The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women held a conference for high school girls in Essex County to discuss the issues they face in their lives, as well as propose solutions to them.
This event was hosted by Sarah Stanley, Executive Director at HAWC Healing Abuse Working for Change, Briana Sullivan,treasurer of the Essex County Commission on the Status of Women, and Maeva Veillard Perry, who was there with the Ginsberg Initiative.
Aside from Masco students, seniors Anjo Kordis, Sophie Gustafson, Bella DeOliveira, Gabby DeOliveira, students from Essex Tech, Peabody High, and Waring School.
During this conference, students were grouped with students from different schools, and given time to discuss questions proposed by the event leaders, such as “What are the biggest issues girls are facing today? What do you think adults don’t understand about these problems? What are possible solutions to the problems discussed?” They were then able to discuss these questions as a group.
Gustafson said she enjoyed the structure of the conference.
“The questions we got asked were a little open-ended, so each group got to choose what really mattered to them and got to focus on that,” said Gustafson.
However, many of the issues raised at each group seemed to be problems that almost everyone in the room could have related to in one way or another.
ACE club advisor Ellen Sheehy said, “What was striking for me for the entire session was how young women from different districts, from all different walks of life, were telling the same stories.”
Sheehy said that the conversation had many highlights.
Sheehy said, “I think this is probably the thing that struck me the most was the strength and power that these girls were speaking from and that they could see what changes need to be made and I could see that they have an expectation that these changes will occur.”
Gustafson believed that the conversation was a productive one.
Gustafson said, “It was a nice way for young girls to voice their feelings on issues to the legislature, and I felt like the women running the conference were really respectful and actively listening to our concerns that they would report back.”
Approaching the end of the conference, the event hosts discussed current bills that are to be voted on that addressed many of the issues that were brought up, such as access to period projects, better health classes, and misconceptions on what feminism is. The Healthy Youth Act, for example, will guarantee accurate and inclusive information in sex ed/health classes in all schools. The I Am Bill will supply free menstrual products in public spaces.
Sheehy said, “They talked about so many important initiatives and I just felt like the young women lent their voices to that. They had given them the support to be able to bring these articles forward and they were all making compelling arguments about them.”
Looking to the future, Sheehy feels hopeful about the changes possible because of this group of girls.
Sheehy said, “[These young women] can see the changes that need to be made and they felt confident enough to share them out in a large group in front of 100 strangers, it was very cool to witness. I felt like change is possible, just watching them, just being a witness to that.”