Women's studies group travels to Washington D.C.

April 21, 2005
By Jenna Stevens
Staff Writer

This past week, seven students from St. Ambrose embarked on a journey that led them to develop a new vision for a future organization on campus.

Members of the women’s studies program had the opportunity to attend the Feminist Majority Conference in Washington DC. The purpose of this conference was to address the issues surrounding women’s rights and equality on a global level.

Students learned about issues such as the Global Gag Rule, which is an attempt to impose restrictions on the federal funding allocated to the development of reproductive programs. These include birth control for developing countries and the implementation of abstinence-only programs.

Another widely discussed issue was the United States’ unwillingness to ratify the treaties put forth by the United Nations on issues concerning children’s rights and the rights of women to be treated as respected individuals.

Currently, the United States is one of the only nations in the world and the only developed nation not to ratify both of these agreements.

Students partook in panel discussions where they were allowed to voice questions and concerns about these issues with persons trained in their specifics. Information was made available to everyone for future research.

Three of the students also made a visit to Capitol Hill to speak with state senators and representatives about the work that is being done on these issues. They had the chance to find out where Iowa’s votes were concerning the rights of women and provided the offices with information urging them to ratify the previously mentioned treaties.

“This conference was a great learning experience,” Claire Richards said. “It brought to my attention a variety of different issues happening around the globe and it gave me a lot of information to bring back and use throughout the community.”

The issues addressed at this conference will be the basis for the formulation of a women’s studies group on campus in the fall of 2005.

The group will work collectively with other organizations on campus to bring about social justice and equality for all persons and will attempt to inform students of the issues happening in our communities concerning human rights, both here in the United States and abroad.

The primary goal of this group is to inform persons what it means to be a feminist and educate the student body of the importance of getting involved and working towards eliminating many of the problems plaguing our society today.

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