CEDAW refers to the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Belize became a signatory in 1990 and yesterday the Women's Parliamentary Caucus hosted a conference to discuss how the country has been abiding by the convention as well as future steps that we should take. Courtney Menzies has this story.

34 years ago, Belize signed The Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and yesterday the Women's Parliamentary Caucus hosted a conference to take stock of what measures, legislations, and changes have been implemented since then.

The conference ties in with the first week of 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence and the keynote speaker, Marley Goodin - a survivor of domestic violence - explained that the first step in tackling this issue is by raising awareness and standing up for others.

Marley Goodin, Keynote Speaker
"Let us support survivors, when we hear about someone experiencing abuse, we must listen without judgment. Let us ask ourselves, do I know where to get information to support my friend? Is there a step by step process that can guide someone seeking support? These are conversations we need to consider. We need to also speak out against abuse, every one of us here has a role in stopping domestic violence, whether we are a friend, family members or colleague, we must speak out when we witness or hear about abuse."

"One of the most fundamental roles of parliamentarians is to make laws. Ensuring that comprehensive enactment of laws not only criminalize violence but also provide clear procedures for reporting and prosecuting perpetrators. Strong political commitment is necessary to enact laws, allocate resources and create an enabling environment for the implementation of all strategies. But passing laws are only a part of the solution. Laws are only as strong as their enforcement. By supporting changes in the legislation you are ensuring that domestic violence is not stigmatized or normalized within our legal social of cultural systems."

And one of the few women parliamentarians in the National Assembly explained how difficult it is for women to take on leadership roles in politics.

Tracy Panton, Albert Area Rep.
"It's important because we still have a way to go. We, Belize, signed the convention back in 1990 and yet we have 13% representation of women in the National Assembly of Belize. The new recommendation is not even 30%, the new recommendation discussed last month was for 50% parity so we have work to do and the only way we can achieve the targets is if we all get involved."

"It is a difficult walk and the attacks are sustained and the attacks are different on women than they are on our men counterparts. It's still a very patriarchal society and the cultural norms of the country and the mindset needs to change but women have to be the guardians of our future and we have to push the envelope and keep, no matter how difficult it is, we have to continue to push the envelope and move forward and walk boldly into the future that we see for ourselves and our children. Women need to support women in this undertaking. yes it's hard, but it's not impossible."

"That was actually one of my questions for the panelist this morning, to get her perspective because I have my own theories and an lot of that she basically confirmed that politics in Belize can get messy at times and that definitely discourages and dissuades women from their participation in the political sphere. It can get very personal. And so that is something that has to change in terms of elevate the standards within our discourse at the national level within the House of Representatives and even how we address some of these issues within the media attacking, some of our women candidates, those things certainly deter women, in addition to the fact that, of course, women have many other roles, they are mothers, they are wives, they take care of their household, they have jobs. They really do a lot. And so we have to be cognizant of that, but at the same time, create that enabling environment for them to feel comfortable that this is not going to be personal attacks, and that we are going to elevate that level of discourse."

And both parliamentarians are hoping that the information shared in this conference trickles into communities and leads to more sensitization.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"There were a lot of eye opening statistics that were shared this morning. When it comes to our advancing along the spectrum of achieving our goals, for CEDAW and of course, for the Beijing declaration, we still have a lot of work to do, not just in the legislative aspect, but also the on the ground and advocacy that we as parliamentarians need to take our message with to the streets, whether it's at the basketball court, whether it's within our education system, in schools, even at the homes. Because as parliamentarians, we do get the ability to interact with our constituents. And so we have a very influential role to play in advancing causes such as these towards gender equality."

Tracy Panton, Albert Area Rep.
"I think first and foremost is sensitization, building greater awareness of some of the challenges we continue to face in Belize, whether it's women in politics, whether it's gender based violence, and hopefully have a group of champions who are prepared to take the message outside of this conference into their communities and into their organizations to try and champion change."