In Honor of International Women's Day

Call to Action: March 8th, International Women's Day

International Women's Day is celebrated worldwide on March 8th. It was founded in 1908 when fifteen thousand working women in New York City took to the streets.  Female immigrant workers from the needle trades joined forces with women from the tenements and marched to Union Square demanding higher wages, better living, and working conditions and the right to vote.   International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men.

On March 8, 2010, women from Congo and Rwanda, in the middle of a violent civil war,  joined at the bridge where the two countries meet, showing that they could build the bridges of peace and hope for the future. This action sparked a massive global movement and last year they were joined by in solidarity by more and more people showing their support on bridges all across the world.

This Thursday, in honor of International Women's Day, 'Women for Women, International' is organizing their annual 'Join me on the Bridge'event. This event is the coming together of people from around the world, united in taking a stand for peace and women's equality. Thousands of people will gather together show that they are with the women of Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and other war-torn countries. At the same time, hundreds of women will gather again on the Rwanda/Congo border where the bridge event originated to unite, speak the truth, and demand peace. 

This Thursday, health permitting, I hope to join my sisters on the Brooklyn Bridge.  Will you join us on the bridge? http://joinmeonthebridge.org/

Here are some of the things YOU could do to continue supporting the campaign:

1. Join or host an event: Organize your own event.  Even if you don't have a bridge nearby, there are things you can do to take part.

http://joinmeonthebridge.org/events

2. Fundraise online or at your event: http://joinmeonthebridge.org/page/donate

3. Send a message of peace:  http://joinmeonthebridge.org/page/messages-of-peace

A Matter of Perspective

An English professor wrote the words

"Woman without her man is nothing."

on the blackboard and directed her students to punctuate it correctly.

The male students wrote:

"Woman, without her man, is nothing."

The female students wrote:

"Woman!

Without her, man is nothing."

--Unknown--

Friday Quote

 

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

 

-- Marie Curie--

Inter-generational Cycle of Abuse

Is there a generational cycle of abuse? Some of these examples of the impacts on children of living with domestic violence would suggest that children are growing up to replicate aspects of the behavior they themselves were subject to.  In other words, research has shown that there is a cycle of abuse whereby patterns of abusive behavior are passed down through the generations. 

Violence is a learned behavior that often is self-perpetuating. In fact, the single most influential factor of domestic violence in society is the continuation of a generational cycle of abuse and/or a history of abuse in the family of origin. When children bear witness to violence, they learn that the people you love the most may hurt you and the violence is the only way to handle conflict. Fear becomes a normal part of life.  This is the way people are supposed to act. Women who saw their mother abused may grow to believe that if a man doesn't abuse them, he must not love them.  And, as they learn, a generational cycle begins in which children grow up to either be abused or to be the abuser.  

In addition, the link between domestic violence and child abuse, both emotional and physical, cannot be ignored. Domestic violence or child abuse rarely exist alone. When there is violence in a home it is often multifaceted. Children are frequently involved in episodes of domestic violence, either as witnesses, victims, or participants when they intervene to protect their mothers. This form of family violence can have a profound influence on the child. Those who have been abused in childhood may abuse or neglect their own children, perpetuating an inter-generational cycle of abuse.  Violence begets violence.  Child abuse, like domestic violence, replicates itself across  generations.

A cycle of abuse is rarely broken without outside help. Without effective intervention, domestic violence  becomes an inter-generational cycle.  Abusers must confront and take responsibility for the verbal and physical abusive patterns of behavior. Both victim and abuser need to consider professional counseling as a means to stop the cycle of abuse. If you cannot find or cannot afford professional help, seek out public services to address the abuse in your home before it spirals out of control. 

Quote of the Day

"For what is done or learned by one class of women becomes, by virtue of their common womanhood, the property of all women."
—Elizabeth Blackwell
(The first woman in the U.S. to become a physician)

Woman must not accept; she must challenge.
She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her;
she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression.

~ Margaret Sanger ~