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Community Compass: S African women’s day event addresses lingering problems

By Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008, Page 4

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Around 100 women from various countries gathered in Taipei on Friday to celebrate South Africa’s National Women’s Day.

Ida Meyer, the wife of the South African representative to Taiwan, said that 52 years ago on Aug. 8, women from all walks of life in South Africa protested against a law that discriminated against women.

“Women then showed that they are a power to be reckoned with and that if united, women can achieve results,” she said.

Each participant was given a traditional drum, and with the help of some African drummers, the participants were able to improvise melodic beats.

The organizer said the exercise was meant to demonstrate the power of unity when women around the world are willing to stand together.

South African women’s rights activist Gertrude Fester encouraged the attendees to empower themselves through education.

But Fester also told the Taipei Times that Taiwanese women had been distanced from the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and other international protocols because Taiwan is not a member of the UN.

She suggested that Taiwanese women should still learn from and apply the principles of the convention despite a lack of formal participation.

“It is unfair that Taiwanese women are not included in the [convention], but they should not be paralyzed by the politics,” she said.

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