USF president Fr. Stephen Privett, S.J sat at the back of the room, his chin rested upon his left thumb as he concentrated on the forum. Most students were mesmerized by the guest speakers and the almost overwhelming information presented. There were a few students whose eyes wandered, but after just seconds their attention was jerked back to the guest speakers by powerful words such as “violence against women,” “violence against children” and “genital mutilation.”

Moments before, Rev. Privett introduced the Global Women’s Rights Forum. He quoted Thomas Jefferson by saying that all of humanity is endowed with inalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Privett said, “No agency, state, church, police can take away those fundamental rights.” Despite that, many women around the world are still oppressed.

This year was the 8th annual Global Women’s Rights Forum, which aimed to address the many issues facing women, children and other minorities. The forum was divided into three nights and one afternoon session covering Immigrant Women’s Rights, Organizing Against HIV/AIDS, Global Perspectives of Religious

Fundamentalism and Women in the News. A host of guest speakers came from both the Bay Area and abroad.
On Monday, Mar. 2, Lideres Campesinas, Bernadette Herrera and Elaine Villasper led the forum on Immigrant Women’s Rights in California. The forum provided English/Spanish interpretation for its guests. Herrera and Villasper were from the Filipino Community Center in San Francisco.

Sophomore Alessandro Broido said, “[Campesinas] was pretty inspiring.” He went on to sympathize with the immigrant women’s plight. “Their situation seemed really dangerous.”

The next night, the issue of HIV/AIDS was addressed by Joya Banerjee, Shamilla Wilson and Kyle Kitson.

According to Banerjee, approximately 6-7,000 people are infected a day, which is twice the amount of the September 11th terrorist attack victims. However, Banerjee was careful to make the distinction that HIV and AIDS are not necessarily a death sentence, nor are the pills a magic cure. The forum went on to address the conservative mindset of employing abstinence-only sex education, which does not work. Shamillah Wilson of the Sowillo Leadership Solution in South Africa tied the issue into social, economic and cultural practices. She said that a thing such as virginity testing only contributes to female susceptibility. Afterwards, Kyle Kitson began lecturing on harm reduction and passed out pamphlets, with precise details about the anatomy of a human body and harm reduction methods.

The discussion became so heated that many students participated in the open discussion. Senior Michael Sanson brought up the fact that here at USF there were still some inherent restrictions on sexual tendencies.

For example, most universities distribute condoms; USF’s Health Promotion Services (HPS) does not. HPS, however, will be offering HIV testing.

On Wednesday, the forum addressed Religious Fundamentalism and impact on women. “Today the world is suffering an unprecedented amount of hatred and violence in the name of religion,” said Julia Dowd. Guest Maria Suarez of Feminists International Radio Endeavor (FIRE) in Costa Rica spoke of the changing role of religion in Latin America. She said, “Politics and religion came together from the beginning to wash away the identity.”

Suarez explained that Latin America went from polytheism to monotheism because of colonization. According to Suarez, separation of church and state is desperately needed so that women can have a permanent role in society. While in Costa Rica, she met a 9-year-old girl that had been raped and impregnated by her stepfather. Costa Rica at that time had not separated church and state, and the church held a firm stance against abortion. So, Suarez and a group of others took the girl to Nicaragua, so that she might get the abortion.

Suarez said, “Fundamentalism for the feminist is the use of religion as a political tool.” She integrated the concept of being one with God and offered an understanding of its connection with fundamentalism. She explained that fundamentalism is specific to the control of women, and, she said, “It is critical to deal with, not only to women but to all people.”

The panel went on to discuss the many problems and benefits of religious fundamentalism. Religious studies professor Lois Lorentzen talked about growing up in the traditional American church family and the inherent roles she felt obligated to conform to. Teresia Hinga, guest speaker from the University of Santa Clara, spoke of the role of Christianity, monogamy and the role of women. Hinga also stressed the need for women to have equality in the eyes of the law.

Karen Mendez, a sophomore international business major, attended the forum and felt that the controversies distinguished by the panel were very interesting. She said, “I really got a better understanding of fundamentalism and the focus on religious aspects through the panel. I especially enjoyed that they did not all agree. This enabled me to see both sides.”

The final session was held in Cowell 113 to discuss women in the news. The presentation was led by Maria Suarez, who has been a radio journalist with FIRE since 1991.

The Global Women’s Rights Forum celebrated the progress that has been made and reminded the USF community of the many tragedies that still exist. Broido pointed out the forum’s greatest achievement. He said, “I liked how they talked about youth empowerment and the connection of what we can do in the community.”

Additional reporting by Kamilla Nosovitskaya.

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