Inspiring Week

Certainly have had an interesting week. Firstly a workshop organised by the National Women's Commission to encourage more women to take up public positions. Of the twelve participants six of us were from Suffolk West WI. Do check out the NWC website it is well worth looking at, there are further similar events planned in other parts of the country so perhaps there is a workshop planned near you. http://www.thewnc.org.uk/

The following day there was, by chance, a talk in Bury by Wendi Momen the UK secretary of UNIFEM on ending violence against women. She was a fine example of a women in public life and knew some of the women we had met the previous day - a small world. Wendi spoke about different types of violence, not only domestic violence but also the forced marriage of very young girls and how many are forced into sexual relations with not only a much older husband but often with his male relations and friends resulting in pregnancy and she spoke of the health effects this has on very young girls.

Interestingly three of us were already planning to visit a group of young parents in a nearby town, who had expressed interest in meeting older /mature women who could be a positive role model. So the next day off we went and met up with a small group of girls and one young father. The group are being encouraged to stay in education both during their pregnancies and after their babies are born. A couple of the girls were very young and had very immature bodies, which reminded us of the previous evenings talk by Wendi Momen. Although all of these events were arranged independently of one another it was surprising how they linked together. The question is where do we go from here?