Soroptimist President’s Blog

Eve Ensler has done it again.  Her new book, “I Am An Emotional Creature: the Secret Life of Girls Around the World,” captures the voices of girls, their struggles and their triumphs, in a unique and powerful way.  If you want to get a taste of what the new book is like, watch this presentation, filmed last November in India.  In it, Ms. Ensler provides an interesting perspective on the relationship between the magnitude of the world’s problems and the suppression of our “inner girl selves.”  Her 20-minute talk will make you laugh, and cry, and feel inspired.

http://www.ted.com/talks/eve_ensler_embrace_your_inner_girl.html

Now repeat after me:  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a girl!

Way to go, Brazil!  The Brazilian government has requested that an advertisement for beer be pulled from television because of regulations that say “beer commercials cannot treat women as overtly sensual objects.” 

This may seem a little ironic for a country that recently celebrated Carnival, where women on the beach are part of the attraction, but the reality is that violence against women is pervasive in Brazil.  When women are seen as objects, it dehumanizes them and devalues them.  And men tend to take less care of things they don’t value.  So, Brazil’s Secretariat for Women’s Affairs asked that the ads be stopped.

Interestingly, the international media attention appears to be less because of the Brazilian government’s stance and more because the “overtly sensual object” featured in the ad is Paris Hilton.  There are plenty of other examples in television and print media of women being portrayed in “overtly sensual” ways to sell a product.  They are usually nameless, less famous models.  (Personally, I find some of the Sky Vodka ads particularly offensive.)  That our society sees these kinds of ads as being “entertaining” and “amusing,” or that “there’s nothing wrong with them” is a sad commentary on how our collective values have changed–perhaps not for the better. 

Read the full AP story here.

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity_news/brazil-govt-protests-paris-hilton-ad_3253601

There’s always a great debate about whether establishing quotas to ensure women have better representation in their national or state governments is a good thing.  In a perfect world, quotas would be unnecessary, and people would elect the best qualified candidates to public office, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, or religion.

But we do not live in a perfect world.  We live in a world that remains largely patriarchal.  We live in a world where women and girls continue to experience additional discrimination and injustice simply because of their gender.

Here’s what I know.  In Rwanda after the genocide, the United Nations called for the establishment of quotas to ensure that more women had a voice in government.  We know that when women have a seat at the peace table, peace is more likely to occur and be sustained.  The quotas in Rwanda were intended to give women that voice in the aftermath of the genocide.Today, Rwanda has the highest representation of women in government—at all levels—than any country in the world.  That level of representation exceeds the initial quotas, because the people of Rwanda have figured out that having women at the table can be a good thing.

Women in India may be headed on a similar path.  Yesterday the Associated Press reported that India’s upper house of Parliament has voted (186-1) for “a historic bill that would reserve one-third of the legislative seats for women.”  The lower house of Parliament is expected pass the bill as well.

Sometimes progress takes time.  The bill was first proposed more than a decade ago.  But women in India now have the promise of a better voice that is recognized as being important to India.  Congratulations!

100 years ago, a woman named Clara Zetkin had a dream.  She was the leader of the “Women’s Office” for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, and she was bothered by the lack of rights for women both in her country and around the world.  At that time, women in most countries did not have the right to vote.  Clara was one of many women around the world working to change that.

Clara’s dream was that in every year in every country around the world there should be a celebration on the same day—a women’s day.  It would be a day when women would gather together and advocate for their rights.  She pitched her idea at the second International Conference of Working Women being held in Copenhagen, Denmark that year.  And her suggestion was met with unanimous approval.

One year later, Clara helped organize the first International Women’s Day.  Its success exceeded all expectations—and 100 years later, we continue to celebrate it each year on March 8.  The good news is that women have come a long way since 1910.  The not-so-good-news is that women and girls continue to be the poorest, most oppressed societal group on the face of our planet.

So here’s my dream.  My dream is that someday, women and girls everywhere in the world will be free from poverty, free from violence, free from discrimination, and free from injustice.  My dream is that someday, International Women’s Day will be a different kind of celebration, because our work to improve the lives of women and girls will be done.

As a Soroptimist, I am doing my part to make that dream a reality.  Other Soroptimists like me are doing their part too.  And I know that we are not alone—there are other people out there doing what they can to make the world better for women and girls.

Are you doing your part? 

Some of you may have been surprised at the lack of justice for victims of rape on college campuses.  This morning, National Public Radio will uncover some myths that make it hard to stop campus rape.  One of these myths is that for the young men, committing the rape is a “one-time” experience.  Research now proves otherwise—9 out of 10 rapes on college campuses are committed by repeat offenders.

When it comes to bravado and wanting to talk about their “conquests,” what’s the difference between college rapists and the men who regularly purchase sex from prostitutes (aka “the Johns”)?  Not much.  They are both eerily proud of what they do—and both groups think that what they do is justifiable, not wrong. 

Read the full NPR investigative story here.  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124272157

Have you ever been listening to the news on the radio and a story really grabs your attention?  That happened to me while I was driving in my car on Friday.  This story came on, and even though I had reached my destination, I had to sit in my car until it was over.  It made me sad, then really angry.

What particularly bothered me is the part where the rapist gets sympathy (and a lesser suspension from school) because he cries during counseling with a school official.  The victim cried too—why weren’t the school officials more sympathetic to her?

I am so sick and tired of the prevailing perception that if a woman has too much to drink (or wears the wrong clothes, or has on too much make up, or…..) the fact that she gets raped is somehow her fault, or worse, that she deserves it.  Rape is rape–period.  And justice shouldn’t involve victimizing the rape victim all over again. 

Read or listen to the story, part of a National Public Radio investigative series, at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124111931. 

The massive earthquake in Chile is yet another reminder of the power of nature.  As much as we like to think we are in control, the reality is that we are merely riding on this planet.  We don’t control when, where, or how strongly Mother Nature reminds us of who is really in charge.  What we can do is prepare for the possibility of disaster, and help those who have been affected by disaster recover.

The latest news reports estimate that more than 700 people have died, as many as 2 million people have been displaced from their homes, and countless numbers are still missing.  We do have a Soroptimist club in Santiago, and we have reached out to the members there to ensure they are safe.  The lack of working phone lines and internet connections has made that a challenge, but I received word last night that past Governor Silvia Fernandez and her family are fine.  Thankfully, Santiago appears to have experienced less devastation than other parts of Chile.

As we continue to watch the news for updates from Chile, let us not forget that in spite of the best efforts of relief agencies, this disaster (like other natural disasters) will continue affect women and girls more profoundly.  Here’s an excerpt from “Women in the Wake of the Storm” a research report funded by Soroptimist and prepared by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

For those who survive, life after disaster proves more difficult for women as well.  In the immediate chaos that often ensues after a disaster, women’s safety and security is particularly at risk.  Rape, gang rape, and other physical violence are common occurrences (Enarson, 1998; World Health Organization, 2002)….We also know that women’s vulnerability to sexual assault grows when living in refugee camps or non-gender segregated shelter situations.  In some cases women are forced to exchange sex for food, shelter or protection as a means of survival….

Once the immediate crisis has abated, survivors are left to pick up the pieces and start their lives over.  With this comes a whole new series of challenges.  The need to procure housing, food, water, and a new source of income compounds an already stressful situation….This overwhelming level of stress is thought to contribute to the increased occurrences of domestic violence that typically take place in the recovery period.

Due to housing scarcity, women are often unable to escape abusive situations.  In other instances, those who may have left known abusers before a disaster, find that they must return afterwards for lack of other housing options.  This problem is exacerbated by the fact that post-disaster aid typically is distributed on a head-of-household basis, and thus is nearly universally accessed by men (Chew and Ramdas, 2005; Enarson, 2006; Tutnjevic, 2003).

We will communicate the availability of Soroptimist Disaster Recovery grants to our members in Chile and encourage them to assess how best to support the recovery needs of women and girls there.  Online donations to the Soroptimist Disaster Recovery Fund can be made through our website at www.soroptimist.org

Last night I had the opportunity to be with members of Soroptimist International San Jacinto Hemet Valley as their program meeting speaker.  I love being able to visit different clubs as my schedule permits it—I always meet interesting women, and I almost always learn something!  One thing I have learned is that every club has a unique culture, history and “personality,” based on the interests and needs of its members.

SI San Jacinto Hemet Valley formed about a year ago when two existing clubs decided to merge together.  One of the clubs was recognized for their fun and successful fund raising activities.  The other club was known for their wonderful service activities, including participation in Soroptimist programs like the Women’s Opportunity Awards.  The two clubs were passionate about Soroptimist and our mission to help women and girls.  But each had experienced a decline in membership.  They were at the point where they didn’t have an enough people to continue to do what they loved—and did best.

Because the cities of San Jacinto and Hemet are fairly close geographically, the members of both clubs started talking about what could be possible if they combined their respective strengths together into one club.  They have tried to keep the best of what was working for them in a new model, and have been courageous in implementing changes to make them stronger.  I’m sure it hasn’t been easy, but there is a real feeling of friendship and camraderie among the members there.

And, whatever this “new” club has done together is working!  Last night I was thrilled to induct 4 new members into the club—and two more new members also are joining (they just couldn’t be there last night).  These new members are so excited to be Soroptimists and work on our mission, and the club is so excited to have them.

So what’s the learning lesson from this?  Sometimes getting smaller forces us to reconnect with our mission and why we have chosen to be Soroptimists.  That reconnection can lead to greater passion and desire to help women and girls in our communities—and help us embrace changes that make it possible to continue on.  Those changes can help us get better at creating environments where Soroptimism can thrive.  And when we get better—we create the possibility to become bigger again.

Congratulations to SI San Jacinto Hemet Valley for all of your accomplishments, including those six new members!

I love websites that are snappy, thought provoking, and inspirational.  I particularly love snappy, thought-provoking and inspirational websites created for girls.  Today’s girls are bombarded with media that creates distorted perceptions of what is “beautiful,” what is “healthy,” what is “successful,” what is “appropriate.”

Western Canada Region Governor Angela Bunting sent me a link to a terrific website that helps counteract some of that media garbage.  Girlworks is a “magazine for smart girls” and it lives up to its name.  Thanks to the internet, girls don’t have to be Canadian to benefit from it!  See for yourself at  http://girlworks.ca/

Another one of my favorites is www.girl360.net.  What great girl websites have you come across while surfing the net? 

Think domestic violence is something that happens only to adult women?  Read these facts from the Teen Dating Violence Prevention Project website and then think again.

• One in three teens experiences some kind of abuse in their romantic relationships, including verbal and emotional abuse.
• Nearly 80% of girls who have been physically abused in their intimate relationships continue to date their abuser.
• One in four teen girls who have been in a relationship reveals that she was pressured to perform oral sex or engage in intercourse.

February is Teen Dating Violence Month in the United States.  It was launched by teenagers who wanted to speak out against the violence many girls experience in dating relationships.  Although the month is almost over, it’s not too late to do something.  If you have a teenage daughter, cousin, sister or niece in your family, talk to her about healthy relationships and what they look like.  Talk to your teenage sons, cousins, brothers or nephews about it too.

For more information on Teen Dating Violence Month, visit: http://www.teendvmonth.org/

For information about teen dating violence, read Soroptimist’s white paper on it: http://www.soroptimist.org/whitepapers/wp_teendating.html