사용자 삽입 이미지


사용자 삽입 이미지

The convention was held under the theme of “make our hope real with women’s participation” in the auditorium of Ewha Womans University on March 6.

 

It urged women’s participation and the need of the society’s constant concern and support for ‘a gender equality community with a woman’s vote,’ ‘a society where people work and care together,’ and ‘a society without poverty and violence.’

 

The ‘Colorful Free Market’ was held before the convention in front of the auditorium. Participating organizations prepared various booths to publicize their agenda, to increase membership, and to fund raise by selling products of self-support communities.

 

The convention started at 2:00 pm with about 1,000 participants. It was presided over by Actor Kwon Haeyo, public relations ambassador for the Korean Women’s Association United (KWAU), and Ms. Choe Gwanggi, professional master of ceremonies. An opening speech was given by Ms. NamYoon Insoon, KWAU standing representative, and Ms. Park Youngmi, KWAU co-representative. They said, “Let us make a beautiful solidarity by overcoming sarcasm and division, and understanding and embracing each other’s differences with open minds. Let us make our hope real with our participation. We wish to meet you where hope is formed and reality is changed.”

 

After the open speech, there were the congratulatory messages by Lee Hakyeong, co-representative of the Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea and O Iseul, dean of college of social sciences of Duksung Women’s University, the presentation on gender equality hindrance 2010 & the steppingstone award for the gender equality 2010, the announcement performance on ‘the campaign to work and care together,’ the congratulatory show by Singer Heo Dalrim, and reading of the women’s declaration in commemoration of the International Women’s Day.

 

After the ceremony in the auditorium, about 500 activists and members from member organizations held a world women’s parade under the theme of “for the world without poverty and violence.” They marched from Ewha Womans University to Changchon Park in Sinchon. There were three topics for the convention: ‘a gender equality community with a woman’s vote,’ ‘a society where people work and care together,’ and ‘a society without poverty and violence.’ At the parade, members wore purple, yellow, and red clothes, representing the three topics, and publicized our demands.

 

3.8 Women’s Declaration

 

Make our hope real with women’s participation

 

How many people feel happy in our society nowadays? Everyone has a simple hope according to her/his own circumstances. However, the current state of our society hardly allows ordinary people even to take simple hopes because the society is changing like a world where the polarization is getting severe, communities are collapsing, and the winner takes all as the law of the jungle prevails.

 

Raising children well, house ownership for not flitting around, stable jobs, security for the aged, physical fitness, a sensible amount of leisure time, and so on were ordinary people’s wishes. However, today those wishes belong to only special people.

 

What is the life of women in our society? Even though people prefer a girl to a son and say ‘a properly brought-up daughter is worth more than ten sons,’ daughters after their graduation from university are unemployed or get married instead of getting jobs. The term ‘alpha girl’ is applicable to only a small fraction of women. Most women have difficulty in getting jobs. Even though they find jobs, many of them are employed as irregular workers who are easily dismissed for marriage and pregnancy. Many women take care of children at home because they cannot find jobs. They want and need to work, but they are forced into the house. Stable jobs are required for childbirth and childcare. Hiding their heads in the sand, the government and the pro-life doctors insist the eradication of abortion. However, it is like that they kill women twice.

 

Now we women try to change the polarized society neglecting and excluding socially underprivileged people and minority groups. We will build solidarity and exercise the rights of democratic citizens justly for making together the society happy instead of being isolated individually and resentful of our situation.

 

Gender equality community with a woman’s vote

 

Candidates who interact with local people, propose necessary policies in life of local people, and suggest measures with which the local community is able to participate in solving the local problems, should be elected for the coming June nationwide local election. In particular, it will be the first step toward the realization of a gender equality community to choose candidates who are capable of making and carrying out policies for stable jobs for women, making men to share the responsibility of household affairs with women, the solution to the feminization of poverty, and the security of women. Let us completely change the local self governments with women’s votes.

 

Society where people work and care together

 

Women workers are dismissed first in the economic crisis and women of all ages have difficulty in finding jobs. Even working women still carry the primary responsibility of childcare or household affairs. In a general trend of husband and wife both working, Korean men and women work the longest hours in the world, and a woman is forced to be a superwoman who is able to do many things successfully at the same time such as have a job, bring up children and care for her home.

 

To make the society where women and men both have stable jobs and bring up children together, it should be realized that unfair dismissals for pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare are eradicated, public childcare facilities and afterschool childcare programs are increased, the long working hours and the excessive get-together culture of the company are improved, pay during childcare leave and the right of male workers to take childcare leave are increased, and so on. With women’s active participation, let us make the society where women and men both work and care together.

 

Society without poverty and violence

 

The poverty of women is getting severe and the violence against women and children is increasing. However, the government is consistent in adopting stopgap measures. The government should prepare measures to toughen penalties for perpetrators in order to protect women and children from violence occurring at home, school, park, public restroom, etc. and to prevent the recurrence of those crimes. It should also provide a safe neighborhood environment. To solve the problem of the feminization of poverty, it should prepare measures to give vocational trainings to irregular female workers with interrupted careers, to create jobs for those women, and to support the self reliance of socially underprivileged people such as single mothers, migrant women, and disabled women. Let us win a safe society without poverty and violence by the women’s power.

 

March 6, 2010

 

Participants of

the 26th Korean Women’s Convention in commemoration of the International Women’s Day

Posted by KWWA
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