Issues of implementation and enforcement are central to any discussion on legislation to protect and promote women’s health and women rights. In Russia, one NGO reported that they have strong laws for victims of trafficking which include financial and legal services. However, most people are not aware of the laws or that they have a right to protection and assistance if they find themselves in situations of exploitation. In the U.S. one approach to raise awareness among women experiencing domestic violence was training beauticians to recognize signs of violence and offer advice on available services. Baroness Mary Goudie, UK Member of the House of Lords, stressed the benefit of finding a celebrity or well-known expert (…I discovered these persons are otherwise known as “Lovies” in England and “Sparklies” in U.S.) to champion a social issue in order to get the massage into mainstream media. Continue Reading »

It’s hard to believe it’s been TEN years since our Vital Voices Voyage set sail in Vienna. It seems much more recent especially when I saw so many of the women who gathered together in 1997—350 women from all the former Soviet Union countries met with women in Western Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States and Canada. Many of those same women came here to Kyiv. It’s amazing but their appearance has hardly changed a bit. I suspect it’s because they are doing what they love and it keeps them looking young and vibrant. Along with the returning crowd were a large group of newcomers and young women and girls. Continue Reading »

On the first day of Vital Voices Global Partnership’s Eurasia Leadership Summit for Women and Girls, I had the pleasure of listening to the Right Honorable Kim Campbell’s “Getting Women to the Power Table” discussion and offers a few notes below.

While Kim Campbell is best known as Canada’s nineteenth and first female Prime Minister, former Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Minister of National Defense, the fact emerged in a strategy session late on Monday afternoon, that one of her earliest leadership feats was as the first female student body president in high school. Continue Reading »