Read the original story, published on 22 May 2012, at Al Arabiya News.

For Women’s History Month, FGCU will welcome writer and editor Christine Cupaiuolo, who will be discussing and educating the audience on current issues of women’s health. Cupaiuolo is the managing editor of the 2011 edition of the book “Our Bodies, Ourselves” published by Our Bodies Ourselves, a nonprofit organization concerned with women’s health education. 

The writer also covers politics and public policy for the Our Bodies Ourselves blog, and will be speaking about the book and many political scenarios where matters of women’s reproductive and sexual health are affected.

The book, helped to inspire women’s health movements, and is “an absolute necessity when states are cutting back on sex education, and legislators are drafting bills that aim mainly to shame women and limit their access to comprehensive care,” Cupaiuolo said.

“The event is very exciting for our campus community – students, faculty, and staff alike.  The landmark book, “Our Bodies, Ourselves” (originally published in 1971) was one of the first books widely circulated in the U.S. to teach women about aspects related to their sexual and reproductive health,” Dr. Kristine DeWelde, program leader for sociology, gender studies coordinator and one of the organizer of the event, said. 

As the guest speaker, Cupaiuolo will also discuss about health care issues and contraception, which are ways of helping to reduce the risks of unintended pregnancies, therefore avoiding infant and maternal illness, as well as the likelihood of abortion.

“The most perplexing (topic) is politicians' failure to view contraception as a health issue,” said Cupaiuolo.

“The discussion will also provide a historical look at the women who sparked the women’s health movement in the U.S. in the late 1960s,” Dr. De Welde said.

Cupaiuolo will educate students on how women of all ages are responding to political/health issues through social media, organizing to draw attention and build support.

“My talk will look at how Our Bodies Ourselves founders wrote their way into history and how younger women are continuing the movement,” Cupaiuolo said.  

Cupaiuolo will dedicate some of the presentation’s time for questions and answers, conversation with the audience, and to sell her books.

“It is of huge importance for students – particularly our women students – to attend this event, because the book and blog site address issues of concern to all women, irrespective of age, race, sexual orientation, or political leaning,” Dr. De Welde said.

“Many of our women students take for granted that they have access to contraception, or resources for dealing with violence inflicted upon them from dating abuse or sexual assault,” Dr. De Welde said.

This event will be a learning opportunity for both women and men about struggles women have fought through in past decades to get where they are now.

“I am glad to commemorate Women’s History Celebration and encourage students to learn more about women’s struggles in the past as well as about issues that still exist today and do learn how to do something about it,” LilianaQuintana, director of diversity at Student Government and student in charge of the event, said.

Plan Parenthood will be giving out condoms and informational pamphlets.

Food and drink will be provided.

For more information about the speaker, check www.christine2.com. 

For more on the event, see Eagle News.

The event that hosted participants and speakers from Egypt, Middle East, and Europe, had different scopes, one of which is Western Muslim women efforts to be role models working in the field of defending Muslim women rights in their respective communities.

GLOBAL WOMEN LEADERS TO DISCUSS WOMEN’S RIGHTS & DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN THE WAKE OF THE ARAB SPRING
 

What do Islamist victories across the Middle East mean for the future of
democracy and women’s rights?

Will the Arab world follow in Iran’s footsteps?

*Interviews Available With Speakers*
 

WHO:         Mahnaz Afkhami(Iran/USA) – Former Minister for Women's Affairs, Iran; Founder & President, Women’s Learning Partnership

Asma Khader(Jordan) – UN Special Investigator for Human Rights Abuses in Libya; Secretary General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women; Former Minister of Culture; Leading Women’s Rights & International Lawyer

Lina Abou-Habib (Lebanon) – Leading activist for Women’s Right to Nationality; Executive Director, Collective for Research & Training on Development-Action

Sawsan Gad (Egypt) – Co-founder of Harassmap, a Cairo-based anti-harassment NGO

Rabéa Naciri (Morocco)Member, National Human Rights Council of Morocco;
Co-founder, Democratic Association of Moroccan Women

Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini (Iran/ UK) Co-founder, International Civil Society Action Network

WHAT: Leading activists from the Middle Eastavailable to discuss the future of women’s rightsduring this time of political uncertainty in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Though this year saw the start of major political reforms in the region, it also included sweeping electoral victories for Islamists in countries including Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. In Egypt, previous reforms for women’s rights are now seen as symbolic of the old regime, and women are being excluded from the political process. As was seen in Iran, when women are not represented by whoever fills the power vacuum, women’s future rights are threatened, as is the viability of truedemocracy. 

Drawing on their significant experience advocating for women’s rights in the region andconfronting extremism at home, these leading activists will share their understanding of thethreats to and potential for women’s rights and democracy amidst the current regional instability. They will also discuss how their work to strengthen democratic values and empower women on the ground is leading to the real transformations that allow for sustainable true democracy.

Speaker Bios:

Lina Abou-Habib (Lebanon) is Executive Director of the Collective for Research and Training on Development–Action (CRTD-A), an organization that works in Lebanon and the MENA region on gender and citizenship, gender and economic rights, and women's leadership and public participation. Ms. Abou-Habib is a co-founder and coordinator of the Machreq/Maghreb Gender Linking and Information Project. She has collaborated with a number of regional and international agencies, as well as public institutions, in mainstreaming gender in development policies and practices and in building capacities for gender mainstreaming. She serves on the boards of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) and Gender and Development, is a MENA advisor for the Global Fund for Women, and is on the editorial board of Oxfam’s journal, Gender and Development.
 

Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran/USA) is the founder and President of Women’s Learning Partnership and former Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran and Minister for Women's Affairs. She is Executive Director of the Foundation for Iranian Studies and serves on advisory boards for a number of national and international organizations. She has over three decades of experience working at the government and non-government levels to advance the rights of women, particularly in the Middle East. She has authored numerous publications, among them Muslim Women and the Politics of Participation, and Faith and Freedom: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World. Among the training manuals she has co-authored are Claiming Our Rights: A Manual for Women's Human Rights Education in Muslim Societies, Safe and Secure: Eliminating Violence Against Women and Girls in Muslim Societies, Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women, and Leading to Action: A Political Participation Handbook for Women.
  

Sawsan Gad (Egypt) is a co-founder of HarassMap. As an Egyptian suffering from repeated sexual harassment, she volunteers with the independent Harassmappers fighting sexual harassment by using GIS and crowdsourced data, to address the problem as one of community development issues. Sawsan received her M.A. in Demographic and Social Analysis from the University of California, Irvine in 2008, and is currently  based in Washington D.C. as a GIS Data Analyst.
 

Asma Khader (Jordan)is the foremost human rights activist in Jordan and recently served as one of three official investigators on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council’s inquiry into human rights abuses in Libya.  She is the Secretary General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women. Previously, Ms. Khader was the Minister of Culture for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and President of the Jordanian Women’s Union.  She is a member of the Arab Organization for Human Rights and the Advisory Committee of the Women’s Division of Human Rights Watch.

Rabéa Naciri (Morocco) is a member of the National Human Rights Council of Morocco and a founding member of the Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc, one of the largest Moroccan NGOs focused on the rights of women. She is former Executive Director of the Collectif 95 Maghreb Egalité, a network of women’s associations and women researchers from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia committed to preventing violence against women.  She is a noted scholar and has written extensively on Arab women and poverty, women and Islam, capacity-building for women, and strategy development for the promotion of women's rights.
 

Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini (Iran/ UK) is the co-founder of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and currently serves as a Senior Advisor on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team.  She is a leading international advocate, researcher, practitioner, writer and trainer on gender dimensions of peace and security. In 2000 she was among civil society drafters of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and contributor to SCR 1820. Between 2002-2005 as Director of the Women Waging Peace Policy Commission, Ms. Anderlini led ground breaking field research on women’s contributions to conflict prevention, security and peacemaking.  Ms. Anderlini was also Lead Consultant for UNDP’s global initiative “Men and the Gendered Dimensions of Violence in Crisis Contexts.” She has served on the Advisory Board of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF), and the PBS documentary series on Women, War and Peace.   Her publications include Women Building Peace: What they do, why it matters, and What the Women Say; Participation and SCR 1325. Ms. Anderlini is a non-resident Fellow at Georgetown University Institute for Diplomacy and a Senior Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies.

19 Mar 2012— The role of women in politics and society has been on the front burner lately as individuals and political candidates debate health care matters related to gender.

Indiana University South Bend will host a spring series of events on the theme: “Women, Politics and Power,” sponsored by the campus American Democracy Project. All events are free and open to the public:
- 11:30 a.m. April 3: “Preparing the Next Generation: Women as Role Models,” a lunch and learn gathering featuring Christina Wolbrecht, a political science professor at theUniversity of Notre Dame. The gathering will be in Room 221-223 of IUSB’s Student Activities Center. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to: hmdill@iusb.edu.

- 5:30 p.m. April 5: “Back to the Future: Women in American Politics, 1776-2012 and Beyond,” a lecture by Elizabeth Bennion, IUSB political science professor, in Room 1001 Wiekamp Hall. A reception will follow.

- 11 a.m. May 4: “Forward Together: Building a Coalition for the Collective Good,” a women of power and influence luncheon in the University Grill, IUSB Administration Building. Members of the public planning to attend should RSVP via e-mail at: hmdill@iusb.edu or call 574-520-4622.

A roundtable panel will feature a question and answer session along with a brainstorming discussion and networking period.

Participation is limited to 100 people, by invitation. A lunch will be provided. Members of the general public who wish to attend should contact hmdill@iusb.edu .

The third event is the 24th annual Lundquist Fellowship Lecture at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in Room 1001, Wiekamp Hall. Professor Elizabeth Bennion, director of the American Democracy Project, and associate professor of political science, will present the lecture on “Back to the Future: Women in American Politics, 1776-2012 and Beyond.”

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Bennion will have a multimedia presentation on women’s role in American democracy from the founding of the nation through contemporary times. She will discuss the fight for the right to vote, the Equal Rights Amendment, the 2010 congressional election and future candidates for all office.

A reception will follow.

The Eldon F. Lundquist Fellowship recognizes a faculty member who has exhibited excellence in teaching, scholarly achievement and diversified relevant service.

Bennion arrived on campus as a lecturer in 1999. She became the director of the American Democracy Project in 2004. She became an associate professor in 2007.

She received her bachelor’s degree in American studies from Smith College, Northhamption, Mass., in 1994. She received her master’s and her doctorate in political science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

 The Lundquist Lecture was instituted in 1984 and named after Eldon Lundquist, one of Elkhart’s best known natives. He wore many hats – public relations, advertising, hospital development director, sportscaster and legislator. He was a member of the Indiana General Assembly from 1961 to 1976, where he served as the Senate Education Committee chairman for more than a decade.

 In 1976, he was appointed assistant to the president of Indiana University with an office at IU South Bend. He served in that role until his death in 1977.

 His friends established an endowment in his name to sponsor public lectures. In 1984, the Faculty Fellowship Program was established to support IU South Bend faculty members who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments in teaching, scholarship and research.

Past Lundquist winners have been Les Lamon, Tuck Langland, De Bryant, Ken Smith and Mike Keen.

The events are sponsored by MPA Architects, South Bend

For more on the event, see Southbend Tribune.

Read the original article published on 18 May 2012 at Huffington Post.

Read the original story, published 19 May 2012 at My Joy Online.