children’s rights – Engaging Peace

By Kathie MM

It’s International Women’s Rights Day, March 8, 2018—a day not just to celebrate women’s escape from bondage, or women’s courageous struggle to gain their inherent social, economic, and political rights, but also to press for progress / . When gun rights outweigh women’s and children’s rights and the NRA agenda outranks human rights, it’s time to act.

In every nonviolent struggle for rights, role models can play a crucial role. Today, let a child lead you. Watch and take courage from the words and deeds of some very young women—the young women who are organizing the March 24, March for Our Lives on Washington, DC. https://marchforourlives.com/In particular, make your day by watching this video in which Sarah Chadwick, one of the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting (which left 17 students and staff dead), takes on Dana Loesch, spokespropagandist for the NRA.

Read the whole story and transcript here.

Then decide how you can support the March 24 March for Life, for women’s rights, human rights, and peace. To remind yourself that the activism of ordinary citizens can move mountains while congresspeople sit on their hands and worry about their wallets, read this .

Women, for further inspiration about the particular differences women can make, also read this and join the cause.

In honor of International Women’s Day, celebrated March 8 of this year, we dedicate this post to the five most recent female winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

2004: Wangari Maathai from Kenya, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, received the award for her achievements in sustainable development, the rights of women, democracy, environmental protections, and peace. (For more on Wangari Maathai, see this video.)

2003: Shirin Ebadi from Iran was awarded the Peace Prize for her work on behalf of democracy and human rights, particularly the rights of women and children. She was the first woman in Iran to become a federal judge, a position taken from her following the Islamic Revolution of 1975. Not until 1992 was she again allowed to practice law in her home country. Much of her work is risky, focusing on human rights cases. (For more on Shirin Ebadi, see this video.)

1997: The 1997 Peace Prize was shared by Jody Williams of Putney, Vermont, USA, and the organization she co-founded, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She has devoted her life to anti-war, anti-violence activities, and has helped to found the Nobel Women’s Initiative which works for peace with equality and justice. (For more on Jody Williams, see this article and video.)

1992: Rigoberta Menchú Tum from Guatemala grew up in an impoverished Mayan Indian family that founded the Committee for the Peasant Union, which fought for social reform and justice for native families. Following the torture and murder of her father and brother, she fled the country and dedicated her life to promoting human rights and reconciliation. (For more on Rigoberts Menchu Tum, see this video.)

1991: Aung San Suu Kyi, born in Burma (now Myanmar), has earned international recognition for her work on human rights. Despite being held under house arrest in Burma for most of the past few decades, she has been continuously outspoken on behalf of the Burmese people. (For more on Aung San Suu Kyi, see this video.)

These five women are all human beings who have devoted their lives to promoting human rights and peace. Read or listen to their stories. What characteristics do you share with them? What can you do to promote peace and human rights? Everyone can do something–you don’t have to be a Nobel Laureate to make a difference for peace.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology