Speeches and Remarks
OFFICIAL TEXT
January 11, 2012
Remarks by Consul General Jennifer McIntyre at Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai: Conference on Women, Society and Law in the New Millennium
As Prepared Text
Good Morning.
Greetings: Dr. Jyothi Kumaravel and other distinguished colleagues on the dais. It is a pleasure to be at the Ethiraj College for Women, which has played a key role in empowering women with quality education since the time it was established in 1948 by Mr. V.L. Ethiraj, who I am told donated his entire life saving to start this college because he believed that girls should be given every opportunity in life to succeed.
It is great honor for me to participate in this conference on “Women, Society and Law in the New Millennium.” I congratulate the Center for Women’s Studies, Ethiraj College for putting together this wonderful initiative, especially Dr. Jyothi Kumaravel and Dr. V. Kadambari for taking the lead to organize this event that will deliberate on the important issue of women’s rights.
I am particularly pleased with the excellent line up of speakers including Dr. Shoshanna Ehrlich from the University of Massachusetts. I am aware that each of the speakers today has several years of research and work experience in the field of women’s empowerment and they will bring their own perspectives to the discussions later today.
In recent years more and more societies all over the world have begun to recognize the vital contributions of women to commerce, their communities, and civic life. A worldwide trend toward greater equality is clear. Yet, the denial of women's basic human rights is still persistent and widespread.
I would like to talk very briefly about three aspects pertaining to women, society and law.
Worldwide trend towards equality for women
Women’s role in molding peaceful and prosperous societies
How societies still fail to control violence against women and deny them justice.
A few weeks ago three remarkable women – two from Liberia, one from Yemen – accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. It was deeply heartening to see those three women command the global spotlight and urge the international community to adopt an approach to making peace that includes women as full and equal partners.
Most of you here today would agree with me that women are first-rate entrepreneurs, they are first-rate executives, and they are first-rate policymakers. On December 19, 2011, President Obama signed an Executive Order launching the first-ever U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security – a comprehensive roadmap for accelerating and institutionalizing efforts across the United States to advance women’s participation in making and keeping peace. This plan builds on the President’s national security strategy, and it was jointly developed by the Departments of State and Defense, USAID, and others with guidance from the White House.
Secretary Hillary Clinton recently said, “Investing in the potential of the world’s women and girls is one of the surest ways to achieve global economic progress, political stability, and greater prosperity for women—and men—the world over.” As many parts of the world face economic challenges and financial uncertainty, it is more than time to emphasize how critical it is for women to play an increasing role in generating prosperity for our families and future generations.
The World Bank has found that women tend to invest more of their earnings in their families and communities than men do. That in turn makes societies stronger and economies more likely to grow.
Today, in the U.S., women comprise half the workforce. In almost two thirds of families, they are the primary breadwinners or the co-breadwinner. A recent study found that women went from holding 37 percent of all jobs to nearly 48 percent over the past 40 years in the United States. Women own nearly 8 million businesses in the United States, accounting for $1.2 trillion of our GDP.
It is a fact that future job growth in the US will be created primarily by women-owned small businesses and by 2018, women entrepreneurs will create between 5 and 5.5 million new jobs. However, the rate of progress for women in the economies of different countries varies widely. Women confront significant barriers in establishing and growing businesses.
Women have a difficult time getting access to finances, to markets, to training, mentors and networks and technology. In some countries, they lack property, inheritance, and legal rights.
The World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report looks at the equality of women and men in a given country in four areas: access to education, health survivability, political participation, and economic security. Countries where gap is closer to being closed
(and in no country is it closed) or where it has narrowed the disparities between women and men, those countries are more economically competitive and prosperous. In publishing the study over the last several years, the WEF has documented greater progress in access to education and health care than in economic and political participation.
Women’s political participation has been slowly improving internationally. In the last ten years, for example, the rate of participation in Parliaments in different countries has grown from 13% to almost 18%. However, even today, there are fewer than 20 women heads of state or government, and women hold only about 16% of ministerial portfolios.
Let me state this reality another way, women are ½ of the population yet hold 1/5 of the positions in national governments. They are significantly outnumbered in the chambers of parliaments, provincial councils and more often than not missing from the negotiating tables where conflicts are to be resolved. All too often decisions that affect women, their families and societies are made without women having a voice.
When I arrived in India in August 2011, I was happy to hear about a 2003 constitutional amendment that mandated that one third of all seats for Panchayats should go to women. I am happy to learn that today in India, approximately 40% of the elected representatives in the village and municipal councils are women. This success has been described as a silent revolution in Indian democracy.
Women in these positions have started investing more in public services, from clean water to police responsiveness, than their male counterparts had in the past. And there were other benefits. With more women installed as council leaders, more women spoke up in council meetings than ever before. And in a nation where the under-reporting of crimes against women is widespread, more women came forward to file complaints about abuse, because they were more confident that the police would take action.
I am told that in household surveys done in India conducted among both women and men in villages with women leaders, a majority agreed that conditions had improved, and that they believed women made capable leaders. What is happening in India is just one example of what can happen in other countries when more women join the ranks of public servants.
We need to create more opportunities for women in more places. But first, we need to take on the barriers that stand in their way. When women are afforded their rights and given the chance to pursue education, employment, and political participation, they drive social and economic progress. They lift up themselves, their families, communities, and their nations. But to build this future girls must be able to live, learn and earn without fear.
Gender-based violence is a global issue that cuts across borders and impacts all people and societies—regardless of ethnicity, race, socio-economic status, and religion. It can threaten women and girls at any point in their lives—from female feticide before birth to child marriage and so-called “honor” killings. It can take the form of denied access to education, domestic violence, and sexual abuse. One in three women around the world will experience some form of gender-based violence in her lifetime, and in some countries that number is as high as 70 percent.
Gender-based violence cannot be treated solely as a women’s issue. As Secretary Clinton rightly said, “Women’s rights are human rights.” Beyond individual pain and suffering, the violation of these rights has a range of societal effects and no country in the world is immune to these costs. Consider the substantial medical and legal expenses as a result of injury and abuse.
A 1995 study in Canada estimated the annual direct price of violence against women was more than one billion dollars a year in judicial, police, and counseling costs. A 2004 study in the United Kingdom projected the total direct and indirect costs of domestic violence to 23 billion pounds per year. And in the United States, the cost of violence against women exceeds 5.8 billion dollars.
This physical, psychological, and financial damage is passed on to the rest of the society, straining judicial, health, and security resources. Gender-based violence effectively acts as a cancer on societies, causing enormous upheaval that stunts social and economic development. Countries cannot progress when half their populations are marginalized, mistreated, and subjected to discrimination.
In the United States, the Violence Against Women Act has strengthened efforts to investigate and prosecute crimes against women. I am pleased to know that Indian government and members of India’s vibrant civil society—including some members of the audience here today—are implementing innovative strategies to combat gender based discrimination and violence.
I am sure that everyone in this room is aware that the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence” is a global campaign to eliminate violence against women and girls. Every year, the U.S. Consulate, Chennai organizes various awareness programs during this period. This December, the Consulate and the University of Madras organized an event on gender based violence and explored various options available to women from law enforcement authorities and courts to protect themselves in the U.S. and India, particularly in Tamil Nadu.
During the last few months of my stay in Chennai I have come across many women leaders and professionals, especially many from the legal profession, arguing and succeeding in their fight for gender equality and women’s rights.
I will close by repeating a statement by Secretary Hillary Clinton: “Until women around the world are accorded their rights and afforded opportunities to participate fully in the lives of their societies, global progress and prosperity will have its own glass ceiling.”
I wish all the participants of this conference all the best and look forward to learning about the outcome.
Thank you!