Rhoda Reddock facts for kids

Rhoda Reddock (born June 7, 1953) is a famous educator and social activist from Trinidad. A social activist is someone who works to bring about positive change in society. She has spent her life working to improve the lives of women in the Caribbean and around the world.

Rhoda has helped start and lead many important groups. These include the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) and the Global Fund for Women. She also worked with a special committee for UNAIDS, a United Nations program that fights diseases.

Because of her amazing work, Rhoda was elected to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2018. This important group works to make sure women are treated fairly everywhere. She was re-elected in 2022 and now serves as the Vice Chair of the committee.

Her work has earned her many awards. In 2002, she received the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women. In 2012, her home country of Trinidad and Tobago gave her the Gold Medal for the Development of Women.

Early Life and Education

Rhoda Elizabeth Reddock was born on June 7, 1953, in Kingstown, on the island of Saint Vincent. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was an agricultural officer who helped local farmers.

When she was a child, her family moved to Trinidad. She finished her early schooling in Port of Spain and then went to Bishop Anstey High School. In 1971, she began studying at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She earned a degree in social administration in 1975.

Rhoda wanted to learn even more, so she moved to the Netherlands. She earned a master's degree from the International Institute of Social Studies in 1980. She then got her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 1985 before returning to Trinidad.

A Career of Teaching and Activism

In 1985, Rhoda began working as a researcher at the University of the West Indies. She pushed for the university to create a program for gender studies. Gender studies is the study of how society creates different roles and expectations for men and women. In 1990, she became a lecturer in the sociology department.

By 1994, she became the head of a new department she helped create: the Centre for Gender and Development Studies.

Champion for Women's Rights

As a researcher, Rhoda has focused on many topics. She studied how history, social class, and the need to earn money affected men and women differently in the Caribbean. Her work showed how women were often the first to push for more rights and a bigger say in their government and jobs.

Besides teaching, Rhoda has always been an activist. She has been a key part of the fight for social justice and fairness.

• She helped start the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA).
• She attended major world conferences on women in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985 and in Beijing, China, in 1995.
• She led research on child abuse that grew into a large program supported by UNICEF.

Awards and Recognition

Rhoda's hard work has been noticed both in her country and around the world.

• In 2001, she won an award from her university for being an excellent teacher and researcher.
• In 2002, she received the Seventh CARICOM Triennial Award for Women.
• In 2008, she was Trinidad and Tobago's choice for the International Women of Courage Award.
• In 2012, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa.
• Later in 2012, she was awarded the Gold Medal for the Development of Women at her country's National Honours ceremony.