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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Nadine Hoffman
“It All Comes Down to Women”
Leadership Council for Human Rights Celebrates “Sheroes” on International Women’s Day
March 8, 2007 Marks 98th Annual Women’s Day
“We women have been queens in the kingdom of necessity.” -Maria Antonieta Saa
“True emancipation begins neither at the polls nor in courts. It begins in woman’s soul.” -Emma Goldman
Throughout the world, women comprise the roots of their communities, holding together the structure and social fabric of daily life. While men concern themselves with the continuity of governments, women care about the continuity of generations. By educating their daughters and sons about traditional democratic values – human rights for all, civic rights and responsibilities, and that regardless of gender they can accomplish their greatest aspirations, whatever they may be – women pave the way for future generations that honor and practice these ideals. Every woman, whether wealthy or poor, illiterate or college educated, has a stake in ensuring a positive future for her children. Within their circle of influence, be it a group of peers or high level government officials, overtly and covertly, women act as powerful agents of change.
“It all comes down to women,” says Leadership Council for Human Rights President Kathryn Cameron Porter. “From the environment, to poverty reduction, to international security issues, the role of women is pivotal if we are to create any positive change – but women’s voices are too seldom heard at the decision making table.”
The strength of everyday women is evidenced by their tenacity in the face of oppression. In a world where women face domestic violence, female genital mutilation, enslavement through human trafficking and honor killings, and where discriminatory laws still declare them second-class citizens, it is easy, perhaps, to view women as victims. The Leadership Council instead prefers to call women survivors, because even as their mothers, sisters and daughters face serious threats simply on the basis of gender, they stand up and demand equality. As survivors, they are also “sheroes.”
Examples of “sheroes” can be found everywhere and come from every walk of life. They include the 33 recently imprisoned Iranian women’s rights activists who were arrested while peacefully protesting the trial of fellow activists; Afghan parliamentarian Malalai Joya, who responded to death threats with the defiant statement, “They will kill me but they will not kill my voice, because it will be the voice of all Afghan women”; the Pakistani rape survivor Mukhtaran Bibi, who went public with her story and launched an international campaign to stop violence against women; and countless others whose work improves the lives of the world’s most vulnerable women. Many “sheroes” never receive public recognition for their work – but whether they are teaching their neighbors to read, operating secret safe houses for women who have experienced domestic violence, or simply going to work and saving money so that their children might attend school, these women are laying the stepping stones in the continuing movement for women’s equality.
Thursday, on International Women’s Day, please join the Leadership Council and the entire human rights community in celebrating women’s “sheroic” achievements. Much work remains to be done in the struggle for women’s rights. Will you stand and be counted alongside the courageous women warriors who dare to demand justice from their oppressors?
Read what others are saying on International Women’s Day.
Toronto Star: “We want a world that respects women’s rights”
Amnesty International: “International Women’s Day: Irene Khan and Shirin Ebadi call for an end to discrimination against women in Iran”
Reuters AlertNet: “Blog: a day in the life of four African women”
Shanghai Daily: “Report: Women workers stuck in cycle of poverty”
Reporters without Borders: “International women’s day: concern about increasing violence against women journalists”
Adnkronos International: “Women’s Day: Moroccans in Italy Campaign against Sharia”
The Age: “Women exist on the other 364 days, too”
For the history of International Women’s Day, click here. |
