Women and Diversity

NZ Diversity Forum 2006 Special Topic Forum: Women and Diversity
Soundings Theatre, Te Papa
Wellington
21 August 2006 at 2:20pm

Rau rangatira mâ, tçnei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te râ – mana wahine. Tçnâ koutou, tçnâ koutou, tçnâ râ tâtou katoa.

Thank you for the opportunity to be with you this afternoon. It’s great to see such a diverse range of women at this forum who are interested in exploring, that diversity from a range of perspectives.

Before I begin I would like to acknowledge:
·My parliamentary colleagues Maryan Street, Jacqui Dean, Pansy Wong and Jackie Blue
·the Chief Executive, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Shenagh Gleisner
·the Deputy Chief Commissioner from the Families Commission, Sharron Cole.

And panel members:
·from the National Council of Women of New Zealand, Christina Reymer
·from PACIFICA, Diane Mara
·from Rural Women New Zealand, Margaret Chapman
·from the Upper Hutt Multi-Ethnic Council, Pohswan Narayanan
·and Huhana Hickey who is a solicitor and consultant on human rights and disability issues.
·I'm sorry that Jacqui Te Kani from the Mâori Women’s Welfare League can't be with us due to the tangi.

I would also like to acknowledge the other speakers and the rest of you who have made the effort to take part today in line with today’s theme, ‘women supporting women’. I hope everyone makes some valuable connections today, which will strengthen your work in your various communities.

As you know, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs is hosting this event as part of the Human Rights Commission’s annual Diversity Forum. The over-riding theme for all such events is ‘national identity, cultural diversity and harmonious relationships’.

Identity as a nation is also one of the government’s three key focus areas. We want to build a strong, confident nation that embraces diversity by first demonstrating tolerance of different views and approaches. That does not mean we have to agree with everyone, but tolerance is an essential pre-cursor to understanding.

New Zealand has become more ethnically diverse as a society over the last two to three decades. The initial results from this year’s census will not be available until the end of the year, but I am sure it will show a continuation of the trends of the previous ten years. Between 1991 and 2001 the percentage of the New Zealand population identifying themselves as Asian more than doubled and there was an even larger percentage increase in the ‘other’ category, which includes people from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

These are outward signs of ethnic diversity, but other forms of diversity are not so obvious. “Walking in another’s shoes” is an expression that symbolises the understanding that comes with the learned experience. I had a fall recently which sprained my back and I began to think about accessibility to buildings again, not from another’s perspective but from my own. I am amazed at the number of buildings that remain completely inaccessible to those with a permanent or temporary disability. Disabled women sometimes struggle to have their voices heard within the disability communities, let alone in society generally. Other voices can struggle to register, including the voices of refugee women, and other women whose culture, sexual orientation, economic status, age or family circumstances place them outside what some people would call the mainstream.

In the case of refugee and migrant women I was impressed by an initiative of the New Zealand Federation of Ethnic Councils earlier this year in staging a series of forums in Wellington to provide an opportunity for the voices of migrant and ethnic women to be heard. While many of the 145 participants highlighted the freedom they enjoyed in their new lives in New Zealand, they also faced many challenges. These included access to employment and to services such as health, housing, childcare and justice; loneliness and isolation; racism and discrimination; communication and language difficulties; and the impact of migration on relationships between partners, and between parents and children. These are not unique to women but the experience of women is profoundly different due to the central role they play in their families.

It was interesting to attend the Australian Children's Book Council Awards in Sydney last week. One of the finalists was a book called Glory Garage, which was written by two Australian Lebanese Muslim women about their lives, which sometimes involved pretence at maintaining cultural and religious standards imposed by their parents, so that they could live their lives as Australians.

The findings of the Wellington forums reflect the same issue in exploring the particular challenges migrant and refugee women often face as individuals, partners and parents. As individuals they have to deal with their own significant changes to status, culture and place – but at the same time they frequently have to help extended family members deal with those changes – while taking an active role in both their migrant and host communities.

These women come from different cultures and backgrounds, but their experiences are similar – and by knowing and sharing they become stronger.

The Federation of Ethnic Councils is an example of how people with diverse backgrounds, but shared interests, can work together in ways that benefit everyone involved. By pooling the talent of many communities it is able to give those communities a stronger voice and to provide better shared resources than any community could provide on its own. But it is vital to provide a channel for the women's voices to emerge distinctly from these communities. Sometimes women are not regarded as equals in their country of origin, or worse, their opinions are neither sought nor respected if offered.

Although New Zealand still has some way to go, there is no question that women must lead their own debates within these communities.

It is also important that this “knowing and sharing” crosses over into the host community as well. I made the point at the Islamic Women's Federation Conference earlier this year that lack of understanding can bring about problems – because ignorance often breeds prejudice and fear. The strongest weapon against prejudice and fear is knowledge and understanding. If we know and understand each other we do not need to fear each other. And the debate around these issues needs to be respectful.

I recall very well when we passed law in New Zealand to prohibit the practice of female circumcision, there were those who said – 'how dare you challenge a cultural practice' – to which we responded, 'the practice is a fundamental breach of human rights; it will not happen here; not in New Zealand'. There were those who said 'don't talk about it publicly, because we don't want New Zealanders looking at us and thinking about circumcision – it was our custom in our home country – but we live in New Zealand now and we will not continue with it – but please talk to us privately; don't expose us to the public debate on this issue; that is how we will get change.'

I was impressed with what I heard from the representatives of the community, who wanted change, but who wanted to find ways to achieve that within the community and the context of the environment that they were now living in. Sometimes we need to be open with each other, but where it is so deeply personal, then working behind the scenes as women together we can achieve much more.

However, female circumcision was an issue where we all agreed that the practice itself was oppressive and a breach of their human rights, even though it was a customary or cultural practice. The same cannot be said of the wearing of certain garments, particularly the burkah, which is a topical issue in many countries. As I said to the Islamic Women's Federation, if those who wear these don't lead the debate then there is a real danger will not understand the issues and will place them in their own context. That is why I made the plea for leadership in this area.

Many New Zealand women, who see these garments, see a symbol of male oppression. Exclusive Brethren women wear their headscarves as an outward sign of their religion and their exclusivity. Because we have read of the hypocrisy surrounding the application of rules to women over men in many societies, we need to understand what motivates people to draw such attention to their religion in a secular country. It is important that women, (no matter what their background, but especially Muslim women), who do not cover themselves in this way, do not feel judged by men or women coming from countries that would not allow such dress. Explaining and debating issues such as these are the only ways I can see towards building tolerance and understanding.

I am therefore keen to see communities sharing their stories across cultures. This is because working together has a bigger impact and because the process of working together helps us recognise and value diversity. It also challenges and broadens our own awareness of diversity and the opportunities it offers.

To take a completely different tack, I am interested, for example, in the ways that the Federation of Rural Women New Zealand and others might work together on issues of isolation and depression.

Or how different communities can work together to address issues, such as domestic violence, which is a challenge for all New Zealanders regardless of background. This is especially so when there is a culture of silence encouraged by families who don't want to know what appalling acts have been perpetrated against their daughters, for the sake of familial or community relationships. Pretending it doesn't happen, doesn't make it go away. I will be very interested to hear back about some of the ideas you come up with in your final session today.

This Labour-led government is trying to achieve closer working relationships within the state sector, between government agencies and with community groups - in other words, forming partnerships. You may have heard Ministers referring to ‘joined-up government’ or taking a ‘whole-of-government approach’ to an issue. This is really just about government departments working together to deliver better policy and services for New Zealand in partnership with the community, because we know we will be more effective if we co-operate.

The Action Plan for New Zealand Women, which guides the work of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, is a good example of a whole-of-government programme. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is the lead agency for the overall plan, but the different parts of the plan are almost all delivered by other government departments. The Ministry only has 30 people and could not, on its own, deliver the programmes that will produce better outcomes for New Zealand women. It works closely with the rest of government and with community organisations that are also interested in improving the lives of women.

Today is also an excellent example of working together. The aim of this forum may be information sharing, but the relationships formed or strengthened will be valuable for future co-operation – perhaps on some of the common interests that will emerge from the discussion. One of the issues that unites women from different backgrounds is the need to remove barriers that make it difficult for women to make a full contribution to their families, their communities, their workplaces and to society in general. By this, I mean a life in which they have choices, and a life in which they and their families can experience economic independence, health and well-being, as well as balance in their lives. I have been reminding people recently that because 'girls can do anything'; it doesn't mean they have to do everything.

Legislation in this country is now such that New Zealand women should no longer face discrimination. However, achieving equity requires more than legislation. As my husband says “Red lights don’t stop trains”.

If there is no discrimination in New Zealand, then:

Why do women earn on average 18 percent less than men more than 30 years after the implementation of the Equal Pay in Employment Act?

Why do male university graduates start on average with $8,000 more per annum in their salary than female university graduates even when they have the same degree and are going for the same job?

Why are only 7 percent of directors of our top 100 listed companies women?

Why are there such significant gender disparities in the Modern Apprenticeship Programme and in trade training?

And why do women still dominate some occupations, such as nursing, but find it so hard to become engineers or builders?

I should point out that these are population-wide issues I am describing, so they do not reveal the large variation in the experiences of different groups of women. Add ethnicity and disability to the mix and the difference looks greater.

There are things that the government can do, and is doing, to help women overcome economic isolation. It includes initiatives such as:

·the Working for Families package, which significantly increases financial support for working families, including assistance with childcare and accommodation costs;
·the extension of paid parental leave from 13 to 14 weeks, and to self-employed mothers; and
·the planned introduction in 2007 of 20 hours of free early childhood education for three- and four-year-old children in teacher-led services.

These will significantly help women, given the reality of their place in the family, and they will also help the government to achieve its other major goals, which are strengthening families - young and old - and achieving economic transformation. Much of the untapped potential in the New Zealand economy is locked-up in the talents of women who would like more choices in their lives, but find it difficult to break through those hidden barriers. We are determined to unlock opportunities for and thus the potential of all women.

However, as I said before, the biggest remaining barriers are in attitudes and government cannot legislate to change the attitudes. Government can provide leadership; but it is you who must lead the way.

By working together we will build better opportunities for all New Zealand women. Today is a wonderful opportunity to do just that, and I am looking forward to the next panel discussion which will bring diverse views to bear on the common challenge of overcoming economic isolation.

I thank you for making the effort to take part in this forum and hope you will be energised by the ideas and connections you make here today.