PANELIST: UN Commission on the Status of Women

Tuesday, March 13 at 8:30 am, Armenian Center

The Commission works to Address Violence against Rural and Indigenous women-Challenges and Strategies. The panel discussed the prevalence of Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking of rural and Indigenous women, identify lifestyle, religious, and cultural framework considerations, describe the panel members’ “lessons learned” in overcoming these access challenges, and explore changes needed to improve future response. Panelists will include educators, service providers and survivors.

Rural and Indigenous women face specific challenges in accessing services when they’ve experienced sexual violence, domestic violence, or human trafficking. For many rural and Indigenous women, lack of access goes far beyond location restrictions. When services are provided, it is often done with little understanding of the inter-generational distrust of institutionalized systems, as well as lifestyle, religious, and cultural frameworks that impact acceptance of services. 

The goal for the attendees is to 1) Recognize the unique challenges facing rural and Indigenous women when they experience violence; 2) learn strategies to address these challenges in trauma-informed, culturally sensitive ways in order to best serve victim/survivors of violence.

The International Public Policy Institute is committed to stopping violence against women in the form of Human Trafficking, especially sex trafficking. We have worked on policy development at many levels and venues. IPPI members provide education about human trafficking and promote Human Trafficking prevention programs. IPPI has participated in CSW and provided parallel events at CSW for many years.

Panelists:
Shelia Swasson, B.A., Dorthy Stucky Halley, L.M.S.W., Sharon Sullivan, Ph.D. , Leona Stucky Abbott, Ph.D.