Our Federation, Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI for short!) held its Annual Conference 2023 is at Friends House, Euston Road, London NW1 on 3rd and 4th November 2023. This is very close to Euston Station. Our Federation President at the time was Cathy Cottridge, a member of SI Southend, in our London Anglia Region.
We were expecting to hear from Adam Henson but he had to cancel last minute, His replacement, Monty Halls was given less than a day and he came up trumps.
As a younger man, Monty was a Royal Marine for ten years. He found that when he ran up beaches in training, he was more interested in the natural life found on the beach. On leaving the Marines, Monty trained as a Marine Biologist.
He has two young daughters and with his wife, travelled to the Galapagos Island to film their adventures for a TV series, while developing a conservation project, Generation Sea Change. While the majority of people that Monty worked with used to be men, in recent years he has seen a growth in women scientists. This pleases him no end, especially in view of having two daughters, who are confronted with negative messages about climate change every day. He wants them to grow up knowing that they have an equal share in marine conservation. There is certainly a rise in young women interested in conservation.
Generation Sea Change is now promoting a Blue Box scheme, to encourage coastal communities with conservation. SI Programme Director, Lindsay Green made a suggestion that the Soroptimists could perhaps become a partner in the initiative.
Day two of SIGBI Conference began with an emotional session on Women’s Safety and Violence Against Women and Girls.
Louisa Rolfe OBE, Assistant Commissioner Frontline Policing, Metropolitan Police Service opened the morning with a frank presentation on what is happening to reverse the massive breh of trust following the high-profile crimes against women, perpetrated by serving police officers.
Louisa joined the Police Force 32 years ago, with the same personal drive that the majority of police officers join the service for. Joining in the days where, if as a woman, you refused to answer questions on your marriage or child bearing status, you were branded a “feminist”.
Her ‘day’ job as Assistant Commissioner for Frontline Policing, currently involves policing 32 London boroughs covering all aspects of public protection – safeguarding, rape, human trafficking, to name but a few! This released gasps from the auditorium. However, talking about her national role, Louisa was very clear that she is fully aware that confidence in the Metropolitan Police is far from great, following the recent high-profile cases of officers involved in such horrific crimes, whilst in a position of trust within the community.
Hasina Safi addressed the conference by giving a brief history of what now appears to be the golden era in the Afghan women’s movement. A time when there were women judges and lawyers and policewomen. A time when the Women’s Ministry led the Commission on the Elimination of Violence against Women, a time when there was support for women suffering domestic abuse, and family response units.
During this 20-year period, Afghan women created awareness of violence against women. This began with defining what violence actually was and educating women that the treatment they had become conditioned to was not ‘normal’. Domestic abuse was not normal; being denied access to health care was not normal; being denied access to education was not normal. Women’s voices were heard which led to capacity building, advocacy for women’s rights, and meaningful participation.
Hasina told us that Afghanistan was the first country in the region to sign up for the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and this was supported by an article in their very own Constitution which stated that in the eyes of the law, men and women were equal.
This all disappeared when the Taliban returned to power two years ago. The Women’s Ministry was dissolved, and most professional women were forced underground. Only female doctors and teachers were allowed to continue but even their lives were made difficult.
Divya Arya is a Women’s Affairs Reporter for the BBC World News and award-winning journalist based in Delhi, India. She has been reporting on stories of women for over 15 years. She explores human rights and social justice issues with a gender lens.
Her presentation was entitled “From Fear to Fight Back”. It focused on violence against women and girls in India . She highlighted two cases of gang rape that occurred in Delhi in 2012 and in Manipur in 2023. In December 2012, a brutal gang rape took place in Delhi, India, which shocked the nation and garnered international attention. A 23-year-old paramedical student, often referred to as “Nirbhaya” (meaning “fearless” in Hindi) to protect her identity, was brutally assaulted by six men on a moving bus. The perpetrators not only raped her but also physically and sexually assaulted her. Despite extensive medical treatment, she succumbed to her injuries and passed away on December 29, 2012. This heinous crime sparked massive protests across India, demanding justice for the victim and highlighting the broader issue of gender-based violence. The outrage and public pressure eventually led to a significant overhaul of India’s rape laws and legal procedures, resulting in stricter punishments for sexual offenders. The case served as a catalyst for discussions on women’s safety, gender equality, and the need for societal change to combat sexual violence in India.
In Manipur 2023, a clip went viral showing two women said to be from the Kuki-Zo group walking naked along a street, being jeered and harassed by a mob. The video emerged more than two months after it was filmed due to an internet ban in Manipur since May 3. Protests were planned in several parts of India by rights groups demanding justice and swift investigations into the latest incident to raise questions about the safety of women in India.
We also heard from Tracey Horner, CEO of LenwithCare, part of Care International. A number of Soroptimist Clubs make loans to women via this organisation to provide the funds needed to expand their business. SI Ipswich intend to make a loan to LendwithCare in the very near future.
Ruth Healey has now taken over as SIGBI President for a period of 2 years
Soroptimist International’s Convention as held in Ireland, this time in Dublin, when all 5 of our Federations, (Europe/America/Africa/Asia and SIGBI) get together. The theme was ‘Challenge the Future’. Those attending will have ample opportunities to network and engage with their Soroptimist friends old and new.
Last year our Federation’s Annual Conference was once again in person, this time in Belfast at the ICC. The theme was ‘Climate for Change’. The conference was held in the improved and extended ICC, Belfast. This was the first physical face-to-face conference since Bournemouth 2019. Our own Ipswich Club Secretary, Joyce Boorman,was Conference Chair and together with our Federation’s President, Cathy Cottridge, Southend Club and the Conference Committee put together an excellent programme with superb speakers.