Women rights, gender discussed in Istanbul

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

More than 2,000 women from 140 different countries gathered in Istanbul yesterday to discuss women’s rights in economic development.

“[The problem women face] is not that we are marginalized, but rather that we are included, but always at the bottom. There is no economic empowerment for women without respect for our bodily integrity,” said Gita Sen, a professor from Harvard University, at the opening session of the four-day long Transforming Economic Power to Advance Women’s Rights and Justice Forum.

“We firstly need to humanize development. Economics is not rocket science. We need to learn it for our own development and benefits. Economic justice cannot be pitted against gender justice,” Sen said.

Executive Director of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) Lydia Alpizar Duran said the aim of the forum was to explore how economic power impacted women and the planet.

“We are here to facilitate connections among the very diverse groups working on these issues from both human rights and justice approaches so that together we contribute to stronger, more effective strategies to advance women’s rights and justice”, said Duran.

The forum was attended by prominent figures, such as Deputy Coordinator of the United Nations Program (UNDP) and former Vice-President of Costa Rica Rebeca Grynspan, former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women Yakın Ertuk and leading filmmaker and producer Abigail Disney.

AWID is an international, feminist organization committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights. Comprised of a dynamic network of women and men from around the world, AWID has 3,000 members hailing from more than 130 countries. One third of AWID members are young women under the age of 30.

The 12 annual AWID International Forum continues until April 22 at the Halic Congress Center.