About 130 student feminist activists from 20 colleges in the region came together at Brown on Saturday with global leaders on women's rights and members of the Providence community to share thoughts and experiences and to discuss ways to fight gender inequality. The conference, entitled the "Global Leadership Summit: Eliminating Violence, Empowering Women," featured an array of lectures and workshops and was co-hosted by the Brown Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and its affiliate, the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Prompted by the success of February's "Active Bodies, Active Minds: Young Women Making Change" conference on gender equality, the conference kicked off and concluded in Salomon 001. Its smaller workshops were held throughout Salomon Center.
The day began with a screening of "Global Majority ... Again," a short film condemning several of President Bush's policies that threaten women's rights. The sarcastically toned film included criticisms of abstinence-only sexual education in schools, the withdrawal of millions of dollars in funding from reproductive health clinics nationwide and the Global Gag Rule, a policy that places restrictions on family planning on an international scale.
Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, explained in the opening speech the interdependence of world issues and their relationship with the struggle for women's rights.
Smeal said women's rights are often compartmentalized into the realms of moral, religious, personal and choice issues, yet "they are in fact much more than that," she said. "What we want people to see is that these issues are not isolated. They are not only interconnected, but sometimes they don't even make sense if you see them in isolation."
Smeal criticized the Bush administration's withdrawal of funding for clinical trials on Mifepristone, a drug that may help treat progesterone-related breast cancer. The drug has failed to garner support because of controversy surrounding its potential use as an emergency contraceptive.
"Think of the ridiculousness of the fact that we have politicized science," Smeal said. "My goodness, can you believe that this could happen to us in the year 2007?"
That the administration has "managed to make family planning controversial" was another of Smeal's criticisms. The government directs money from family planning education to Bush's abstinence-only program, despite evidence contradicting the effectiveness of this program, Smeal said.
Smeal ended her speech with an appeal for the audience to become politically active. "I firmly believe that if we are going to change the direction of the world, young women must organize," she said. "I hope you all get mad by the end of this thing - real mad."
With stirred emotions, the group broke into three separate workshops on global policy, each led by panels of three to four speakers each.
One workshop addressed the global struggle for reproductive rights, arguing that access to safe and legal reproductive health services is both a health issue and an economic matter. Panelists shared thoughts and experiences regarding U.S. abstinence-only policies and their role in obstructing the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
"The Empowerment of Women as the Key to Economic Development and Reproductive Rights," another of the morning's workshops, discussed the key role that women play in sustaining healthy communities and assessed the ways that expanding women's access to education, economic opportunities and safe, effective family planning services improves the quality of life for those communities.
The third workshop addressed the ways that militarization entrenches violence in a society, with a focus on women civilians living in Darfur, Iraq and Afghanistan. Panel speakers included Scott Warren '09, executive director of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, and Feroza Yari, the Feminist Majority Foundation's Afghan scholarship recipient and a student at Clark University.
Yari told the group of her own struggles with women's rights in Afghanistan, which included anecdotes about how she and her mother were forced to provide food and shelter to soldiers in battle on an almost daily basis. She also told of some of the forceful threats she and her family received from the Taliban. Her story illustrated how women are disproportionately affected by militarization, especially as modern warfare increasingly disregards civilians' rights.
"What we (people living in the United States) are hearing about Afghanistan isn't necessarily true. Women and children are insecure," Yari said.
After the morning's workshops, the group broke for a networking lunch in Petteruti Lounge. The second half of the day consisted of four more workshops, this time with a focus on ways to "think globally" and "act locally."
One of the afternoon workshops featured a discussion on why and how women should run for political office. Led by panelists Jennifer Lawless, assistant professor of political science and a 2006 candidate for the Democratic party nomination for Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District, Rhode Island State Sen. Rhoda Perry P '91, D-Dist. 3, and Sara Gentile '09, the group discussed why it is important for women to enter the political arena and contribute their ideas on gender equality. The panel also discussed ways students could develop confidence and leadership skills and put them into practice.
Another workshop addressed the issue of gender-based domestic and global violence. Panelists including Smeal and Yari led the group in a discussion on ways that the issue might be both treated and prevented.
To treat domestic violence, Smeal advocated for an increase in the number of women in law enforcement. "Studies prove it - the more women in our police force, the better the response to domestic violence," Smeal said.
As for violence prevention, the group debated the root causes of male-perpetrated violence. In particular, it disputed the relationship between drugs and alcohol and violence. Some participants said the link was causal, but others believed that drugs and alcohol only exacerbate men's predisposition to violent behavior. The discussion ended with an appeal to women, as most participants agreed that empowerment of women - including self-defense training, healthy relationship workshops and a breakdown of gender stereotypes - are the keys to ending violence.
The other workshops included a discussion on current political techniques that are used to limit women's reproductive rights and a look at transnational activism led by Joanna Shea O'Brien, public affairs specialist for the Peace Corps.
The day ended with a closing lecture entitled "Reproductive Justice and Human Rights," beginning with a speech by Luz Rodriguez, co-founder and board-treasurer of SisterSong, an organization that provides a forum for indigenous women and women of color.
Rodriguez appealed to the audience to incorporate indigenous people in discussions on women's rights. "When we give everyone a voice, what we can do for each other arises," she said.
During a question-and-answer period, audience members discussed topics such as race, activism on campus and conclusions gathered from the day. The conference ended with a positive, uplifting tone.
Millan AbiNader, a sophomore at Bowdoin College and participant of the summit, told The Herald that the conference was an inspiration to become active and provided a plan on how to do so. "Seeing all of these fascinating, strong women who do so much for gender equality was inspiring," she said, adding, "the information was presented in a way that doesn't scare you off. It gave us concrete ways to make a difference."
Smeal's reaction to the day was also forward-looking. "The power of young women is totally under-utilized," she told the Herald. "They're the driving force to change the world."
Summarizing the purpose of the conference, Smeal said, "What we try to do is connect the dots. If you're upset about Iraq, about global warming, about outsourcing, sweatshops or gay rights, you should participate in this kind of organizing," she said.
"There is no such thing as a women's issue," she said.
The Feminist Majority Foundation started the campus program to help student activists organize and develop their programs, of which the Brown chapter is a part.
"FMF has been a great resource to tap into," said Alison Cohen '09, a member of the FMLA at Brown who coordinated last year's "Active Bodies, Active Minds" conference. "It's all about working on shaping this next generation of activists," she said.
