{"id":4817,"date":"2013-03-08T07:58:17","date_gmt":"2013-03-08T12:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=4817"},"modified":"2013-03-08T07:58:17","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T12:58:17","slug":"international-womens-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/03\/international-womens-day.html","title":{"rendered":"International Women&#8217;s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id=\"overlay_image_anchor_810665\" href=\"\/photo.php?imageId=810665&amp;searchId=8267a0e01e45e325a1bcfdaa8e6ef424&amp;npos=156\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/everystockphoto.s3.amazonaws.com\/mosaic_women_world_810665_m.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Today,\u00a0 March 8th is International Women&#8217;s Day. One block on the calendar out of 365 that was created to bring awareness to the acheivements of women as well as the perils that befall girls and women worldwide. The holiday came to be in the 1900&#8217;s with the advent of the sufragette movement which granted the right for women to vote. Hard to imagine that there was a time when that was even a discussion when there are a growing number of female leaders whose voices are raised in support of the rights of both women and men.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.N. :<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Up to 50% of sexual assaults are committed against girls under the age of 16.<\/li>\n<li>Globally, 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime.<\/li>\n<li>Up to 70% of women in the world report having experienced physical and\/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime.<\/li>\n<li>Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Further, they state:\u00a0 This year\u2019s theme for International Women\u2019s Day, \u201cA promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perfectly timed was the signing into law, by President Obama, the\u00a0expanded Violence Against Women Act that was originally penned by Vice President Biden. It provides for additional protections and legal action in the cases of domestic violence.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the provisions include:<\/p>\n<p>* holding rapists accountable for their crimes by strengthening federal penalties for repeat sex offenders and creating a federal &#8220;rape shield law,&#8221; which is intended to prevent offenders from using victims\u2019 past sexual conduct against them during a rape trial;<\/p>\n<p>*mandating that victims, no matter their income levels, are not forced to bear the expense of their own rape exams or for service of a protection order;<\/p>\n<p>*\u00a0keeping victims safe by requiring that a victim\u2019s protection order will be recognized and enforced in all state, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions within the United States;<\/p>\n<p>*increasing rates of prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of offenders by helping communities develop dedicated law enforcement and prosecution units and domestic violence dockets;<\/p>\n<p>*\u00a0ensuring that police respond to crisis calls and judges understand the realities of domestic and sexual violence by training law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim advocates and judges; VAWA funds train over 500,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and other personnel every year;<\/p>\n<p>*providing additional tools for protecting women in Indian country by creating a new federal habitual offender crime and authorizing warrantless arrest authority for federal law enforcement officers who determine there is probable cause when responding to domestic violence cases.<\/p>\n<p>VAWA has<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;font-size: medium\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;font-size: medium\">ensured that victims and their families have access to the services <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: medium\">they need to achieve safety and rebuild their lives by: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 responding to urgent calls for help by establishing the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which has answered over 3 million calls and receives over 22,000 calls every month; 92% of callers report that it\u2019s their first call for help;<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 improving safety and reducing recidivism by developing coordinated community responses that bring together diverse stakeholders to work together to prevent and respond to violence against women,<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 focusing attention on the needs of underserved communities, including creating legal relief for battered immigrants so that abusers cannot use the victim\u2019s immigration status to prevent victims from calling the police or seeking safety, and supporting tribal governments in building their capacity to protect American Indian and Alaska Native women.<\/p>\n<p>VAWA has <span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;font-size: medium\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman;font-size: medium\">created positive change<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: medium\">. Since VAWA was passed: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Fewer people are experiencing domestic violence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\">Between 1993 to 2010, the rate of intimate partner violence declined 67%;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\">Between 1993 to 2007, the rate of intimate partner homicides of females decreased 35% and the rate of intimate partner homicides of males decreased 46%. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u2022More victims are reporting domestic and sexual violence to police, and reports to police are resulting in more arrests.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022States have reformed their laws to take violence against women more seriously:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\">All states have reformed laws that previously treated date or spousal rape as a lesser crime than stranger rape.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\">All states have passed laws making stalking a crime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\">Reasons to celebrate and simultaneously shudder to consider that everyday countless are held hostage by anger, aggression and fear. I know many who are survivors of violence at the hands of strangers, as well as those who they expected would love and protect them, or at least not hurt them. I have stood witness (as a therapist) with clients whose mental and physical health have been challenged mightily by such incidents and have seen some triumph and others crumble under the weight of it all. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\">I honor the women in my life who have been role models of strength and resilience, whose go get &#8217;em attitude inspire(d) me to do the same. My mother, grandmothers, aunts, mentors and friends have been part of the circle of women who so light up my life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-prn1\/c0.0.403.403\/p403x403\/559881_481371075244274_269065394_n.jpg\" alt=\"Photo\" width=\"403\" height=\"403\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.internationalwomensday.com\">www.internationalwomensday.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/h4tNFPXjNB0\">http:\/\/youtu.be\/h4tNFPXjNB0<\/a>\u00a0 Women Honoring Song by Deva Troy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Today,\u00a0 March 8th is International Women&#8217;s Day. One block on the calendar out of 365 that was created to bring awareness to the acheivements of women as well as the perils that befall girls and women worldwide. The holiday came to be in the 1900&#8217;s with the advent of the sufragette movement which granted&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12,13,70,19,1176,14,4,51,16,29],"tags":[452,1532,1751,2909,2907,2906,2908],"class_list":["post-4817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-bliss-kiss-for-your-weekend","category-blissfull-thinking","category-community","category-empowerment","category-holidays","category-how-to-invite-bliss","category-inspiration","category-mental-health","category-my-personal-bliss","category-women","tag-deva-troy","tag-international-womens-day","tag-president-obama","tag-un","tag-vawa","tag-vice-president-biden","tag-violence-against-women-act"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>International Women&#039;s Day - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/03\/international-womens-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"International Women&#039;s Day - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Today,\u00a0 March 8th is International Women&#8217;s Day. One block on the calendar out of 365 that was created to bring awareness to the acheivements of women as well as the perils that befall girls and women worldwide. 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She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. 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