2009 Castan Centre Intern

Carly Price, International Women's Rights Action Watch - Asia Pacific, Kuala Lumpur

Report

Learning about women's rights from grassroots organisations

Throughout the three months that I spent with International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP), I was privileged to meet people from all levels of the human rights process – from the committee members of UN human rights treaty bodies, to female lawyers of Southern Asia, and most importantly the women from grass roots organisations around the world who are advocating for the advancement of women’s rights in their home countries.

IWRAW AP uses international human rights law, specifically the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as a tool for educating law enforcement officials and women’s groups about women’s rights.

Upon my arrival at IWRAW AP in Kuala Lumpur, I was thrown into the middle of an Expert General Meeting (EGM). The EGM invited female lawyers and women’s rights activists from various parts of Southeast and South Asia to consult on the obstacles that are faced by lawyers when using CEDAW in domestic litigation. The outcome of the EGM was to create a set of briefing papers that will address these obstacles and provide strategies for lawyers to overcome these challenges in their own litigation. Being able to act as rapporteur for IWRAW AP during this EGM was a very rewarding experience. The shared stories of women from Nepal who are helping to rebuild the entire legal system, and of women from Pakistan who are fighting domestic violence in the absence of any legislation, enabled me to identify some of the practical and political constraints that impact on the course of justice for women in these countries.

The highlight of my trip, however, came about in my role as rapporteur for IWRAW AP in its “Global to Local Programme” that coincided with the 43^rd session of the CEDAW Committee in Geneva, Switzerland. The Global to Local Programme brings together women’s rights NGOs from each of the countries required to submit a report at that session of CEDAW.  The four day training course educates participants on CEDAW and the UN system generally, and provides practical training for lobbying the CEDAW Committee. This lobbying allows the NGOs to report on the reality of the situation in their home country and to identify the key issues limiting the realisation of women’s rights.

As well as providing training for the participating NGOs, my role in Geneva involved liaising with CEDAW Committee members and holding a briefing on women in armed conflict, with the aim of encouraging the CEDAW Committee to issue a General Recommendation on the topic. At the briefing, women from Guatemala shared the horrific experiences of women who became weapons of war and victims of hate murders during the periods of civil conflict. These female victims and their families still have no recourse to justice for the crimes committed against them. While it is unclear how immediately the CEDAW Committee will attend to a General Recommendation on women affected by armed conflict, it has been marked as an area to be revisited in the future.

Being able to participate in this process, and work so closely with women from Rwanda, Haiti, Cameroon, Dominica, Guatemala and Armenia was a privilege and a profound learning experience. I was inspired by the women who risked persecution back home to attend the Session. I was intrigued when the women of Haiti would not acknowledge that there had been conflict in their country and pondered the contextual implications behind this. Additionally, I was humbled by the women who came to Geneva, with little if any prior knowledge of CEDAW, but who came to bring the stories of their sisters back home. The work of IWRAW AP in this process had a significant impact on me and alerted me to the high level of civil society participation in this treaty body process.

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Monash Law School and to the Castan Centre for their support, generosity and encouragement. This is a truly unique experience and highlights the absolute commitment of Monash to the learning and personal development of its students. I will be forever grateful for having had this opportunity.

Profile

Carly Price has been involved for a number of years in a host of co-curricular activities which have emboldened her passion for human rights.  Carly makes the round trip to Geelong each week to tutor Sudanese refugee children living in the area.  In the past, Carly has participated in a kitchen serving breakfast to the homeless, and used her fluent Indonesian to broadcast a weekly radio program for the Indonesian community.  She has also traveled widely through Asia. 

Carly’s part time employment in a law firm has provided her with a solid grounding in various areas of the law including criminal law, family law and migration law, and has exposed her to potential avenues for law reform.

Carly is thrilled to partake in an internship with IWRAW-AP, which aims to increase women’s access to rights at both the international and domestic level through adherence to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).  Carly is keen to look to the ways in which various legal systems can be effectively administered and reformed to more adequately represent the rights of women.

Carly is studying a Bachelor of Laws at Monash University, where she intends to focus on International and Human Rights Law. Prior to commencing her law degree, Carly completed a Bachelor of Arts (Indonesian Studies) at the University of Melbourne concentrating much of her research on the role of women in periods of conflict in Southeast Asia.

International Women's Right Action Watch - Asia Pacific