An Entire Month of Women's History

When you think of women’s history, most people tend to only recognize International Women’s History Day (March 8th) which was first observed in 1909. However, it wasn’t until 1987 when Congress expanded the observance of Women’s History to encompass an entire month. 

This year, I decided to take advantage of as many events that I could to not only celebrate the accomplishments of women but to further educate myself on events being held around the state, and in my own backyard. 

Women’s History month for me began right away on Friday, March 1st when I attended an event held in Sturbridge, MA. Through my service on the Mass. Commission for the Status of Women, I received an invitation to attend a statewide Girls Think Tank; a half day event organized by Investing in Girls Alliance of Greater Worcester and the Girl's Initiative. 

The event drew 75 participants from around the Commonwealth and many women (and one brave man), considered decision makers, thinkers, leaders from girl serving community based organizations, women’s colleges, funders, educators and legislators came together with the common goal of building networking opportunities to work to find ways to impact legislation to inspire funding for issues affecting girls and young women across Massachusetts. 

The event which was co-sponsored by the Daniels Foundation was a “working” event: Meaning the participants didn’t just sit back and listen to speakers (otherwise known as “preaching to the choir”); the participants were asked to work to come up with concrete ideas that could help girls. Several questions were asked and participants brainstormed answers through a “World Café”; where participants go from table to table meeting people from other organizations and discussing questions posed by the moderators. 

Some of the questions included: What do we know about girls in Massachusetts? What are their challenges?  The day ended with the hardest question “What conversation, if begun today, could ripple out in a way that creates new possibilities for the future of girls in Massachusetts?” This one question produced many different ideas that were displayed on paper around the room, and then participants voted on the most important ideas and came up with a plan of action – to work to develop a statewide commission on girls. I was honored to have been involved in this process and look forward to working with my colleagues around the state to draft legislation so the statewide commission on girls can become a reality. 

The next event I attended was hosted by the Women’s Forum at United Nations of Greater Boston. The UN-GB held a screening of the film “Not My Life” a documentary on human trafficking and slavery around the world. Although the film was at times difficult to watch, it is an important film about slavery in our time that was directed, written and produced by Academy Award nominee Robert Bilheimer. The film takes place on five continents, in a dozen countries and includes interviews with victims of human trafficking as well as advocates from government, law enforcement, the general public and the private sector.   

The stories ran the gamut from brothels in India, to street beggars in Africa and what was surprising to most – domestic servants working in affluent homes in Washington, D.C. Many of these women, who are not thought of as “slaves”, work for low wages, no benefits and endure inhumane conditions. As the director says “despite the evil it portrays, Not My Life is a tribute to the enormous resilience of the human spirit, a moving and memorable testament that even in these harsh times, all hope need not be lost”. 

Keeping in the theme of the United Nations, I traveled to New York to participate in the 57th Commission on the Status of Women conference held at the United Nations. As a member of the Zonta Club of Malden, I wanted to hear the update on our international service projects. 

The first presentation was on our project in Rwanda where Zonta is partnering with UNICEF to Prevent Gender Based Violence and Achieve an HIV-free Generation through the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV. Zonta International by partnering with UNICEF combined with a strong government support is making great strides toward the goal of an HIV-free generation of people in Rwanda and are hopeful that they will achieve the goal of an HIV free generation by 2015!

The second United Nations presentation was on non-government organization’s (NGO’s) role in Advocacy and Service to End Trafficking in Persons. This was a presentation by a member of the Zonta Club of Sanibel Florida, who gave an informative presentation on how big trafficking is in the U.S. and described how one project from her club turned into four separate projects to educate individuals on the issue of human trafficking. What she emphasized was that although all 50 states have anti-trafficking legislation, not all states are consistent with the Federal law and we were reminded that “just because you have a law doesn’t mean it is enforced.” Therefore there is a great need for advocacy and education around the issue of trafficking. 

It is fitting that I ended the month with two events here in Malden. I was very proud to work in collaboration with the Mayor’s office to host a screening of “MissRepresentation”, at the Malden Senior Center. MissRepresentation is a documentary that originally was shown on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network and analyzes the effects media has on the development of girls. I was pleased that many women leaders in the City came out to support this event and we had a wonderful panel discussion afterward.

Last but certainly not least, I attended an International Women’s Day event hosted by the American Association of Arab Women that was held at the Malden YMCA. The women of this association assembled an impressive panel made up of several women who are leaders in their field.  The panelists talked about some of the gender bias issues they faced in their careers which led to a lively discussion.

What I found through my attendance at various Women’s History month events was that participants agreed on one thing. Whether the event was local, state or international all agreed that the discussion on issues that affect women and girls should not be talked about once a year; that there needs to be an ongoing dialog that results in more than just a lively discussion – there needs to be a plan of action that has to be executed and followed up on.