Feminist Events Calendar

Celebrate Sexual Assault Awarness Month, Earth Day, Pay Equity Day and Day of Silence!

April is sexual assault awarness month! Show your support to victims and survivors of sexaul assault by planning educational forums and events. For event ideas, fact sheets and information click here!

On April 22nd celebrate Earth Day! Show the connections between environmental degredation and women's rights. For informational fact sheets click here!

April 25th is Pay Equity Day! Speak out about the wage gap by hosting educational forums or pay equity bake sales. For more information check out: www.pay-equity.org and www.wageproject.org!

April 26th is the National Day of Silence! Educate your campus about discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. To find out if your campus is participating or how to get involved, check out www.dayofsilence.org!

Don't forget May!

Women's Health Care Month
-4th: National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day
-8th-14th: National Women's Health Week  

Contact Us!

Call us toll free at either the East coast office (1-866-444-FMLA) or the West coast office (1-866-471-FMLA). You can also email us at campusteam@feminist.org. We are always happy to hear from you and answer any questions or concerns!

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This is your E-zine, and we are always updating and changing to fit your needs, so please let us know what you think of our new format! Email campusteam@feminist.org with any suggestions, ideas, or comments.

Walk for Women's Lives at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida!

Congratulations and thanks to the Organization for Students Actively Pursuing Equality (OSAPE), FMF affiliate, at Stetson University, for hosting the first campus Walk for Women's Lives on Friday, March 23rd. Their succesful walk raised over $400 for the research of treatments for ovarian and uterine cancers. Kathryn Turner, the OSAPE President, describes the event below:

"The Stetson Walk for Women's Lives was the most rewarding fundraiser that OSAPE has coordinated to date.  Through our planning efforts, we were able to recruit students, faculty, and staff members to donate and sponsor students to walk, as well as raise awareness about women's health issues on campus and in the community.  Students came together to hang fliers, write press releases, reach out to community organizations, and build alliances.  The Walk was covered by local media, including the Stetson University newspaper, The Reporter, and the DeLand-Deltona Beacon and our organization was able to gain visibility on campus and support a very important cause."

If you are in the Washington DC area JOIN US on Sunday, April 23, 2006 for the National Walk for Women's Lives.

This 5k fun walk to support resarch on the use of mifepristone to treat progesterone-dependent cancers is set to take place Sunday, April 23rd, 2006 at the Women's Memorial in Arlington, VA. The rally is set to begin at 9:00am with the walk to follow at 9:30am.

If you can't walk please consider sponsorsing the walk with a tax-deductible donation. To donate or to register for the walk, click here!

We need you to help Walk for Women's Lives!

Celebrate Sexual Assault Awarness Month by supporting the ratification of CEDAW (the UN Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women)!

On December 18, 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The call for a Women's Treaty emerged from the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975. Until the UN General Assembly adopted the CEDAW, there was no treaty that addressed comprehensively women's rights within political, cultural, economic, social, and family life.

CEDAW is the most comprehensive and detailed international agreement which seeks the advancement of women. It establishes rights for women in areas not previously subject to international standards. The treaty provides a universal definition of discrimination against women so that those who would discriminate on the basis of sex can no longer claim that no clear definition exists. It also calls for action in nearly every field of human endeavor: politics, law, employment, education, health care, commercial transactions and domestic relations. Moreover, CEDAW establishes a Committee to review periodically the progress being made by its adherents.

As of December 2003, 177 countries have ratified the Convention, pledging to give women equal rights in all aspects of their lives including political, health, educational, social and legal.

Click here for the text of the treaty, the states that are party to the treaty, country reports, and more. More information...

• Join Amnesty International for their National Week of Student Action (April 3-10) and support the treaty for the rights of women! For more information on their events and to download their organizing kit, click here!

Back Up Your Birth Control Day: Get It Before You Need It!
Back Up Your Birth Control Day was March 21st. We want to apologize to all of our FMLA's and Affiliates who requested materials from us. Unfortunately we did not receive the materials in time for your events and we apologize for any and all inconveniences this may have caused. Please keep an eye out for the materials coming soon, which you can use all year round. Keep up your awesome EC organizing and let us know what kind of events your group sponsored and supported!

End of Semester Interviews
It's that time of year again for the End of Semester Interview with your Campus Organizer! Please call or email your campus organizer today and set up a time and day to complete the interview. This is the last end of semester with your current Campus Organizer. Your new Organizer will be contacting your exec board this summer! Also, please email your Campus Organizer with the contact information of your Fall 2006 exec board after your spring elections. Don't know who your organizer is? Click here or email campusteam@feminist.org.

University of Alabama- Tuscaloosa FMLA
On Thursday, March 16th the FMLA held a pay equity bake sale while simultaniously tabling with information about EC and
encouraging people to sign an EC OTC petition. They received a lot of signatures to make EC availability over-the-counter as well as to promote EC education initiatives. The petitions will be sent out to the Alabama Reps. In addition, from the bake goods they sold they made $30 which will be used for take back the night supplies.

Bryn Mawr College - Voices for Choice
Starting the week of March 22nd, the Bryn Mawr Voices for Choice set up a Women's History Month display in their Campus Center. Group President Elisha Colter explains, "The idea is to have a big visual to highlight some of the amazing things women in America have accomplished over the last hundred years. In addition to the big names and events, we're really focusing on women who have been largely ignored by the history books. The plan as of now is to devote most of the display to women's accomplishments, then at the end include the setbacks we're facing now. I really want to get women here thinking about how hard women before us had to fight to win the rights we take for granted and are at risk of losing. After the display, we're hosting a discussion on what people thought of the display, what rights are in danger now, why women are excluded from history, and so on."

University of South Carolina - Columbia FMLA
The FMLA from the University of South Carolina—Columbia recently hosted a screening of the Boston Legal episode dealing with the provision of emergency contraception to rape victims at hospital emergency rooms. Campus Organizer Jessica Bearden was in attendance to update attendees on recent EC related legislative developments.

Los Angeles Valley College FMLA
Los Angeles Valley College FMLA hosted a Back Up Your Birth Control Day table and had students write post-cards to local pharmacies, asking those pharmacies to make EC available behind the counter.  Eight states, including CA, MA, NM, WA, NH, ME, AK, and HI have pharmacy access laws which allow a pharmacist (after going through a quick, voluntary training) to prescribe EC directly.  

New FMLAs!
We would like to welcome the Feminist Student Organization at Northeastern University in Boston, MA to the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance community

Tribe Could Still Have Clinic: State Law Wouldn't Apply to Researvation
March 28, 2006 -- If South Dakota's near-total ban on abortion dodges challenges at the ballot box and in court, Oglala Sioux Tribe president Cecelia Fire Thunder hopes to establish a clinic that performs abortions outside the reach of state lawmakers but inside the state, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The unique relationship between federally recognized Native American tribes and the states in which they reside means abortion clinics could operate inside the state, even after the law takes effect, according to South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long.

Fire Thunder is one of 16 leaders of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, a group that last week announced its intent to collect the 16,728 signatures necessary to take the law to a statewide referendum. More

Referendum Campaign Launched Against South Dakota Abortion Ban
March 27, 2006 -- A new coalition called South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families announced on Friday that it was launching a referendum campaign to repeal the South Dakota abortion ban. The law, which will take effect in July, bans all abortions in South Dakota except those necessary to save the life of the woman – even victims of rape and incest are prohibited from receiving an abortion in the state under the punitive law. More

New Resources Available on Women's Earnings and the Wage Gap
March 27, 2006-- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) released a new resource guide last week designed to help women to negotiate wages and recognize wage discrimination in their jobs. The guide, Know What to Ask and Know Your Rights: A Pay Equity Guide on How to Help Yourself in the Workplace is aimed at young women entering the job market. In announcing the guide at the “Equity Pay for Women” seminar at Stony Brook University, Clinton said, "I hope this guide is a tool that helps to empower women, looking for jobs or holding jobs and perhaps unaware of their rights and the resources available." More

More Feminist News

Women's Groups Speak Up at World Water Forum
March 23, 2006 -- At the Fourth Annual World Water Forum, held this past week in Mexico City, the Women's Caucus called on the conference attendees to uphold women's human right to water by including women in decisions related to water usage and sanitation and by taking gender issues into consideration when making policy. They cited the United Nations General Comment 15 to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which says that "The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights." The Women's Caucus proposed many recommendations for action, including: recognizing women as full partners in water and sanitation efforts; recognizing intentional contamination or withholding of water as a crime against humanity; developing gender equity policies for institutions that deal with water; and creating gender-sensitive and gender-balanced responses to water crises. More

China Will Continue One-Child Policy Despite Criticism
March 23, 2006 -- The National Population and Family Planning Commission of China has announced its intention to continue its one-child per family policy despite allegations of abuse, while stepping up efforts to prevent sex-selection abortions. NPFPCC Director Zhang Weiqing said in an online forum that officials would continue to "unswervingly implement" the policy because higher population would place a strain on the country's resources, reports Kaiser Network . More

More Global Feminist News

Million Voices for Darfur - April 30th Deadline
On January 12, 2006 (the 55th anniversary of International Genocide Prevention Day), the Save Darfur Coalition and over one hundred advocacy, humanitarian aid, and faith-based organizations have launched the Million Voices for Darfur Campaign to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur and to demand that Congress and the Bush Administration take action to halt the atrocities. The Coalition and its partners are calling for 1,000,000 postcards, phone calls, and electronic signatures calling for the U.S. government to support a larger, stronger, multinational force to protect the civilians of Darfur. On April 30th, the Coalition will deliver these messages to Capitol Hill and the White House. Get involved and encourage others to raise their voices to help stop the genocide and hold President Bush to the words that he wrote in the margins of a briefing memo on the Rwandan genocide: "Not On My Watch." Send a message to help Darfur!

Promote Literacy Across the Globe! Have an End of Semester Book Drive!
The FMF and the National Women's Studies Association have teamed up to help your FMLA/affiliate collect used class books, donate them to international book organizations, and make a difference on a global scale!

To make the process as simple as possible, we are collaborating with Better World Books and Books For Africa, who collects books on behalf of libraries, schools, and hundreds of non-governmental organizations, who then distribute the materials among communities in need. Better World Books (BWB) began as a book-drive run by three friends on a university campus - now, it's a nation-wide effort with thousands of people involved, all working to improve people's quality of life through literacy. One of their biggest partnerships is with Books for Africa, whose mission is to help end the book famine in Africa; since 1988, the organization has shipped over 10 million books to 26 countries in Africa.

At the BWB collection center, the books are sorted; some are donated to Books for Africa directly, and others are offered for sale online to generate funds for the shipment of containers of books to Africa. BWB has raised $500,000 for BFA through online book sale, and every book sold online sends 5 to Africa.

For more information on the book drive, click here! For more suggestions on campaigns that target anti-sweatshop, pro-global reproductive health, and pro-environment organizing, check out the FMF 2005-2006 Global Actions Kit!

Check out the Conference on Wrongful Convictions at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA ~ April 7-9!
Interested in working to end the U.S. death penality? Want to learn about the anti-death penality movement? Check out this conference hosted by the UCLA School of Law. The conference fee is $25.00 for students. For more information or to register, click here!

If you are east of the Mississippi check out the Tranny Roadshow! The Tranny Roadshow is a multimedia performance art extravaganza, which will be touring the country for the second time this spring. It is composed of an eclectic group of artists, each one self-identified as transgender, and includes poets, rappers, filmmakers, storytellers, breakdancers, rock bands, comedians, actors, folk singers, photographers, zinesters, and more. Stationary art (i.e. photography and sculpture) will be on display, but most of the presentation is the live show, a unique variety show where the expression of gender and the expression of self are inseparable. For more information, check out their website: www.trannyroadshow.org

Find a feminist internship or post-graduate job!

Job Search Tips: Keep Up Your Feminist Activism Post-Graduation! Join the Feminist Majority Foundation!

Are you graduating this May and looking for an awesome feminist career? The FMF is now hiring a new class of Campus Organizers to assist in leading the most innovative feminist Campus Program in the United States. To read about the job and learn more, click here!