– Girls, Inc. of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, is featured in DCTV’s “School’s Out – Self Worth” video.  In the video (at the five minute mark), Program Director Jamila White discusses how Girls, Inc. empowers girls to be “strong, smart and bold.”

– It’s hot.  And it’s going to get even hotter.  This weekend, it’s expected to feel like 105 – 110 degrees in the metro area.  Earlier this month, DCist compiled a list of local cooling centers that had been opened to help residents stay safe.

– The District has announced that the Living Wage Rate for 2010 will remain at $12.50 per hour, the same as last year’s Living Wage Rate.  Click here for more details.

Tags: girls, inc., washington, dc, dctv, heat, wave, living, wage, rate,

– A one-day free medical clinic will open up in D.C. next month for Washingtonians who can’t afford the health care they need.  The no-cost clinic will be open on August 4th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.  Click here for more details.

– A vaginal gel can significantly cut a woman’s risk of becoming infected with the AIDS virus, according to research that will be presented today at the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna.  The gel, which was tested in South Africa, contains the antiretroviral drug tenofovir.  In the study, it reduced the risk of HIV infection by 39 percent in a group of women who used it for three-quarters of their sexual encounters.  According to The Washington Post, women who used it more consistently experienced 54 percent fewer infections.

– Senate Democrats are taking another shot today at a bill that would extend the deadline to file for unemployment benefits through the end of November.  Senate Republicans have blocked a vote several times over budget deficit concerns.  Click here for more.

– About.com’s Women Issues blog takes a look at “a vulnerable population” — girls who are in the juvenile justice system.  With an increasing number of girls entering the juvenile justice system, the blog explores what they’re being arrested for and why incarceration may not be the most effective way to help them.

Photo credit: CogDogBlog via Creative Commons

Tags: washington, dc, free, clinic, health, care, hiv, aids, vaginal, gel, unemployment, senate, girls, juvenile, justice

– Leaders in the local faith community are asking the D.C. Council to put tens of millions of dollars towards green jobs.  They’ve chosen green jobs because the field is currently expanding and the federal government is willing to fund weatherization projects.  They told WAMU radio that if D.C. Council members don’t help create jobs they’ll be held accountable at the polls.

– Nearly two-thirds of students in Virginia and Maryland can’t read proficiently by the time they start the fourth grade.  83 percent of D.C. students are reading below proficient levels by the time they begin the fourth grade, a time when reading material becomes more complex.  According to a new report on nationwide reading levels there are links between early literacy and high school graduation rates and future economic success.  Click here for more.

– First lady Michelle Obama and Mexico’s first lady will tour a Silver Spring elementary school tomorrow. New Hampshire Estates Elementary School has been honored for having a focus on healthy living.  Many students at the school come from Central and South America.

– According to a new survey from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, donations to the nation’s biggest charities grew rapidly in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the same time in 2009.  It could be a sign that many nonprofits are making a recovery from the fundraising troubles they suffered last year.

Photo credit: GreenForAll.org via Creative Commons.

Tags: washington, dc, maryland, virginia, women, girls, unemployment, green, jobs, d.c., council, reading, levels, third, grade, michelle obama, new hampshire estates elementary, charity, nonprofit, donations

–The District has become the first jurisdiction to ask the federal government for permission to add thousands of low-income adults to the Medicaid program as part of the new federal health-care law.  If the request is approved, 35,000 D.C. residents would be switched from a city taxpayer-funded insurance program to the federally funded program.  Click here for more.

– The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area has been named the second strongest local metropolitan economy in the county, despite the economic downturn.  According to POLICOM Corp., this area ranks second only to Seattle.  Click here for the details.

– It is estimated that 100,000 to 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk of sex trafficking.  NPR’s Allison Keyes spoke with people from two Women’s Foundation Grantee Partners — The Rebecca Project for Human Rights and FAIR Fund — about the issue.  Click here to listen.

Photo credit: Cogdogblog via Creative Commons.

Tags: washington, dc, national, capitol, region, women, girls, medicaid, health, care, insurance, economy, policom corp., rebecca project, fair fund, child, trafficking, united, states

– More than 100 D.C. child welfare workers have been laid off from their positions at the Child and Family Services Agency.  The cuts were announced at a meeting yesterday.  Click here for more.

– The American Academy of Pediatrics is taking a controversial stance on circumcision rituals performed on girls.  The Academy has suggested that American doctors be given permission to perform a ceremonial “nick” on girls whose families want a circumcision ritual.  The Academy hopes the move will prevent families from sending the girls to other countries for a full circumcision.  Opponents of the idea say there’s no medical reason to perform the procedure and the current ban should be left in place.  Click here for more.

– The New York Times explores which gender makes a better doctor.  Turns out — it depends on the patient.  Click here to find out why.

Tags: washington, dc, women, girls, child, family, services, agency, layoffs, female, circumcision, FGM, doctors, health, care

– Dozens of girls from the D.C. area spent a day immersing themselves in technology as part of Microsoft’s DigiGirlz Day.  The tech company held events worldwide in the hopes of increasing the number of young women involved in tech careers.  Locally, Rep. Donna Edward (D-MD) was the keynote speaker.  Click here for more details about the event.

– NPR contributor Cokie Roberts addressed issues involving women and politics on the airwaves this week, discussing why women politicians don’t get involved in sex scandals, and why Fox News’s Chris Wallace and Don Imus made a sexist joke about Sarah Palin.  Click here to listen.

Photo credit: San Jose Library via Creative Commons

Tags: washington, dc, maryland, women, girls, technology, STEM, careers, DigiGirlz, microsoft, cokie roberts, chris wallace, sarah palin, sexist, joke, lap, comment

– What does the health care bill mean for you, specifically?  The Washington Post has a tool you can personalize to find out how you might be impacted.  Click here to learn more.

– Women’s advocacy groups say the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is failing and needs to be repaired.  At welfare hearings last week, those advocates called for lawmakers to help single mothers, in particular.  Click here for more.

– A new report on the underrepresentation of women in science and math says that although women have made gains in those subject matters, stereotypes and cultural bias still impede their success.  Click here to read more about the report, titled “Why So Few?”

– After 26 years of serving as the executive director of The Child & Family Network Centers, Barbara Fox Mason is retiring.  The Child & Family Network Centers — a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner — was founded in 1984 by Barbara and a group of women living in a housing project in Virginia.  Since then, it has become an award-winning agency serving more than 200 disadvantaged children every year.

Got something to say?  Please comment below, or join the conversation online at www.Facebook.com/TheWomensFoundation.

Tags: washington, dc, virginia, maryland, women, girls, healthcare, bill, insurance, effect, impact, tanf, welfare, single, mothers, stem, science, math, why so few, report

I have a secret shame.  It’s an embarrassing habit that I could break if I really wanted to, but I haven’t had the confidence to do so.  My secret is that I count on my fingers.  And sometimes on my toes.  I don’t mean in a way that illustrates or proves a point.  I mean I do it when I’m performing simple math equations, or when I’m figuring out how much change I’m owed.  I have other little math-related quirks, too.  I always write down any equation involving more than two digits.  If I need to do calculations for work, I’ll go over the same set of numbers five or six times, just to make sure I wasn’t wrong the first four times.  I double check my multiplication with addition.  When it’s time for me to tip someone, I have an iPhone app for that – even though I know how to figure out what 20% of a number is in my head.

I know I’m not alone with all my math-related eccentricities.  According to this article from MedicalNewsToday.com, a new study has found that girls are not worse at math than boys.  Boys, however, are more confident in their math abilities than girls are.  We, as women, obviously aren’t genetically predisposed to do poorly in math.  So why don’t more of us have the confidence to not only do well in it, but go on to have careers in science, technology, engineering and math?  One of the researchers behind the new study says it boils down to our education system and who we look up to.

According to Villanova’s Nicole Else-Quest, PhD, “[the study shows] that girls will perform at the same level as the boys when they are given the right educational tools and have visible female role models excelling in mathematics.”

The study also found that in countries where large numbers of women held research-related jobs, girls in those countries performed better and had more confidence in their math skills.  The most important factor, according to Else-Quest, is the value that schools, educators and families place on girls’ learning math.

Thinking about this study and its implications has really encouraged me to change my bad math habits.  No more using the phrases “I’m bad at math” or “sorry, I’m not a mathlete” as excuses.  No more counting on my fingers.  If we can, as a whole, influence the confidence girls have in their abilities, I think we owe it to them to have a little more confidence in ourselves.

Tags: girls, boys, math, stem, science, engineering, technology, math, careers, research, confidence

Earlier this week, I went to check out Disney’s newest animated movie The Princess and the Frog.   I actually had no real interest in seeing a G-rated movie (it’s been years since the last time I saw one) but I was curious and was willing to make the sacrifice because a) I wanted to support Disney’s first movie featuring a black princess, and b) if there was anything to complain about, I wanted to know immediately.  Overall, I don’t have too much to whine about, but I did have one huge problem with the movie that had more to do with the frog than the princess.

To give an overview of the plot: the movie takes place during the Jazz Age in New Orleans, where Tiana is working hard to make her dreams a reality.  She wants to open her own restaurant, and she’s working two waitressing jobs to save up enough money for a down payment on a building.  Meanwhile, her childhood friend Charlotte, who has always been spoiled by her wealthy father, only has dreams and aspirations to marry a handsome prince.  Enter handsome prince Naveen of Maldonia, who is visiting New Orleans for unspecified reasons.  Naveen gets lured into some voodoo mischief by Dr. Facilier, the “Shadow Man,” and is turned into a frog.  Mistaking Tiana for a princess, Naveen convinces her to break the spell by kissing him.  Tempted by the idea that he’s really wealthy and will give her money for her restaurant when he’s human again, she kisses him and is turned into a frog herself.  The two then embark on a journey through the bayou to find a priestess who can break the spell.

Since The Princess and the Frog is about as subtle as an Adam Sandler movie, the main lesson was easy enough for a small child to figure out: working hard is enjoyable, rewarding, and will allow you to follow your dreams, man or no man.  But a man can – and probably should – be part of your dream, too.

I went into the movie appreciating the fact that Tiana didn’t look like all the other Disney princesses, but she had a few other qualities they didn’t have either.  First, for her, work is neither punishment nor did she feel the need to sing happily while cleaning up after other people (she does sing while cooking for others, but it’s happening in her own imaginary restaurant, so I was ok with that).  She seems courageous, and doesn’t need rescuing.  She sings better than all the other Disney princesses (thanks to the voice of Anika Noni Rose).  Her only flaws appear to be that she works too hard, doesn’t have fun, and is accused of being a “stick in the mud.”  I also really enjoyed her childhood friend, Charlotte, a bright, energetic, spoiled man-eater, who does something unexpectedly charming by the end of the film.

My biggest problem with the movie was Prince Naveen.  The man is triflin’.  He doesn’t really appear to have any redeeming qualities other than being handsome and a good dancer.  He’s never worked before, doesn’t have any money because his parents cut him off for partying too much, and is a womanizer.  Example: his part of the song When We’re Human includes the lyrics “A redhead on my left arm/ A brunette on my right/ A blonde or two to hold the candles/ That seems just about right.”  Ick.  Throughout most of the movie, he does nothing that would lead anyone to believe that he is mature, sensible, or even capable of taking care of himself.  And, of course, Tiana falls in love with him.  Girrrrl…

I don’t want to complain too much.  The movie has a lot of good messages, but I really wish Prince Naveen wasn’t such a fixer-upper.  We all have our fantasy partners, but it wouldn’t have killed Disney to have given the guy other positive attributes aside from hair that flops in his face (what is up with that, anyway?), and an ability to have fun.  Hard work is important, but so are love and relationships, and I think it’s critical to give girls positive messages about that, too.  Messages that let them know they should be equal to their partners, that you can’t change someone, and that the most rakish, irresponsible man is NOT marriage material.

I walked away from the theater feeling that, no matter how hard Disney tried to break the mold, they still stuffed poor Tiana back into the “married and lived happily ever after” princess role.  But I guess that’s impossible to avoid.  In all the Disney princess films I’ve seen, the princess comes from a vulnerable, meager background while the prince is handsome but has serious character flaws (hey, Aladdin was an indigent criminal and The Beast was, literally, a vicious animal).

Perhaps my standards are too high for a movie that has a trumpet-playing alligator and a talking, Cajun firefly, but I’ll still wish on “Evangeline” for a movie with a prince who’s charming enough to deserve a princess.

Tags: girls, movies, disney, princess and the frog, relationships

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

“With the young girls, you promise them heaven, they’ll follow you to hell.” – Harvey Washington, Convicted Pimp

Those chilling words were spoken to a New York Times reporter by a man serving a four-year sentence in Arizona for pandering (a polite way to say “pimping”).

According to a New York Times series that’s running this week, the number of underage teenagers having sex for money or basic necessities is on the rise.  The series traces the increase back to a growing number of runaways who are forced to leave home as the recession puts more pressure on American households.

“Over the past two years, government officials and experts have seen an increasing number of children leave home for life on the streets, including many under 13.  Foreclosures, layoffs, rising food and fuel prices and inadequate supplies of low-cost housing have stretched families to the extreme, and those pressures have trickled down to teenagers and preteens.”  —New York Times

Survival in the Shadows
The National Runaway Switchboard told the New York Times an increasing number are surviving by selling drugs, panhandling, or engaging in prostitution.  And once they take a step into an underworld of crime, it’s extremely difficult to get them off the streets.

“’These kids enter prostitution and they literally disappear,’ said Bradley Myles, deputy director of the Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization based in Washington [DC] that directly serves children involved in prostitution and other trafficking victims.”  — New York Times

Close to Home
Solid statistics on just how many young runaways end up involved in prostitution or trafficking don’t exist yet, but according to the FBI, DC is one of the top 14 sites in the country for the sex trafficking of U.S. children.  To help combat the problem, DC Councilmember Phil Mendelson introduced anti-trafficking legislation nearly a year ago, but the bill hasn’t been passed yet.

Take Action
That’s why the DC Women’s Agenda and Sasha Bruce Youthwork are giving you an opportunity to learn more about the “Prohibition Against Trafficking Act of 2009.”

“Trafficking is an often overlooked problem in DC, but it’s one that affects countless women and girls,” says Debbie Billet- Roumell, coordinator of the DC Women’s Agenda.  “This bill is a step towards changing their situations and ending this tragedy of human trafficking in DC.”

This “lunch and learn” event will be Friday, October 30, 2009 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at Sasha Bruce Youthwork, located at 741 8^th St. SE, Washington, DC.  Karen Stauss, Managing Policy and Legal Counsel from the Polaris Project, will speak about the problem of trafficking in the District, the proposed legislation, and what concerned citizens can do to advocate for strong provisions in the proposed bill.

If you’d like more information about the event or the DC Women’s Agenda, please contact Debbie Billet-Roumell at DBRoumell@wowonline.org.

Tags: human trafficking, children, runaways, prostitution, new york times, DC, City council, DC Women's Agenda, Polaris Project, Phil Mendelson