Author Archive: soropadmin

The New Goodnight Kiss

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Teen girls are swapping sex for just about anything … the Globe & Mail recently covered a new documentary book and DVD called “Oral Sex, the New Goodnight Kiss”. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“By 14, she was routinely blacking out on drugs, having sex with multiple partners at her house and partying with “Navy guys.” At the start of Grade 9, she was sleeping with a 21-year-old drug dealer and heroin addict. Soon after, she was recruited to trade sex for clothes and drugs. … One prostitution ring saw more than 15 girls aged 12 to 16 from several Edmonton middle and high schools offering their bodies to older men who gambled in a townhouse; another involved 15-year-old high-school girls charging college guys $20 for oral sex in Kelowna, B.C. In Surrey, B.C., pimps recruited 12-year-olds at their local mall.” Read full article »

All of the girls I interviewed who have had sex in exchange for money, drugs or merchandise are nice girls, pretty girls from good neighborhoods – girls who could be your own daughters, nieces, sisters, friends, neighbors.

All of the girls interviewed who have had sex in exchange for money, drugs or merchandise are nice girls, pretty girls from good neighborhoods – girls who could be your own daughters, nieces, sisters, friends, neighbors.

What three of our club members had to say in response:

We need to do more to boost these girls self esteems so that they don’t need the “attention” from this kind of destructive behaviour! I am outraged that society’s standards have sunk to a new all time low at young girls expense!

A local highschool student told me about her friends who are into “sexting” – sending explicit pictures and messages via their cell phones to classmates and friends!! One of her classmates (age 17) actually lost her virginity for tickets to a basketball game.

I find it quite shocking and did not realize this was a trend with young girls in Canada. I am certainly going to share this with my kids out west, especially since I have a granddaughter.

There are three videos of interviews from the documentary (mostly girls living in BC):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y0zofyM8jk&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNn2oNLRCNU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z6g0kTgNxg (warning! this last one uses very graphic language)

What Soroptimist International is doing?

Soroptimist International has joined the ‘Stop the Traffik’ Global Coalition. This is a global movement against the trafficking of people. It has more than 1,000 member organisations in 50 countries & a grass roots following of ordinary activists around the world. The work undertaken by the campaign is directly related to Objective 2 in the Programme Focus 2007-2011: End human trafficking and all forms of violence against women.

In North America, SIA launched it’s first National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness on January 11, 2008. This was done in response to estimates that anywhere up to 27 million people are enslaved in forced or bonded labor, child labor, sexual servitude, and involuntary servitude at any given time. For more information on trafficking, visit their resources page and download their white paper »

URGENT ISSUE IN AFGHANISTAN – Advocacy Needed

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As many of you will already be aware, President Karzai of Afghanistan has signed a new law that is detrimental to the women of Afghanistan and in particular Shiite Muslim Women. The law has not been enforced yet but has been debated in the Afghan Parliament and signed by 249 members including 68 women.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay made a statement condemning the new law on 2 April, saying:

“This is another clear indication that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is getting worse not better. Respect for women’s rights – and human rights in general – is of paramount importance to Afghanistan’s future security and development. This law is a huge step in the wrong direction.”

Soroptimists are appalled at this intended legislation to be introduced in Afghanistan and urge President Karzai to rescind this new legislation with immediate effect. The Rights of Women are to be protected under all circumstances and this law takes away those rights and makes them prisoners and slaves to their husbands and victims of gross violations. UNHCHR details the new restrictions on Shiite women which include denying them the right to leave their homes except for ‘legitimate’ purposes; working or receiving education without their husbands’ express permission, as well as explicitly permitting marital rape.

I encourage every Soroptimist to write to their individual governments requesting that they condemn this new law that is to be introduced into Afghanistan and ask President Karzai to respect the rights of all women in Afghanistan.

Margaret Lobo
President, Soroptimist International

Swarms of angry men shouting epithets and hurling stones confronted hundreds of Afghan women who staged a rare public protest yesterday against a law that allows husbands to demand sex from their wives. Read the full article and statistics from the Globe & Mail »

It used to be a mission to give a future to little girls. Now the government is scrambling to explain why Canadian troops are fighting for an Afghanistan that legalizes rape within marriage. Read the full article from the Globe & Mail »

SI booth at the Ancaster Fairgrounds

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The New Ancaster Fairgrounds held a Community Open House on May 9th, and Soroptimist was there. This event was a great way for us to meet women in the community and share the Soroptimist story.

Located at the corner of Hwy 2 and Trinity Rd in Ancaster, the new grounds are beautiful. The crowds were fair in spite of tremendous winds and thunderstorms and we are excited to have several new guests attend our next meeting: June 4th at the Fortino’s community room in Westdale.

Congratulations to our Award Winners

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SI-DAF handed out over $2,500 in bursaries at our awards dinner last Thursday, held at the Dundas Golf and Curling Club.

The Violet Richardson Award is given to honour young women age 14 -17  engaged in volunteer action within their communities or schools. This year’s award was given to a female student named Elizabeth from Parkside High in Dundas who volunteers with the Junior Civitan Club and answers letters to Santa for the Canada Post. She received $300 plus an additional $200 was donated to the Civitans.

The Women’s Opportunity Award is a grant awarded to female heads of households who need additional skills, training and education to enable them to upgrade their employment status to re-enter the workforce so they can provide adequately for themselves and their families. This is the signature award for Soroptimist International and is awarded in over 125 countries worldwide. This year’s recipient was Edith Kaggwa, a mother of four who has been accepted to the Mo-Mac nursing program.

We were also delighted to have Shirley Eden present the Making a Difference for Women Award to Debra Tigchelaar for her contribution and dedication to Drummond House in Flamborough. Our club provided $750 towards their Gala dance.

We were also delighted to honour three of our club members: Jane Oulton who is a charter member; Nancy Davidson and Shirley McCoy were honoured for their 20 years of service with our club.

NEW THEMES FOR CEDAW!

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CEDAW HAS EXPANDED THEMES FOR ATTENTION IN UN MEMBER STATE REVIEWS

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Two new working groups have been set up by the 42nd and 43rd session of CEDAW. One on the “Rights of Older Women” and the second on the “The Economic Consequences of Divorce”.

This is important because CEDAW is a “Binding Convention” for those UN countries that have ratified the general recommendations of the CEDAW Committee. These two important areas will now also receive attention in the member state reports and the work of CEDAW, whose committee consists of 23 experts on women’s rights from around the world.

For more information, visit Women’s UN Report Program & Network (WUNRN) or the UN Division for the Advancement of Women

Pauline’s Bio

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Pauline was born in London, England and moved to Canada in 2002 with her husband David who is an engineer. They have two children who both live and work locally. Her favourite pastime is eating chocolate. Her biggest fear is flying – she would rather spend three days on a bus or train to get to her destination just to avoid leaving the ground.

Pauline works part time for State Farm Insurance as a licensed representative and she also runs her own business Pauline’s Fine Art. Her artwork is a collection of inspirations, mainly abstract, using all mediums: acrylic, ink, pastels and watercolour. Her work is sold primarily on-line through her website: www.paulinesfineart.com.

Yes there is an Inukshuk in this abstract piece - you just have to study the canvas and I am sure you will find him. Turquoise is the main colour in this piece of acrylic artwork (24x24) which I feel captures the essence of the frozen north.

Yes there is an Inukshuk in this abstract piece - you just have to study the canvas and I am sure you will find him. Turquoise is the main colour in this piece of acrylic artwork (24x24) which I feel captures the essence of the frozen north.

Pauline is currently an SIDAF Board member, she also sits on the Programs committee and the Awards committee. In addition Pauline is a member of The Ancaster Lions.

This piece of acrylic artwork (20x24") was donated to the Soroptimist's as a raffle prize for their "I Love to Rock & Roll" evening. It was a great event and raised a good profit. The subject was inspired by the event.

This piece of acrylic artwork (20x24) was donated to the Soroptimist's as a raffle prize for their "I Love to Rock & Roll" evening. It was a great event and raised a good profit. The subject was inspired by the event.

Since joining Soroptimist Pauline has gained the friendship and support of an amazing group of women whose combined mission is to help improve the lives of women and girls both locally and worldwide, and she feels privileged to be part of that organization.

Pauline’s favourite quote: “have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it” – Salvador Dali

Going

Going

Going

Going

Gone

Gone ... now proudly owned by fellow SI-DAF member, Brooke

FAO Conference in Rome- Its all about Food and Hunger

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An excerpt from Assistant Programme Director Margaret Cook’s report as our SI UN Rep to Rome – Else recently went to Rome for the Annual Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference for FAO. Read more on the Soroptimist Programme Blog »

Sustainable agriculture – learning from women! There was an acknowledgment that women are often the farmers – particularly in the South – and a valuable asset for developing good practice in sustainable agriculture.

I attended COAG (Spanish: Livestock and Farmers Cooperative) with Else Larsen, our UN Representative at FAO. We did a lot of networking – establishing useful links and ensuring that the work of Soroptimists is known well in FAO. The Gender Equity Department was particularly helpful – they were very interested in what we achieve and I know that this contact will help us develop our presence at FAO.

Margaret Cook
SI Assistant Programme Director

FootPRINT Fund Award

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Thanks to Brooke, S.I. DAF was the recipient of the FootPRINT Award yesterday at the Spectator building. We received $500.00 on behalf of the club, to use towards design/printing service costs.

Allegra Print & Imaging gave out 58 awards today, worth a total of $20,000.00 locally and 2 million dollars nationwide. We are thankful for this gift and hope to request this again next year, possibly for a special project. (By the way, my employer only received $250 so I think our proposal was well received Brooke).

Restoring Dignity Update: Cafe Juniper Opens

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Excerpt from the Soroptimist International  Blog »

Our new Juniper Café is soon to be opened near the lake at Desta Mender, and set among many juniper trees! It is near our teaching or conference centre where we hope to attract groups, who want a pleasant place to hold a day conference, and where they can buy food from our café. We are enormously grateful to the Soroptimist International organisation for raising all the money for this café through the 2007 and 2008 President’s Day Appeals, called “Restoring Dignity”. We want to thank the President of the Soroptimists for those 2 years, Margaret Lobo, for choosing the Hospital to be the recipient of this large donation – which also paid for a hard-top vehicle for use at Desta Mender. We hope Ms. Lobo will visit us for some celebrations in May or June and will then be able to unveil a plaque in the café telling of the assistance provided by so many Soroptimist women.

We are sure this will be a great attraction, not only to help us financially, but to make known the plight of so many fistula sufferers in this great country.

Dr E. Catherine Hamlin AC

About Desta Mender: Rural Village for patients who cannot be completely cured

A small number of patients (about 3% of those treated) are so badly damaged in childbirth that they cannot be cured. These patients are fitted with an external bag for their urine. Continuing medical care is essential. Yet despite this affliction, most of the patients are able, and want to do some light work.

In 2000, the Ethiopian Government gave the hospital a parcel of 21 hectares (60 acres) of rural land outside of Addis Ababa for them to build a “self-help” village for these patients. A large dam to provide water for the gardens and livestock, has been built.

A “Design Plan” for the overall development of the site was prepared by an Australian Architect, Mr Ridley Smith. An Ethiopian firm of Architects, Abba Associates from Addis Ababa, has supervised the construction.

The building development of the village has been completed. Patients are moving into occupation. The village will initially provide accommodation for 100 women. There are ten self-contained cottages. Each cottage accommodates ten patients. A supervisor lives on-site and there is adequate staffing.

The residents of the Village are being taught skills in agriculture, farming and craft work.