To the Students of Penn State:

Something is really wrong here.

ƒWhile I did not attend a university with a football team, I respect that football is what makes your school tick, and that Mr. Paterno’s exceptional skills are necessary for the team’s success. You have every right to be angry that he will no longer be guiding your team to victory, or that your team may no longer have victory. But why aren’t you angrier about the fact that, under his watch, Mr. Sandusky was able to continue his actions of sexual assault?

I’m not blaming Mr. Paterno for Mr. Sandusky’s behavior. Mr. Sandusky is obviously a sick man who needs intense rehabilitation, jail time, and should not be allowed near children. But your anger is misdirected and you have shown the world that students at Penn State value a football team’s success more than the livelihood and safety of children in your community.

You have a right to be outraged. Your tuition was going to pay someone who had a pattern of sexual abuse and a slew of administrators who neglected to do anything about it to stop him. If that happened where I went to school, I’d, too, be pissed.

But why don’t you see the bigger picture? This isn’t about football. It’s about the fact that Mr. Paterno knew Mr. Sandusky was a danger to society, and only did the bare minimum to stop him. Mr. Paterno should have broken down the doors of the university president’s office and the police until someone put Mr. Sandusky behind bars. The board of the university recognizes this, and took measures to preserve the legacy and standing of the university. Why don’t you?

According to the New York Times, students were quoted as being embarrassed by this mess, but not embarrassed by the compliance with assault. “’It’s not fair…The board is an embarrassment to our school and a disservice to the student population,”’ one student said.

Interesting analysis, Future-Penn-State-Graduate-and –Leader-of-America (hopefully not). I always thought that a “disservice to the student population” might be more like allowing someone who assaults children to roam campus and host camps for kids on university grounds.

Penn State: I know, or have to believe to be able to sleep at night, that your entire student body doesn’t think this way, but, rather, this is just the image that is being conveyed on airwaves across the world. However, I have spent my entire life advocating the fact that our generation, today’s young people (ie you) are “the generation the world has been waiting for.”

Your actions last night, exhibiting your backwards values, show that the world can stand to wait longer for you. Your misdirected anger and your failure to show compassion for those whose lives were ruined from Mr. Sadunksy’s actions are a sure-sign that sexual assault will continue in our society until people like you care more about the safety and livelihood of women and children than success at a football game.

Sincerely,

Laiah (@laiahjo)

PS: The Onion, as always, says it best.

Photo Credit: The National Post

This piece originally appeared at Curls in the Capital, and is cross-posted with permission.

On January 2, 2009 when I landed in India, to spend three months teaching English in a slum of New Delhi I had no idea what to expect. During that time, I grew to both love and struggle with India. I found everything to be a contradiction: the extreme, in-your-face poverty contrasted with a country with the fastest growing population of billionaires; the inner peace individuals found despite living in a chaotic city; the success and value placed on the tech-industry despite the fact India has not properly invested in sanitation, causing 665 million people to be public defecators.

Recently, a study conducted by TrustLaw Women, an online legal news service run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, called India the fourth most dangerous country for women in the world, preceded by Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pakistan.
TrustLaw Women asked 213 gender experts to rank countries according to six risks: sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, discrimination and lack of access to resources, and trafficking.

The numbers from India are overwhelming: 100 million women and girls are involved in trafficking, 44.5% of Indian girls are married before they are 18, and 50 million women have gone “missing” as a result of female infanticide.

These statistics prove that much of India, regardless of caste, views women as second-class citizens, less valuable than their brothers, fathers, and husbands. Much of this belief comes from various cultural practices. For example, because a daughter moves to live with her husband’s family after they marry and therefore does not have the responsibility of caring for her parents, many Indian families do not view their daughters as their own: she’s an investment with no return. As a result, some families are willing to abort a girl child, refuse to invest in her education or healthcare, or even to sell her into slavery for a small fee.

Anu Ahuja, a native of India but a MD resident, finds these statistics sad and surprising. Now India is not being considered a developing country,” she said. “When you watch a Bollywood movie it’s surprising to see how Americanized its become based on the clothing the heroines are wearing. So you hear that India is progressing not just technologically or economically but in its thinking, but then you hear about reports of girls being starved in orphanages which is depressing because wanting a son is so engrained in the culture. “

Indeed, many of these statistics are personal to me after my time in India. For example, despite it being illegal to get married before 18, I had a 12-year-old student whose parents arranged her marriage to a 30-year-old man. When the wedding occurred, nobody in the community spoke up out of fear, and, probably because, many of them were going to make similar choices for their daughters. She came back to school a few days after the wedding in tears.

However, the contradiction that is India also makes me see another reality. Despite the horrors many Indian families inflict on their daughters, Indians do not seem afraid to elect women. India currently has a female president, Pratibha Patil. In 1966, India elected its first female Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, and currently, her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, is the President of the Indian National Congress, the political party of the current Prime Minister.   And in 1937,  when American women were legally barred from many workplaces, Ms. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was appointed Uttar Pradesh’s Minister for Health and then appointed to be a delegate to the United Nations.

Ms. Bela Singh, India Country Director for Cross Cultural Solutions, an organization that places volunteers in economically developing countries for short-term volunteering positions, emphasizes the situation for women in India is not black and white; “I am a common women but I don’t feel threatened,” she said. “Statistics don’t do justice in my opinion…Reality can not be seen from outside. One should look within first to claim India is the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women.”

Ms. Singh represents the growing population of middle class women in India.  According to research conducted by Deutsche Bank, there are up to 300 million Indians living in the middle class. To put this number in perspective, that is nearly the total population of the United States but  only about 30 percent of the Indian population. Nevertheless, these individuals, specifically the girls, are gaining access to resources, knowledge, and opportunities that were unheard of for their mothers.

I find this contradiction to be one of the most fascinating within India. Each India, the child bride and the female president, is just as real as the other.  They coexist in the same chaotic way as other national contradictions. But this contradiction, of systematically destroying the opportunities for and well-being of half of the population, is unsustainable. If I could, I would add a footnote to TrustLaw’s study. I would say India is the fourth most dangerous country for many Indian women. For the rest, these realities are as foreign as they are to us.

Photo Credit: Erin Williamson, 2009

In mid-May, women from across Armenia gathered together to organize for a larger political presence in the running of their country.  These women worked to form policy platforms, an organizing tool designed to change national policy around certain issues.  Women across the world have already used these platforms effectively for social change.

The conference was convened by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), USAID, the British Council and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).  Initially, between 150-180 women were expected to attend, but more than 300 men and women showed up, working collectively to advocate for a larger female political presence and for legal protection for key women’s issues.

Long-time women’s rights activist Stephenie Foster facilitated the conference. Foster has a long career in building and structuring government affairs and systems, and she has spent much of her career dedicated to advancing women’s rights, from serving as the Vice President for Public Policy at Planned Parenthood to drafting training programs for Vital Voices.

I had the opportunity to chat with Stephenie when she returned from Armenia about her work at the conference and what it means for the future of women’s rights:

Tell me more about a “national women’s platform.” What does that mean? Why is a women’s policy platform important?

Essentially, a national women’s platform is one that identifies issues that women from different backgrounds can agree need

to be national policy priorities.  The goal of developing such a platform is identify specific policy goals for bringing greater attention to women’s issues and increasing women’s political representation and participation.

A platform can be used in several ways:  (1) for NGO and activists to use in advocating for government to take up the issues, whether through proposed laws or initiatives; (2) for political parties to incorporate in their party platforms and (3) for candidates to use when running for office.

What were the main issues facing Armenian women that came out of the conference?  What solutions were offered?

The platform focused on four critical issue areas: (1) increasing women’s access to health care, (2) increasing women’s access to economic opportunity, (3) increasing women’s political participation, and (4) decreasing domestic and gender based violence.   We broke into smaller groups and did the hard work of debating and prioritizing how to best address these issues.

In each issue area, the groups came up with 3 to 4 policy priorities, and then we brought the entire group back together and had a discussion.  In the end, the women all agreed to these policy priorities.  They included:

•    Strong anti-discrimination laws.
•    A network of shelters for domestic violence victims, and expanded hotlines for victims of violence.
•    Loans and incentives for women owned businesses.
•    A minimum health care package for women including preventive services.
•    More women running for elected office.

Why should American women care about women’s party platforms and general women’s issues in Armenia?

Women share a lot of common issues, as you can see from looking at the issues that were discussed.  We can always learn from each other about what has worked, what hasn’t and why.  We don’t have all of the answers and I think we need to be part of a global conversation about how to ensure that in every country, women have a voice in decision making.

Personally, as someone with little knowledge of the Armenian political landscape and the role of Armenian women, I found the news of this conference fascinating, especially given the issues conference participants prioritized.  It seems, despite the vastly different history and population of Armenia and the United States, women in both countries share similar problems. It will be interesting to observe what, if any, impact this conference will have on these issues and more.  Foster explained that the conference follow up will involve working groups of individuals who will draft and ensure these policies are implemented.   People involved in any or all of these issues should follow the progress of this conference to benefit from the Armenian women’s lessons learned.

It is my hope, a hope I imagine I share with Ms. Foster and the conference organizers and participants, that this party platform will work to advance not only female political participation in Armenia, but also serve as a source of motivation for men around the world to more deeply involve women in shaping and changing national landscapes. As Foster said, it is important to participate in the global conversation.  What works elsewhere can serve as an inspiration for others, and with fewer than 100 women in the US Congress, I’m sure we can all agree that the United States is not exempt from needing an effective model.

Congratulations to the women of Armenia for successfully organizing and leading the way.  We look forward to watching where this effort takes you.

We are pleased to welcome Laiah Idelson to the Fem2pt0 blogging team!  Laiah works in the field of international development and has been involved with social justice issues since the age of twelve.  She has lived and worked in both Africa and Asia, and she has completed internships with reproductive rights and Jewish organizations in the Washington, D.C. area.  Laiah graduated with a B.A. in Media and Government from American University and hails from Walnut Creek, California.