It’s official! Members of Congress introduced the groundbreaking International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) on February 4!

This bipartisan legislation will integrate violence prevention in U.S. foreign policy and support innovative programs that have been shown to effectively reduce violence against women and girls.

For many of us, recent reports on international violence against women seem distant and incomprehensible. On any given day, horrifying stories on such violence appear in the news: the systematic rape of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, assaults on women and girls in Afghanistan, shocking brutalities in Guinea. Sadly, this violence is not isolated to a few women in a few places. In fact, approximately one out of three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Rates of domestic violence reach 70 percent in some countries. No country is immune – the violence crosses all borders and affects women of all ages, social groups, religions and classes.

The United States Congress now has an opportunity to address these horrifying abuses. Senators Kerry (D-MA), Boxer (D-CA), Snowe (R-ME) and Collins (R-ME) and Representatives Delahunt (D-MA), Poe (R-TX), and Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced this landmark legislation that can have a real impact for women all over the world.

Congress should move quickly to pass and fund I-VAWA.

In a world where tensions and violence within communities can jeopardize national and international security, it is critical that the United States take action to end atrocities committed against women and girls in their homes and in their communities, during times of peace and times of conflict.

Violence takes the lives of millions of women and girls, and denies countless others their dignity and the chance to live safe, productive lives. Constituents now have the opportunity to let lawmakers know they want more done to address violence against women globally. They can take action to end the suffering by urging their Members of Congress to co-sponsor I-VAWA. Visit http://capwiz.com/fvpf/issues/alert/?alertid=14591456&PROCESS=Take+Action to take action now!

The United Nations Association of the United States of America is hosting a FREE public event on Saturday, Feb 6. The event is titled, "Empowering Women and Children Around the World" and will feature prominent speakers who are experts in human rights and women's rights. Download flyer for more info:

2010_UNA-USA_Annual_Meeting_Flyer_(Kazu).pdf (276.09 kb)

The First Annual

Women’s Center Graduate Student Symposium

Submission Deadline

Friday, January 22, 2010

Symposium

Thursday, February 18, 5 pm

The Women’s Center is committed to fostering strong linkages among feminist theory, praxis, and education.  Our first annual Graduate Student Symposium will provide a space for graduate students to share original work that explores themes related to gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race/ethnicity, class, or other issues of diversity and social justice.  The symposium will enable students to better prepare for delivering presentations at national conferences or other venues by offering a space where they can receive feedback in a supportive environment.

The Symposium will be comprised of 3 presentations each lasting 20 minutes, followed by a facilitated Q&A session.  The Women’s Center invites all graduate students whose work coincides with our mission and/or vision to submit an application to be considered as a panelist. Each panelist will be automatically qualified to receive a $100 travel grant to help defray costs of attendance at an academic conference.

Submissions should include 1) a 500 word abstract 2) a 250-500 word essay describing  how the paper/presentation supports the Women’s Center mission and/or vision.  (Please make sure that the abstract and essay do not have any identifying information on the page) and 3) A title sheet with name, home department, contact email, and phone number.  Packets can be delivered in person to Dr. Jess O’Keefe at the Women’s Center (1^st Floor, Student Resource Building) or via email as .doc files to  jess.okeefe@sa.ucsb.edu.

Mission Statement

The Women’s Center uses a feminist approach to provide support, advocacy, resources and education to the UCSB community. We value and respect all genders, bodies, sexual orientations, and racial and ethnic identities while challenging all forms of oppression. We work towards creating a campus environment that is safe, equitable, and just.

Vision Statement

We envision a world free of oppression and violence. We strive for inclusion and equity through our programs, services, and work. We celebrate the richness of our differences while working collectively to create a community of leaders, scholars, and global citizens for the future.

For more information about the Women’s Center, see our website http://www.sa.ucsb.edu/women

The UCSB Women's Center is pleased to present Christa Gannon, our 11th Annual Distinguished Woman in Sports Lecturer

DATE:  Monday, February 1, 7 pm

LOCATION: UCSB Corwin Pavillion

TITLE: Stay Strong, Play On

FREE Public Lecture

Download our flyer

The Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (RCSGD) is pleased to announce their first edition of the Rainbow e-Newsletter.  To subscribe to the e-newsletter list (emails sent out not more than once a week), contact Samuel Santos, Jr., at samuel.santos@sa.ucsb.edu

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release

November 25, 2009

STATEMENT BY VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN ON THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

November 25, 2009

“Violence against women is found in every culture around the world. It is one of our most pervasive global problems, yet it is preventable.  When gang rape is a weapon of war, when women are beaten behind closed doors, or when young girls are trafficked in brothels and fields - we all suffer. This violence robs women and girls of their full potential, causes untold human suffering, and has great social and economic costs.  On this 10^th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, I urge all Americans to join with the international community in calling for an end to these abuses.”

 USUN PRESS RELEASE # 285                                                         November 25, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, November 25, 2009     

 Today the United States joins with activists, advocates, and leaders from all over the globe in recognizing the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  This day is of particular importance because women continue to be subjected daily to physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse -- regardless of age, race, culture, economic status or location.  No country is free of this scourge.  In the United States, women experience 2 million injuries and 1200 deaths per year as a result of violence by husbands or intimate partners.  Furthermore, research by the United Nations Women’s Fund found that in some countries, up to seventy percent of women have experienced physical or sexual violence by men.   In situations of war and conflict, the prevalence of rape and sexual violence is horrific, with thousands of women and girls gang-raped, mutilated, and forced into sexual slavery every single day. 

 Gender-based violence is a terrible reality that leaders of all nations must address and prevent through national and international action.  The Obama Administration has worked with member states in the United Nations to strengthen the international community’s response.  In September, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the Security Council in its adoption of Resolution 1888, which calls upon the Secretary-General to appoint a Special Representative to lead, coordinate and advocate for efforts to prevent sexual violence and to end impunity for perpetrators. The United States has urged the UN General Assembly to highlight issues of sexual violence in its deliberations to create a stronger, more effective women’s agency in the UN.  And, in October, the United States strongly supported the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1889, which condemned continuing sexual violence against women in conflict and post-conflict situations and called for a wide range of measures to strengthen the participation of women at all stages of peace processes.

 The ability of all women and girls to live free from abuse and fear is a fundamental human right.  As we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the United States renews its resolve and commitment to fight gender-based violence in all its forms.  We call upon the international community to collaborate to end these atrocities, to better protect women and girls, and to end impunity for perpetrators of gender based violence.

 For more information on Global Women’s Issues please visit: http://usun.state.gov/issues/c33954.htm

The Department of Justice and the Office on Violence Against Women join victim service providers, law enforcement, the judiciary, prosecutors and survivors around the country to observe October 2009 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  We must recognize that we can all be agents of social change and end the tragedy of violence against women.  

 President Barack Obama made the official announcement in a proclamation:

 During this month, we rededicate ourselves to breaking the cycle of violence. By providing young people with education about healthy relationships, and by changing attitudes that support violence, we recognize that domestic violence can be prevented. We must build the capacity of our Nation's victim service providers to reach and serve those in need. We urge community leaders to raise awareness and bring attention to this quiet crisis. Together, we must ensure that, in America, no victim of domestic violence ever struggles alone.

Greetings UCSB! My name is Cristina Madrigal, and I am excited to be joining the Gaucho family as the Program Coordinator of the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity. I joined the community after spending five years as a Bruin, graduating from UCLA in 2007 with a Bachelor’s of Art in Women’s Studies and again in 2009 with a Master’s of Education in Student Affairs. My child and life teacher, Phoenix, was born in 2005, bringing both joy and challenge to my life. As I begin my journey here at UCSB, I invite you to stop by and introduce yourself. I promise I won’t bite!

The Women’s Center is pleased to announce that we have a new logo! This logo you see on our banner is inspired by the three waves of feminist activism. The first wave of feminism won women the vote, and the second sparked massive social and political changes, including the development of women’s centers in universities across the nation. Young women and men today are part of feminism’s third wave – building upon and expanding the successes of their foremothers, challenging binaries and embracing diversity, multiplicity and personal expression. 

Our logo has other interpretations as well. The spiral is an ancient symbol of feminine power, while the triple spiral evokes forward movement and evolution – which is what today’s Women’s Center is all about.  What else does our logo evoke for you?

If you see this post it means that BlogEngine.NET 1.5.0 is running and the hard part of creating your own blog is done. There is only a few things left to do.

Write Permissions

To be able to log in to the blog and writing posts, you need to enable write permissions on the App_Data folder. If you’re blog is hosted at a hosting provider, you can either log into your account’s admin page or call the support. You need write permissions on the App_Data folder because all posts, comments, and blog attachments are saved as XML files and placed in the App_Data folder. 

If you wish to use a database to to store your blog data, we still encourage you to enable this write access for an images you may wish to store for your blog posts.  If you are interested in using Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, VistaDB, or other databases, please see the BlogEngine wiki to get started.

Security

When you've got write permissions to the App_Data folder, you need to change the username and password. Find the sign-in link located either at the bottom or top of the page depending on your current theme and click it. Now enter "admin" in both the username and password fields and click the button. You will now see an admin menu appear. It has a link to the "Users" admin page. From there you can change the username and password.  Passwords are hashed by default so if you lose your password, please see the BlogEngine wiki for information on recovery.

Configuration and Profile

Now that you have your blog secured, take a look through the settings and give your new blog a title.  BlogEngine.NET 1.4 is set up to take full advantage of of many semantic formats and technologies such as FOAF, SIOC and APML. It means that the content stored in your BlogEngine.NET installation will be fully portable and auto-discoverable.  Be sure to fill in your author profile to take better advantage of this.

Themes and Widgets

One last thing to consider is customizing the look of your blog.  We have a few themes available right out of the box including two fully setup to use our new widget framework.  The widget framework allows drop and drag placement on your side bar as well as editing and configuration right in the widget while you are logged in.  Be sure to check out our home page for more theme choices and downloadable widgets to add to your blog.

On the web

You can find BlogEngine.NET on the official website. Here you'll find tutorials, documentation, tips and tricks and much more. The ongoing development of BlogEngine.NET can be followed at CodePlex where the daily builds will be published for anyone to download.

Good luck and happy writing.

The BlogEngine.NET team