Various Atrocities Aimed at Women

Congresswoman Elenore Holmes Norton (DC) speaking about proposed legislation and making a call for young feminists to join together and speak out against the war on women.

I went to Washington D.C. this weekend for the National Young Feminist Leadership Conference. It was incredible....all of it; the conference itself, the restaurants in the area and exploring D.C. after midnight on Friday and Saturday.

But this post isn't about Thai Place, Busboys and Poets, Tonic or GW Delicatessen that served great food, or my adventures, or the magnificent cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes. It's about what I learned from the conference.

My favorite quotes from the conference were:

"If you want change to happen get off the sidewalk and get on the street and start walking." -U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis

"When there are a few women in politics, women change. When there are a lot of women in politics, politics changes."- Women's Learning Partnership President Mahnaz Afkhami

I've never been in a room full of so many passionate and like-minded people. The speakers of the general assemblies were great, and the workshops I chose to attend were also great.

As I'm sure most of you know, a women's right to reproductive choice is on the chopping block. I learned a lot about legislation, particularly the Stupak on Steroids bill and the attacks on Planned Parenthood and other Title X organizations. All of the speakers of the first panel were awesome:

• NOW President Terry O'Neill
• Congresswoman Elenore Holmes Norton (DC)
• Founder and President of the Salem College FMLA Kari Ross
  
• iamdrtiller.com creator Steph Herold
• Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, Tina Tchen
• FMF President Ellie Smeal
  

The first workshop I went to had three women that became professional organizers and advocates for reproductive health and women's rights. My favorite speaker was Samantha Sewell (Conference and Events Program Director for Bluegreen Alliance) , but Dvora Lovinger (Deputy Chief of Staff for John Sarbanes) and Jen Heitel Yakush (SIECUS Director of Public Policy) were great too. The speakers talked about how they went from being an undergraduate to landing their dream jobs. I'm really considering entering that field, so it was great to hear from people that were in my position not too long ago. All were genuine and passionate about the issues that matter most to me, like reproductive choice, sex education in schools and working with politicians to get legislation passed.

The second workshop, with FMF President Ellie Smeal and FMF Global Programs Coordinator Anushay Hossain, was about opposition research and questioning the fundamentals of the pro-life movement. Ellie spoke about how deeply embedded the pro-life agenda is in our culture. From access and cost of birth control and contraceptives, to religious influence, to government mandates that control education and funding to sex education and AIDS prevention abroad, to questioning the money trail that leads up to the working-aged white males that make up most (or at least half) of the people that yell outside of abortion clinics. It's all interrelated, and it all works to limit the choice of women and their opportunity for independence.

The last panel I went to focused on a global view of women's health. My brain didn't want to function when UNFPA Chief Sarah Craven said that in Ethiopia, with a population of 7 million (so about 3.5 million women) there are only 104 OB-GYN's, and only 50 of them are practicing. Most of them only practice in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Because of this, both the maternal mortality and infant mortality rate are staggering. Pregnant women have to travel for hours and sometimes days, usually via donkey, to get to the hospital. When the mothers do manage to live through birth, they often suffer chronic health problems as a result of the lack of OB-GYN's and other resources available. All of this is happening when most girls become wives at 14-16 years old, which carries its own inherent birthing risks. Most women in Ethiopia have their first sexual encounter before they have their first period.

It's a similar story in Iran and Afghanistan, as I heard from WLP President Mahnaz Afkhami and nurse Mina Ayob. Most women don't have access to prenatal care, and few even know what it is. There aren't enough hospitals with the facilities needed to perform caesarean sections or other things needed for the birthing a breached baby.

Also in Afghanistan, I learned that most of the money the U.S. sends goes to constructing traditional madrasas, schools that only allow boys. The only real aid we provide for women is the training of midwives. But there still isn't a widespread effort to provide contraceptives and sex-negotiation skills to women. It all has to go through the men. This isn't just Afghanistan either, this is the extent of our efforts in many different countries. We focus on abstinence and fidelity instead of the proper use of contraceptives and sex negotiation techniques for women who are culturally forced to submit to their husbands. Organizations that do anything otherwise don't receive funding because they have to sign an agreement saying that their focus is on abstinence and fidelity.

And, of course, we know this is happening at our schools in the U.S. too. Abstinence-only education and slut-shaming is the norm instead of a focus on practical advice that everyone should know. Kids have sex. Sorry parents, teachers, religion...it's true. So stop pretending that it doesn't happen because it's causing serious harm to America's youth, and youth worldwide.

With all of this, there was a lot of talk about the union-busting nonsense in Wisconsin, which now threatens Ohio and other states too. In Wisconsin, unions of firefighters and police officers were allowed to remain, while unions of teachers, nurses and care-providers were not. Can you see the gender lines here? Walker said that public service employees are the police and firefighters, but then what are teachers, nurses and care-providers? We need them just as much as we need police officers and firefighters.

There was also discussion about the education cuts federally and at the state level, and the importance of higher education in general. Hilda Solis was amazing. For more on education cuts, check out my last post on Corbett.


So, the conference was awesome. D.C. is wonderful. I took some pictures that you can find on either my Flickr account or Facebook. Here's a taste: