Category Archives: Women and Girls

The Younger Women’s Task Force of New York City Relaunch Event – You’re Invited!

Join the Younger Women’s Task Force of New York City (YWTF NYC) for “Cocktails and Conversations”

Thursday, July 24th, starting at 5:30 pm at the Loreley Restaurant and Biergarten in Lower Manhattan (map)

Learn about YWTF NYC and our mission – State your mission – Find out about open board positions and ways to get involved your own way!

YWTF NYC is back, but not without you! At the first official event of the summer, we want to know, what YOU want out of your membership? Networking? Career advice? Mentorship? Work/life balance tips? Do you want to lobby our representatives to advocate for women’s issues? If you answered “yes” to one or all of the above, we can’t wait to meet you!

Originally founded in 2005, YWTF NYC is an organization devoted to younger social justice and women’s rights activists. YWTF chapters in cities around the country work on a variety of issues in different ways as an arm of the Association of American University Women (AAUW), an organization with well over 100 years of experience in advocacy, philanthropy, education, and research. For more information about YWTF, please visit aauw.org/YWTF.

Please join us for “Cocktails & Conversation” to learn more about us, talk about the issues that matter most to you, and find out about ways to take action with YWTF. We will be serving light appetizers and encourage you to bring your friends along! Please help us spread the word and share this information with other activists in the region.

For more information and to RSVP, please visit: “Younger Women’s Task Force NYC – Cocktails & Convos” or email YWTF.NYC@gmail.com

Remarkable Women in New York State History Reading

On Sunday, July 27, the Poughkeepsie Branch’s Sunday Author Series will explore the book, Remarkable Women in New York State History, a collection of short biographies of notable women from across the state throughout its history. The book is the end-product of an AAUW NYS project, “Women Making a Difference” and coauthored by Marilynn Smiley and AAUW NYS Historian, Helen Engel. Both Smiley and Engel will be on hand to introduce the book.

The program runs from 2:00-3:00 pm at the Gallery in Beacon (199 Main Street, map). Please contact Wendy Maragh Taylor with any questions.

Remarkable Women in New York State History

Program:

Introduction by authors Marilynn Smiley and Helen Engel

Catharyna Brett 1687-1763, Barbara Wilman (author)

Sojourner Truth 1797-1883, Helen Engel

Maria Salmon Mitchell 1818-1889, Helen Engel

Eleanor Roosevelt 1884-1962, Eleanor Charwat* (author)

Jane Matilda Bolin 1908-2007, Wendy Maragh Taylor* (author)

Ruth Stafford Peale 1906-2008, Marilynn Smiley

Anna Oder Buchholz 1921-2007, Barbara Mindel* (author)

Lucille Pattison 1935-2013, Judith Linville* (author)

* Members of AAUW Poughkeepsie Branch

Tomorrow, February 4th, Google Hangout Event on Addressing Sexual Assaults on Campus

Tomorrow at 3:00 pm, join Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14, D) and student advocates and leaders from Know Your IX, the National Women Law Center, and AAUW in an online conversation about what actions the Department of Education should take to protect students from sexual violence on campus.

Please click Google Hangouts on the Air to learn more, RSVP, and listen in.

Human Rights Day Event December 10th

On Tuesday, December 10th, the United Nations Association Southern New York State Division and the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Center at Val-Kill will observe International Human Rights Day with an event titled, “Human Rights: The World We Want.”

The event will feature Ryan Kaminsky, a UNA-USA Leo Nevas Human Rights Fellow, as keynote speaker. After the keynote address, the audience is invited to participate in roundtable conversations focused on topics of interest including Climate, Education, Energy, Food & Agriculture, Gender & Protection, Good Governance, Health, Jobs, and Water & Sanitation. Notes, concerns, and suggestions from the discussions will be compiled in a report submitted to the UN Secretary General by UNA-USA.

The event runs on Tuesday, December 10, from 11 am to 2:30 pm at the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home at 4079 Albany Post Rd, Hyde Park, NY 12538 (map). Participants are invited to visit the FDR Presidential Library and Museum free of charge after the event.

The program is free and open to the public, there are $10 box lunches available, but they must be ordered in advance. To RSVP, order lunch, or get more information please email mbenedict@erleadership.org or jbs@stratdev.com or call 914-478-3450 or 845-229-5302.

Petition for a Special UN Resolution to End Child Marriage

The World YWCA is sponsoring a petition calling on the UN Commission on the Status of Women to issue a special resolution to end child marriage.

Worldwide, 1 in 3 women ages 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18. In developing countries, 1 in 7 girls are married before the age of 15. If present trends continue, the UNFPA estimates that over the next decade, 14.2 million girls will be married before they turn 18 every year. Without meaningful and aggressive intervention, by 2021 the average number of girls married each year will raise to 15.1 million girls– a figure nearly equal to the population of New England.

Early marriage limits girls’ economic and social opportunities, decreases their access to education, and seriously impacts their health. Worldwide, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death for adolescent girls. Furthermore, young brides are more likely to become victims of domestic violence. Early marriage helps to perpetuate unequal gender roles, poverty, and lack of education. Allowing girls to have a childhood, education, and make their own choices helps strengthen communities in the long-run, advance development, and stabilize societies.

On March 7, the World YWCA will deliver its petition to the CSW57 session. You can support the rights of women and girls around the world by adding your name here and then sharing the petition with your family and friends.

Registration Deadline Extended for the 2013 CTAUN Conference

The registration deadline for the Committee on Teaching about the United Nations (CTAUN) conference has been extended from December 28 to January 7. The conference, titled “Advancing Social Justice: The Role of Educators,” will be held on Friday, 18 January 2013 from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at the UN Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan (map). The admission fee is $65.00, CTAUN encourages all educators and other interested citizens to attend. Click here to register.

One of the keys to achieving lasting positive change in the world is reaching the youngest generations and to empower a new class of well-informed citizens. The problems facing the world community are incredibly complex and resolving them requires leaders with intelligence and a depth of awareness. Education is paramount to the creation of activists with the knowledge, skills, and empathy needed to tackle the world’s issues.

Accordingly, this year’s conference looks at the role of educators in advancing understanding of social justice issues. CTAUN believes that promoting social justice will foster greater “economic equality and political stability for the world’s citizens,” which is one of the UN’s most central goals. The conference will explore issues of social justice and human security, including human trafficking, forced labor, environmental justice, food security, and immigration/forced migration.

The keynote speakers are Thomas Pogge, author, Director of the Global Justice Program, and Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University, and Rachel Lloyd, founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), author, and advocate for trafficked youths. Panel presentations will include representatives from the International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UNICEF (Child Protection), and the US State Department, and other organizations.

For those interested in staying in Manhattan for the weekend, discounted hotel rates are available at ONE UN New York (formerly the Millennium Plaza) for $199 per night for a room with 2 people or $239 per night with 3 occupants. The special rates for conference participants are valid from Wednesday (16th) to Sunday (20th).

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Mayfield at jennifer.a.mayfield@gmail.com or 914-388-2937

Celebrate Human Rights Day

The Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Center at Val-Kill and the United Nations Association, Southern New York State Division (UNA-SNY) are holding an exciting event in honor of Human Rights Day.

“Whose Human Rights?” will be held on Tuesday, December 11, from 11 am to 2 pm at the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home in Hyde Park (map).

The featured speaker is Gillian Martin Sorensen, Senior Advisor and National Advocate at the United Nations Foundation. The event will also honor the memory of Margaret K. (Molly) Bruce, a United Nations staff member from the time of its founding in 1945 until 1977, when she retired as one of the highest ranking women in the UN Secretariat. Ms. Bruce was also a friend and colleague of Eleanor Roosevelt, a human rights activist, and an advocate for women around the world.

Please RSVP as soon as possible to Maureen Benedict at 845-229-5302 or mbenedict@ervk.org.

This is a free event. Coffee and tea will be served, but unfortunately it is too late to order lunch, participants are encouraged to bring a packed lunch. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Mayfield at 914-388-2937 or jennifer.a.mayfield@gmail.com.

Miss Representation Education Committee Meeting

The Miss Representation Education Committee will meet before the open board meeting on December 6, at 3:15 PM at the Kingston Library. All Branch members are more than welcome to attend. We will be discussing ways to bring the movie Miss Representation and its messages into area schools. The movie examines the way women and girls are represented (and under-represented) in our media and the impacts those depictions have on society.

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Mayfield at jennifer.a.mayfield@gmail.com or Adele Calcavechhio at adeleacts@gmail.com.

Women’s Equality Day Protest, August 26, 2012

HUDSON VALLEY PROTEST TO DEFEND WOMEN’S RIGHTS

On Sunday Aug. 26, Women’s Equality Day in America, AAUW Kingston joins with other Hudson Valley advocates of women’s rights in New Paltz, N.Y., to march and rally in opposition to what is being called the ongoing “War on Women.”

Women’s Equality Day commemorates the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote after a 100-year struggle for basic rights including suffrage for women. Congress in 1971 designated Aug. 26 a perpetual “Women’s Equality Day” after New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug introduced the legislation.

Protests in support of women’s rights will take place in a number of cities, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago on Aug. 26, the day before the Republican Party Convention in Tampa, in opposition to legislative and rhetorical attacks on women and women’s rights taking place across the nation.

These attacks, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, “include a wide range of policy efforts designed to place restrictions on women’s health care and erode protections for women and their families. Examples at the state and federal level have included restricting contraception; cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood; state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasounds; abortion taxes; abortion waiting periods; forcing women to tell their employers why they want birth control, and prohibiting insurance companies from including abortion coverage in their policies.”

According to Donna Goodman of New Paltz, an organizer of the local demonstration: “Women have always known that winning the right to vote ‹ as important as it was ‹ still left many rights yet to be gained. Some additional advances have been obtained in recent decades, but political attacks on women’s rights from the right wing have been sharply increasing in the last couple of years. Last year alone, 26 different states enacted new anti-choice laws. The Women’s Equality Day protests in the mid-Hudson region and elsewhere are part of the fightback. We demand full equality!”

The Hudson Valley demonstration begins with a 1 p.m. rally in Peace Park next to New Paltz Village Hall (25 Plattekill Ave.). This will be followed by a march with signs through the downtown village district, returning to the park for a brief final rally. (In event of inclement weather, the rally will be inside the hall.)

The various actions in the U.S. Aug. 26 are in response to a call for protests by a new activist/feminist organization titled Women Organized to Resist and Defend (WORD), which “is dedicated to building the struggle for women’s rights and equality for all.” The organizers emphasize “Women and men of all ages, nationalities and sexual orientations are invited to join in this campaign.”

An endorser list for the New Paltz event is in formation, but so far includes: the American Association of University Women (Kingston), Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter, NAACP (Ellenville), Occupy New Paltz, Peace and Social Progress Now, Women in Black (New Paltz), Middle East Crisis Response, End New Jim Crow Action Network, Real Majority Project. A partial list of those endorsing the national events Aug. 26, including the New Paltz rally, include: Roseanne Barr, actor; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild; Leah Bolger, President, Veterans for Peace; Farheen Hakeem, National Co-Chair, Green Party of the United States; Sarah Sloan and Peta Lindsay, ANSWER Coalition.

The Aug. 26 demonstration is being organized by the Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter on behalf of nine Mid-Hudson women activists: Ariana Basco, Donna Goodman, Elizabeth Gross, Margaret Human, Judith Karpova, Terry Leroy, Helaine Meisler, Joanne Steele, Barbara Upton: For information about the New Paltz event contact donna0726@earthlink.net, or (845) 255-5779.

Details about the national events are at http://www.defendwomensrights.org/

Title IX Makes Kwasnowski’s All-American Rating Possible

[This letter to the editor was sent to the Daily Freeman June 14th but has not been published so we thought we’d publish it here.]

Congratulations to Kingston High School lacrosse athlete Lauren Kwasnowski just named a U.S. Lacrosse All-American. And thank you to the Freeman for your consistently excellent coverage of women’s sports.

None of this would have been possible without the passage of Title IX ensuring gender equity in education. June 23rd is Title IX’s 40th anniversary. When Congress passed Title IX in 1972, few high schools or colleges had sports teams for young women. There’s been great progress in many places, although sports scholarships for young women like Lauren lag far behind the millions in sports scholarships available for young men.

Increased athletic opportunities for women and girls are only one aspect of Title IX. Title IX has made it possible for women to pursue careers as lawyers, doctors, mechanics, scientists; it affects all areas of education and applies to all institutions and education programs receiving federal funds. Some of those areas include access and admission to higher education, career and technical education, education for pregnant and parenting students, equity in math, science, engineering and technology education, and sexual harassment, as well as athletics.

Like many other areas today where women believed we had made progress in breaking through gender barriers, we find that Title IX is being eroded. Those who oppose equity for women and girls are using targeted budget reductions, reinterpretation of regulations, ineffective compliance monitoring, and the erroneous notion that there is a “boy crisis.” AAUW maintains that education is not a zero sum game, and that the real issue is about girls doing better, not about boys doing worse.

AAUW Kingston encourages all those concerned about equity for women and girls– your daughters, your mothers, your wives, your friends or yourself — to become a watchdog and speak out wherever erosion is occurring or progress needs to be made. That includes our school district and college budgets and policies, as well as local, state and federal legislation.

We wish Lauren and young women everywhere all the opportunities women have fought for throughout our history and those we have yet to win.