Jane Densley’s feelings about being at the CSW

I am flying back from New York where I attended the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. It was a sobering and life altering experience. I feel like my life perspective will be forever changed. What once seemed important to me now seems trivial. I’ve lived 50 years blissfully unaware of the horrific and difficult circumstances under which so many women and children live. I attended classes on human trafficking, prostitution, FGM, obstetric fistula, forced child marriages, maternal and infant mortality and honor crimes, I’ve listened to stories about all kinds of women and children’s human right violations. I feel saddened beyond words. How can so many of God’s children live under such oppression and abuse? How can government allow for such basic human rights to be denied? How can women and children be denied any rights, any voice, any hope? Freedom is the the greatest gift we have and yet millions of humans are in bondage to monstrous oppressors. These word seem too soft, too inadequate to paint a complete picture of the lives of those who have no voice, no rights, no hope. Something more must be done to stop these crimes against humanity. With knowledge comes responsibility. I am no long free to sit and do nothing. A week ago I was unaware. I kept myself unaware. I would hear whisperings about some of these issues, not often, but from time to time; they seemed far removed from my world and my influence and so I told myself there was nothing I could do. If I didn’t look too close then it wasn’t real to me. therefore, I had no responsibility. Well, now I have looked close and it is beyond any nightmare I have ever imagined. Now I am accountable to myself to do something, to step up and fight for those that cannot fight for themselves. I don’t know where this journey will lead me and how far I will travel but I am committed to use my voice, my strength and my abilities to help those who need my help. I met hundreds of brave and fierce less women who have picked up the mantle and are leading the charge to restore basic human rights. I join their cause and willing engage in a battle for freedom. We are at war and we need your help to fight for the rights of humanity. I can no long say “There is nothing I can do, the problems are too large, they are too far away”. It is true the problems are even bigger than I ever imagined but I now know I can do something. If we unite our voices, our might, and our will we can change the world one person at a time. And when you change one life for the better it gives hope to many. I will ask myself each and every day “What more can I do?” I believe in the power of one and if we unite our power we can change the world.