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Letter: 'Women of the Year' winner speaks out
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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10/04/07 - To the Cigar,
Thank you for publishing an interview with me regarding the "Women of the Year" award. The award brings much-deserved recognition to the women's studies program at the University of Rhode Island for its contribution to the URI community.
I would like to add some information.
One of the chief accomplishments of women's studies has been to make visible women's stories, both their contributions to society and the challenges they face. A serious issue, domestic violence, was largely invisible until feminist researchers and activists raised our awareness about the problem. So, in the early 1970s few people spoke about the problem of domestic violence because few people knew how prevalent it was.
Another accomplishment of feminism and women's studies has been the development of activist strategies to further social justice. From this activism have come organizations such as the Domestic Violence Resource Center in Wakefield, which address the problem.
On campus at URI, student groups have raised awareness of violence against women through projects such as the Vagina Monologues productions and the Silent Witness and Take Back the Night vigils. Another group, the Peer Advocates, receive training and course credit, and work to educate the campus community about violence. They work through the Violence Prevention and Advocacy Services, coordinated by Keith Labelle and Jennifer Longa Moio.
I would encourage the Cigar to write an article about the important work that these groups are doing.
Karen Stein
Director, Women's Studies program
Thank you for publishing an interview with me regarding the "Women of the Year" award. The award brings much-deserved recognition to the women's studies program at the University of Rhode Island for its contribution to the URI community.
I would like to add some information.
One of the chief accomplishments of women's studies has been to make visible women's stories, both their contributions to society and the challenges they face. A serious issue, domestic violence, was largely invisible until feminist researchers and activists raised our awareness about the problem. So, in the early 1970s few people spoke about the problem of domestic violence because few people knew how prevalent it was.
Another accomplishment of feminism and women's studies has been the development of activist strategies to further social justice. From this activism have come organizations such as the Domestic Violence Resource Center in Wakefield, which address the problem.
On campus at URI, student groups have raised awareness of violence against women through projects such as the Vagina Monologues productions and the Silent Witness and Take Back the Night vigils. Another group, the Peer Advocates, receive training and course credit, and work to educate the campus community about violence. They work through the Violence Prevention and Advocacy Services, coordinated by Keith Labelle and Jennifer Longa Moio.
I would encourage the Cigar to write an article about the important work that these groups are doing.
Karen Stein
Director, Women's Studies program
