Rhoda Reddock (born 7 June 1953) is a

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

ian educator and social activist. She has served as founder, chair, adviser, or member of several organizations, such as the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), the

Global Fund for Women The Global Fund for Women is a non-profit foundation funding women's human rights initiatives. It was founded in 1987 by New Zealander Anne Firth Murray, and co-founded by Frances Kissling and Laura Lederer to fund women's initiatives aroun ...

, and the Regional Advisory Committee of the Global Poosay Coalition on Women and AIDS established by UNAIDS. In 2002 she received the Seventh CARICOM Triennial Award for Women, was Trinidad and Tobago's nominee for the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

in 2008, and was honoured in her country's National Honour Awards ceremony in 2012 with the Gold Medal for the Development of Women. In June 2018, Reddock was the first-ever from Trinidad and Tobago to be elected with the highest number of votes among the candidates to serve on the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for the term 2019 to 2022. In 2022, Reddock was re-elected to serve on the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women that is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Early life

Rhoda Elizabeth Reddock was born on 7 June 1953 in Kingstown, on Saint Vincent, the largest island of

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

to Rosa and Bertram Reddock. Her mother was a teacher and her father served as an agricultural officer and adviser to local farmers. She attended primary school at Kingstown Preparatory School on Saint Vincent, before her family relocated in 1960 to

. Completing her primary education at Eastern Girls Primary School in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

, Reddock furthered her education at Bishop Anstey High School. Enrolling at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

(UWI) in 1971, she went on to earn a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in social administration in 1975, after completing studies at both the St. Augustine and Mona campuses. Furthering her education, Reddock moved to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and earned a master's degree from the

International Institute of Social Studies The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam is an independent international graduate school of policy-oriented social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Netherlands Mini ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in 1980. She then enrolled in applied sociology at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

and completed her PhD in 1985, before returning to Trinidad. While she was working on her graduate studies, Reddock compiled the work of Clotil Walcott, a Trinidadian labour leader, into a booklet ''Fight Back Say a Woman'' and secured publishing for it in The Hague. Inviting Walcott to participate in the

International Wages for Housework Campaign International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IWFH) in 1980, Reddock facilitated the international ties that would spur Walcott into her work with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Career

In 1985, Reddock began working as a research fellow at UWI in the Institute for Social and Economic Research and pressed for the development of a gender studies programme for UWI. She became a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in the sociology department in 1990 and continued her research until 1993. The following year, she became the head of a new programme, the Centre for Gender and Development Studies in St. Augustine. That same year, Reddock published ''Women, Labour and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago'', which was followed two years later by ''Ethnic Minorities in Caribbean Society''. She has served on the Executive Council and Advisory Board of the Caribbean Studies Association and as a member of the Latin American Studies Association. She is an international member of the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fi ...

. As a researcher, her work has focused on gender and sexuality in the Caribbean, the history of the Caribbean women’s movement, labour and work, and the effects of gender and race on citizenship. She has studied

Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean or Indian-Caribbean people are people from the Caribbean who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent. They are descendants of the Jahaji indentured laborers from British India, who were brought by the British, Dutch, and ...

populations and the manner in which colonialism, traditional class structures and the struggle for economic survival effected men and women differently. Her work on the history of activism in the Caribbean has shed light on how women initiated the move toward democratization from both political and labour perspectives, linking feminist goals and nationalist movements. In addition to her academic pursuits, Reddock has maintained a presence in the fight for social parity and justice. She attended both the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1985 held in

Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a reference to the Nairobi Riv ...

, and the Fifth World Conference on Women in 1995 in

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. She was one of the founders, and served as first chair of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), as well as a founder of the Caribbean Network on Studies of Masculinity. Reddock led research on a national initiative on child abuse which has been expanded into a region-wide programme and is supported by

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. She spent two years working on a National Gender Policy with Camille Antoine and Patricia Mohammed, that was not adopted, but which Reddock still hopes will gain traction. Reddock's activism and dedication to academics has been recognized on a national and international level. She was a recipient of the Rockefeller Residency Fellowship at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

in 1992. In 2001, she received UWI's Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Administration, Research and Public Service. Reddock was the 2002 recipient of the Seventh CARICOM Triennial Award for Women"Citation In Honour Of Professor Rhoda Reddock On The Occasion Of The Presentation Of The Seventh Caricom Triennial Award For Women"
CARICOM Press Release, 6 July 2002. and in 2008 was Trinidad's nominee for the

. In 2012, she was presented with an honorary doctorate from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

′s

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...

. Later that same year, at Trinidad and Tobago′s National Honours ceremony, Reddock was the recipient of the Gold Medal for the Development of Women.

References

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Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reddock, Rhoda 1953 births Living people People from Port of Spain African-American activists Caribbean people of African descent Trinidad and Tobago women's rights activists Trinidad and Tobago academics University of the West Indies alumni International Institute of Social Studies alumni University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of the West Indies 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American women