A Parallel Event to the 60th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
From March 14-24, 2016, governments from around the world will come together for the60th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to review progress on the elimination and prevention of violence against women and girls.
Preventing this violence requires us all—governments, civil society, the private sector, and others—to address root causes. Socially-accepted gender norms, cultural practices, and widely-held belief systems are core drivers of individual and institutional violence against women and girls.
Global human rights group Breakthrough hosts this performance-based and interactive panel to demonstrate the power of storytelling to challenge and transform cultural norms—in particular gender norms—as a pathway to prevent violence and create a world in which all of us can thrive. Stories put a face on statistics, expose and interrupt the status quo, position personal challenges as societal, and spark empathy—the strongest antidote to discrimination and violence.
Breakthrough is creator of THE G WORD, the transmedia storytelling project designed to challenge gender norms and create a vision of a world where all can thrive.
Participants (panelists and audience members from diverse regions) will be invited to share their stories—especially stories about the impact of gender norms on their lives—through spoken word, performance, and technology.
Speakers will also outline basic storytelling skills for maximum impact. Together, we can envision new norms and create a world we all want to live in—enjoying our fundamental human rights and fulfilling the promise of the SDGs.
Storytellers:
Berta Zúñiga Cáceres (tentative) – Honduran indigenous women human rights defender and daughter of feminist WHRD Berta Cáceres, murdered March 3, 2016
