Improving maternal health and curbing female genital mutilation, violence against women and the use of bisphenol A were among resolutions passed at the triennial Associated Country Women of the World conference in Chennai, India, this month.
Delegate Brenda Wilsie, president of the Alberta Women’s Institute, said while HIV/AIDS is a greater problem in developing countries than in Canada, there is a need for improved maternal health and quality of life worldwide.
An ACWW resolution addressed the practice of female mutilation as endangering the health and life of girls.
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“I can’t see how this (resolution) will work successfully unless governments impose some rules, but if people morally believe it, that’s what they’re going to do unless there’s some sort of penalty in place to stop it,” Wilsie said. “But it was quite a horrible thing to learn about.”
She said violence against women happens everywhere.
“In some countries in the world, if a woman is raped, they are deemed to be at fault and punished. I can’t understand how that works and it’s quite disturbing. Any of this violence needs to be stopped.”
A resolution also called for the discontinuation of BPA, the main polycarbonate in plastic containers that holds food or water and is present in medical devices and toys.
BPA can imitate estrogen and other hormones, which can affect fetuses and newborns, reports the National Institutes of Health.
The ACWW, which represents women in rural and urban areas and has a consultative status with the United Nations, will lobby governments around the world to pass legislation to improve the life of women.
The ACWW comprises 460 member groups located in 70 countries.
