Liberal MP Irwin Cotler has been invited to be a guest speaker at a G8 conference in Italy this week to talk about the role the international community must take in defending the rights of women around the world.
“Women’s rights are human rights, and there are no human rights that do not include the rights of women,” said Mr. Cotler, who is the Liberal party’s Special Counsel for Human Rights and International Justice.
“Vast numbers of people around the world suffer from starvation and terrorism, and are humiliated, tortured, mutilated, and even murdered every year, just because they are women. The global community must work together to end this struggle.”
Professor Cotler, MP for Mount Royal and a 10-year member of the Liberal Women’s Caucus, is speaking Wednesday at the two-day International Conference on Violence against Women in Rome, an initiative of the Italian Presidency of the G8.
Specifically, he will be speaking on the role of international organizations and international law with regards to violence against women.
“We must work to develop concrete actions to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls,” he said. “Each one of us has an indispensable role to play in this struggle for human rights and human dignity. Each one of us can make a difference.”
Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville said it’s important for Liberals to take to the international stage in defence of women’s rights, since Canada’s Conservative government refuses to.
“We can’t even get the Harper government to show some leadership here at home with regards to the defence of women,” said Ms. Neville. “For months, we’ve called on Mr. Harper to launch a federal investigation into the hundreds of unsolved cases of missing Aboriginal women and girls, and he has ignored us.”
