Women’s Summit Organizers: Get Involved

Two GW students have convened a summit Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Marvin Center to address global issues affecting women and girls.

February 13, 2013

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The call to action of a new student initiative coming to the George Washington University is intentionally broad: get involved in a women’s cause. Not one in particular. Any.

The “Global Summit on Issues Affecting Women and Girls Worldwide” will bring to the Marvin Center more than a dozen area women’s organizations for a women’s leadership expo on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Room 308, followed by a presentation and discussion in the third-floor amphitheater with leaders from various women’s movements—including Zainab Hawa Bangura of Sierra Leone, the United Nations special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict.

Spearheaded by Kathleen Smith and Stacey Karpen, two Ph.D. students in counseling in GW’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development, the event is held in conjunction with the international V Day: One Billion Rising, an initiative whose name refers to the statistic that 1 in 3 women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. The summit also serves as the introduction of the E3 Initiative, which will work to educate, engage and empower women.

Ms. Smith and Ms. Karpen said their work with vulnerable female populations, like those who are incarcerated or have HIV/AIDS, moved them to found the E3 Initiative and host the summit. They hope to spark a “dialogue within our community about issues that affect women and girls both nationally and abroad,” Ms. Karpen said.

The first part of the event, the expo, will be a chance for participants to meet representatives from organizations that work on a broad range of women’s issues. Organizations include the newly formed GW Global Women’s Institute, Whitman-Walker Health, DC Rape Crisis Center, UNICEF and the Project to End Human Trafficking, among others.

Following the expo, presentations and discussions will feature four speakers: Ms. Hawa Bangura; Anushay Hossain, a Bangladeshi journalist; Sabrina Hersi Issa, co-founder of End Famine, which seeks sustainable solutions to global hunger; and Imani Walker, co-founder and executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, a legal and policy organization serving vulnerable women.

All, Ms. Smith said, are “crusaders for women’s rights, dynamic women who started movements from the ground up and can appeal to graduate students with similar passions.”

One of the best parts of the event, Ms. Smith said, will be bringing together a diverse group of participants.

“I expect there will be a fantastic energy and enthusiasm that could connect a young woman, maybe even a teenager, to the passion to which she very well may dedicate her life,” Ms. Smith said.

Adds Ms. Karpen: “I’m most looking forward to being in the presence of so many fearless women. I can’t help but think of [cultural anthropologist] Margaret Mead’s timeless statement: ‘Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ ”

For more information on the summit, visit the university calendar.