual Memorial Conference, hosted in September at Simon Fraser University. The panel emphasized that women’s rights must also recognize the vulnerability of migrant workers, seniors, the environment and the inequalities which persist within Canada’s legal system. This post will consider the second panel of the conference, which discussed issues of elderly care, violence against women, social housing, and LGBTQ rights.

Elsie Dean
Women Elders In Act (WE*ACT Society) http://www.weact.vcn.bc.ca/

“We need a paradigm shift,” Elsie tells the hundred or so attendees at the Rosemary Brown Annual Memorial Conference. Speaking from a time long before much of the audience, Elsie reminds us of the advances that the feminist agenda has made for us today. An important contribution that feminists can make in the modern world, she asserts, is to apply its perspective to the environmental movement. Elsie exhibits that feminist approaches ought not be limited to the classroom; they should become a regular part of our conversation.

Beyond women’s rights and the environment, Elsie’s passion and activism also concerns senior citizens: “We need the government to put training the elderly into the budget” she says. Like Marcy Cohen (one of the first panel speakers) Dean’s emphasis on elderly care demonstrates the lack of social support in this area. Assistance should include technical training; many elders face issues of communication and access to information due to a lack of technological understanding, which may impede their ability to keep in touch with loved ones and friends.

Hearing Elsie, a woman who has watched the waves of feminism unravel over the years, one cannot help but feel inspired by the potential for change that this women has lboth ived and demonstrated.

Cecily Nicholson
No One is Illegal https://noii-van.resist.ca/ and Social Housing Alliance of BC http://www.socialhousingbc.com/

Nicholson spoke from an anti-capital, anti-colonial framework. Her passion and knowledge were exemplified in her poetry-like dialect, covering several themes in a continuous stream of paradoxes and truths. She asks, how do we defend ourselves? The discourse of rights exists but who has the capacity to speak? “It is the most affected who need to speak,” she asserts, “but they are the marginalized…the intercity, is not a separate body…the imprisoned are all one community.”

Carol Martin
Victim Services Worker Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre http://dewc.ca/

“We have to ask, the who, where, how and when, when we think about violence against women,” it is Aboriginal women, Martin emphasizes. In her moving speech, Martin exposed the truths of racism that continues to perpetuate itself within Canadian society. Specifically, she refers to the Public Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women, in which she argued only thickened the label against indigenous women, “the code of silence became deeper.” Violence against women in Canada continues to disproportionally affect Aboriginal women, and Martin’s speech acutely demonstrated this reality.

Shawnee Gaffney
Queer Youth Activist https://www.policyalternatives.ca/offices/bc/power-of-youth

“How can we get to the adults?” Shaunee asked the audience. A former homeless LGBTQ youth, Shaunee has both experienced the hardships of life on the street as a young adult, while also managing to utilize her experiences to help youth facing the same circumstances as she did not long ago. 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ. Gaffney claims that this is largely due to in acceptance by family, the main support network for young people. Amongst the winners of the Power of Youth Leadership Award, celebrating “young progressive leaders in BC,” Shawnee has been recognized widely in Surrey and across Vancouver for her work speaking at high schools and organizing youth clubs to support LGBTQ youth.

As we have seen, a feminist perspective of human rights reveals the multifaceted and overlapping issues that women face, including: Equal representation under the law, access to social services, environmental protection, labour protection, and many more. The speakers at the Rosemary Brown Annual Memorial Conference not only shed light on these matters, but most importantly, proved the potential of those who continually fight for greater justice and equality.

Please e-mail us at unacvancouver@gmail.com if you are interested in donating to the Rosemary Brown Bursary Fund.

Inequality and Rights: A Feminist Perspective

Part I of II

“We can supply a beautiful life for everyone, that is possible” – Elsie Dean

In honour of Rosemary Brown, the SFU Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and the Rosemary Brown Award Committee hosted a conference last weekend titled, “Inequality and Rights: A Feminist Perspective.”

The half day event consisted of two panels of women, whose discussion topics included; Aboriginal, LGBTQ and migrant workers rights (to name a few). Speakers included activists, a lawyer, professor, and social workers, amongst other notable professions and interest groups.

The celebration of Rosemary Brown was attended by her friends, family, fellow co-workers and students interested in women’s rights and social justice. It was an inspiring day, reminding all attendees of the importance of activism, perseverance, and solidarity.

Rosemary Brown’s (1903-2003) lists of accomplishments are extraordinary, which include: the first black woman to be elected to the Canadian legislature, working as a professor with the Women Studies Department at Simon Fraser University and serving as Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Below are highlights from the presenters at the conference:

Margot Young, Faculty of Law UBC

Young commenced her presentation with a quote from Rosemary Brown, “Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it,” which can be found engraved at the UBC campus. Young’s speech argued that the Canadian courts have failed the most marginalized; especially those with multiple identities. Her talked asked, “who has a voice in Canada’s legal system?”

Young argued that the state’s understanding of the neoliberal individual assumes that everyone is sturdy and self reliant. Accordingly, the government has a reduced role in the social services of the state. Young’s presentation suggested that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been especially unsatisfactory in ensuring rights under section 7, and section 15 and that there remains a gap between the “liberal promise of equality and liberty” (See footnote). Importantly, Young encouraged attendees to remain critical, and especially, to be aware of the disadvantages faced by minorities in Canada, who continue to face various levels oppression due to the incapacities of the legal system to recognize the disadvantages that they still face.

Habibia Zaman, GSWS, SFU

Zaman’s presentation emphasized the racialized aspects of poverty and job security. For instance, 22% of racialized persons live below the poverty line (in comparison to 9% non-racialized). In Canada’s current economy, there is a lack of work security for racialized migrants. Work is often short, temporary and precarious. Instead of addressing work place concerns, migrant workers (often women), regularly resorting to “job hopping”. Habibia’s present was especially compelling in highlighting what Young first introduced, the disadvantages faced by individuals with multiple identities (women, immigrants, and workers).

Marcy Cohen, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives BC

Cohen’s presentation emphasized that support for seniors ought to focus on social, not purely medical support. Her presentation explained that many of today’s seniors suffer from loneliness, which often results in biomedical implications (as seen in the “Failure to Thrive” diagnosis – which is manifested in decreased appetite, poor nutrition, depression, dehydration, etc), sometimes resulting in mortality). The most vulnerable and at risk seniors are single women who live alone. In Vancouver, 3/5 of these women live on less than $25,000 a year. In 2006, they spent 50% of their income on accommodation. Due to decrease in social services, the charitable sector has stepped in to help fulfil the increasing need for senior home support. However, as Mary emphasizes – “We (seniors) aren’t charity.” The reluctance of the governmental to ensure the most basic human rights for our seniors is a critical human rights issue that Mary and other advocates for seniors rights are continually pressing for.

Saylesh Wesley, GSWS PHD Candidate, SFU, and Chilliwack Field Centre Coordinator NTEP, UBC

In her personal account of the colonial effects of assimilation on the “two spirited” aboriginal identity, Wesley described the “gendercide” that her culture has faced since European colonial rule. “Gendercide,” refers to the elimination of the third gender role that had characterized many aboriginal identities throughout history. In her narrative, outlining the quest to reclaim this title for her people and to gain acceptance from her grandmother, Saylesh highlighted the transphobia that dominates Canadian society as remnants from the Catholic Church and the Residential School System. Saylesh’s personal story emphasized not the pitfalls, but the success’ of her journey, advocating for a decolonization process in our understanding of the two-spirited person in contemporary aboriginal discourse.

Part II of the conference, will follow later this week.

Section 7. Life, liberty and security of person
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

Section 15. Equality before and under law and equal protection and benefit of law
Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
Affirmative action programs
(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability. (84)