My benefit, the benefit for my children, is the recognition of belonging to their community. That's probably the core piece of this legislation for this victory.
For years, those of us who have been excluded because of the legislation--not because of the heritage, but because of the legislation--have not been able to fully participate in our communities.
It goes to the heart of who we are, the recognition of who we are. I know that in the Sandra Lovelace case the United Nations said the banishment of women from their communities was contrary to international conventions, because being part of your community and being recognized as part of your community is a right. It's a cultural right. It's a right to be able to reinforce your sense of self. That's the biggest piece.
In addition to that, a lot of women and their descendants live in slums in major cities. They have no access to benefits such as health benefits, education benefits, and dental benefits. Those are their rights. We have a birthright, and that's why I have been fighting for so long. I have that right by virtue of my birth, and they will not be able to access that. It's a total denial of rights.
The government recognizes it. You look at the documents, and they recognize that when they changed the law in 1985 they only did a partial job. It was recognized. Yet they are very reluctant to change it. They won't change it. The case said they should change it. Now they've challenged it and have put up an almost insurmountable barrier for me to continue with this.