Aruna Narain, member of the CEDAW Committee, led a conversation on CEDAW Article 9 on November 26, 2022.

The CEDAW (Convention) Speaker Series is designed to familiarize members of the public with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), known as the women’s bill of rights.

Each month, we will be joined by an expert to look at one Article of the Convention, its interpretation, its application to the Bahamian context, and the most recent assessment of the country’s progress.

Watch the replay of the session below, which took place on November 26, 2022.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/cedaw.pdf

Check out the CEDAW speaker series playlist below for more discussions on the articles.

Corinne Dettmeijer, a member of the CEDAW Committee, led a conversation on CEDAW Article 6 which focuses on trafficking and exploitation of prostitution.

The CEDAW (Convention) Speaker Series is designed to familiarize members of the public with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), known as the women’s bill of rights.

Each month, we will be joined by an expert to look at one Article of the Convention, its interpretation, its application to the Bahamian context, and the most recent assessment of the country’s progress.

Watch the replay of the session below, which took place on September 24, 2022.

Below are documents referenced during the session:
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime – https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/protocol-prevent-suppress-and-punish-trafficking-persons

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/cedaw.pdf

General recommendation No. 38 (2020) on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/general-comments-and-recommendations/general-recommendation-no38-2020-trafficking-women

Check out the CEDAW speaker series playlist below for more discussions on the articles.

On August 24, 2022, Equality Bahamas was in conversation with young homeowner and real estate agent Hannah Beard who shared her personal experience and professional knowledge about buying or building a house.

The conversation was guided by the following questions:
What are the best ways to find property or a house?
What is the financing process like?
What are the requirements?
What are the phases of building or buying a house?
What are the main pitfalls in searching for and buying a house or property?

Women’s Wednesdays was designed by Equality Bahamas as a response to community members’ requests for a space to access resources, experts, and practitioners, share knowledge, and engage in conversation with one another. Officially started in May 2017, Women’s Wednesdays highlights Bahamian women and our experiences in The Bahamas, specific to our identities including gender, race, sexuality, age, and ability. Held once per month at minimum, the events draw women together to have conversations that bring our individual lives into focus while connecting to family, community, and national narratives.

Watch the replay of the Women’s Wednesdays session below.

Equality Bahamas hosted “Intersections of Blackness and Womanhood” on August 10, 2022 as a part of its Women’s Wednesdays event series. Gaynel Curry (The Bahamas) and June Soomer (St. Lucia), both Independent Expert Members of the Permanent UN Forum on People of African Descent, led the discussion which included responses to the following:

What is the UN Permanent Forum for People of African Descent, and why is it important?
Why is it important to address issues of race in 2022?
In what ways do women of African descent need to be represented in UN spaces?
How can we use the Forum and similar entities to advance the rights of women?

Watch the session below.

Ms. Gaynel Curry is an Independent Expert Member of the United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum of People of African Descent, which serves as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent. Ms Curry has worked with the UN for more than 23 years in various capacities and duty stations, including in Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Timor-Leste. Most recently, she served as Human Rights Advisor in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, where she led work on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development within the Human Rights Council.

Ms Curry oversaw the work of OHCHR-New York Office in support of the International Decade for People of African Descent and assisted the work of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. While serving as the Gender and Women’s Rights Advisor and Acting Chief of Global Issues in the New York Office, Ms Curry co-led the implementation of several Security Council resolutions on Conflict-related Sexual Violence. She led engagements with the Commission on the Status of Women and supported the work of the CEDAW Committee as well as the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. Ms Curry has held several positions in her government, including Director of the Department of Gender and Family Affairs. She is currently an Adjunct Faculty Member at the University of The Bahamas and provides independent consultancy services on a broad range of human rights issues.

Honourable Ambassador Dr. June Soomer, SLC, holds a PhD in History from the University of the West Indies. She lectured at the UWI and universities in the U.S., and worked at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (1996 -2006). She was Saint Lucia’s Plenipotentiary Ambassador to the OECS and CARICOM, with responsibility for Diaspora Affairs (2008-2016), and the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (2016-2020). She was the first woman to hold these posts, as well as the post of the Chair of the Open Campus Council, a position she currently holds. Dr. Soomer is a member of the Saint Lucia Reparations Committee and a member of the UN Permanent Forum for People of African Descent.

She has many awards including The Saint Lucia Cross for distinguished service in the fields of Education, Diplomacy, Regionalism and Development Specialty, February 2021; and The Order of José de Marcoleta in the Degree of Grand Cross from the Republic of Nicaragua in the area of diplomacy, August 2021.

Women’s Wednesdays was designed by Equality Bahamas as a response to community members’ requests for a space to access resources, experts, and practitioners, share knowledge, and engage in conversation with one another. Officially started in May 2017, Women’s Wednesdays highlights Bahamian women and our experiences in The Bahamas, specific to our identities including gender, race, sexuality, age, and ability. Held once per month at minimum, the events draw women together to have conversations that bring our individual lives into focus while connecting to family, community, and national narratives.

#WW242 intentionally centers and prioritizes women and girls, and is open to the public through in-person events, livestreams, and social media activity. With the support of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, we create a safe space for knowledge-building, idea-sharing, critical dialogue, and movement-building.