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Women's Peacepower Foundation

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Commentary August 4, 2000

Tale of Woman Burned Alive Tells Much About India

By Kalpana Sharma - WEnews commentator

MUMBAI, India -- A woman was burned alive, on the street, in front of a busy railway station in June. The crime did not occur behind closed doors. She was doused with kerosene and set alight in front of the people hurrying to work here in India's largest city, formerly called Bombay.

She screamed for help. No one stopped. Only after she was almost dead, with burns on 95 percent of her body, did some people begin to pour water over her. A social worker called the police and they managed to admit the woman to a nearby hospital. By then it was too late. The woman died.

What was this woman's "crime?" This 41-year-old typist, a single woman who looked after an aging parent, had refused to marry an admirer. The spurned suitor decided to punish her by killing her and then attempted to kill himself. She died. He survived and will face the court for his crime.

This ghastly incident in Mumbai is an illustration not only of the indifference that big cities breed in people. It also shows that men's motives for attacking women have not changed; they are as old as the hills.

A new decade, a new century, a new millennium has not altered the mindset where you subject to violence, or destroy, those who are different or who disagree. Whether it is another community, another caste or another gender, this is the attitude. As civilization progresses, people are supposed to be able to talk, to negotiate, to arrive at mutually acceptable solutions without bludgeoning each other.

Many of the stories that appear in Indian newspapers reveal that women who assert even basic rights, such as the right to choose whether to marry, or who to marry, are being punished. Their parents punish them for defying their diktat. The men they spurn attack them. And if they give in and agree to get married, the parents of their husband pick on them.

This violence against women has some very real repercussions. India is also one of the few countries in the world where there is a declining sex ratio, 927 women to every 1,000 men.

And the practice of aborting female fetuses also continues, because women are so afraid to give birth to an unwanted girl child that they prefer to detect the sex of the fetus and abort if it is female. Traditionally, girls are seen as a burden, a person who will require dowry gifts for another family, instead of a son whose bride will enrich his own family.

The violence has a direct link to the economic status of women.

Despite a law that bans dowry--money and gifts that a girl's family is expected to give the bridegroom--the custom continues. And women who arrive in their marital home without what is considered an "adequate" dowry are mocked, tortured and sometimes killed.

Bride burnings--the so-called accidental dowry deaths that were regularly reported in the late 1970s and which led to a law outlawing dowry--have not yet disappeared. Statistics show that these murders have increased as the population has become economically better off and more avaricious for the benefits that a new bride's family can bestow.

Neither have other forms of violence. There are frequent reports of women who have acid thrown in their faces for having refused a man, women who are stabbed or set on fire like the woman in Mumbai. Recently, a young woman of Indian origin from Canada was killed for having defied her parents and married a man of her choice from an Indian village. The man was also killed.

Each such reported incident sets off shock waves for a few days--and then life returns to normal.

On paper India has some of the most enlightened laws relating to women's rights. However, not only have inscribed legal protections failed to reduce the violence against women, but in some instances, the attacks and assaults have increased. The latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau show a 40 percent increase in reported incidents of sexual harassment and a 15.2 percent increase in dowry deaths between 1998 and 1999.

The Mumbai torching outside the railway station highlights the reality that laws alone cannot deal with crimes against women.

The incident reveals that women can continue to press for stronger laws and push for more effective implementation. But as long as this type of attitude prevails--when there is no tolerance of another perspective, where women are not given the right to choose or to refuse--then no law can protect them.

Kalpana Sharma is Deputy Editor of The Hindu, a prominent English-language Indian newspaper.

Kiefer Village Jewels supports Women's Peacepower

On June 14, Kiefer Village Jewels demonstrated their commitment to charity and community support by presenting the Women's Peacepower Foundation with a check for $400. Wendy Hevia, owner of Kiefer Village Jewels, says "I feel strongly about this cause - to help bring peace to more mothers and their children."

The Women's Peacepower Foundation, Inc. makes grants to grassroots projects that are working to bring peace to the everyday lives of women and their families. The majority of their grants are for projects that fall into two broad categories: Violence against women and waging peace. Diane McCabe, of Women's Peacepower, expressed that all the funds that Kiefer
Village Jewels donated will remain locally, most likely being used to help pay for the financial counseling seminars for women. For more information, they can be reached in Dade City at (352) 567-9116.

The owners of Kiefer Village Jewels, David and Wendy Hevia and J.R. Harrelson, raised the money by contributing their time and materials for all watch battery sales and watchband adjustments. This now makes over 34 charities and organizations that they have supported during the last year. Wendy Hevia stated, "We are compelled to give back to show our thanks for the wonderful things that have happened to us. We are very flattered by the fantastic support that we have received from the community and the growth it has brought our business. Our philosophy is that businesses are like partners with the community, and they should support each other." Kiefer Village Jewels is located at 37850 Meridian Avenue, at the corner of State Road 52 and U.S. 301 in downtown Dade City. Their hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. (352) 567-2378.

Tampa Tribune Business and Finance

    Jun 10, 2000

Candice Slaughter Warmke is president of the Women's Peacepower Foundation, Inc.

                                            Power Women

JANET FORGRIEVE of The Tampa Tribune

DADE CITY - A group aimed at making the world better for women and children includes financial planning in its agenda.

Candice Slaughter Warmke survived almost seven years as a battered wife. After 22 unsuccessful attempts, she fled for good in the late 1970s, spending the last of her meager funds to send her small daughter someplace safe. She vividly recalls spending four months on the run, homeless, broke, often hungry, always cold and forever looking over her shoulder.

Most women won't have to survive an ordeal like Warmke's. But statistics show that, at some point in life, 80 percent to 90 percent of U.S. women will be solely responsible for their financial decisions, said Tampa financial planner Cheryl Burbano.

And whether they're battered women scrabbling to survive, happily married women planning for the possibility of a future alone or single professionals seeking the best way to invest sizable salaries, knowledge is power.

``When you're ignorant, you're vulnerable,'' said Burbano, one of two planners who preside over financial-planning seminars at the Women's Peacepower Foundation in Pasco County.

The foundation, where Warmke is the full-time president, raises money and awards grants to programs aimed at promoting peace and stopping abuse against women and children.

Last year, Warmke added free financial-planning seminars, and financial-planning information and forms on the group's Web site. She sees it as a way for women to gain power over their lives by getting the skills she had to learn the hard way.

It's no secret that women live longer than men and are more likely to be widowed. On average, women also earn less money than men and typically fare worse financially after a divorce. All of that makes financial planning a survival skill.

Nationally, other financial planners also have aimed their efforts toward women. Web sites such as the Women's Financial Network at www.wfn.com offer articles and advice.

The Women's Peacepower seminars, typically held four times per year, offer basic information on setting goals, saving and figuring out the best investment strategy each woman's age and situation.

And they give participants a chance to ask all their questions in a supportive atmosphere. ``I think women are sometimes intimidated [from asking questions] by men,'' said Debra Cheek, who said she felt instantly comfortable at the seminar she attended last year.

The happily married Pasco County resident had long felt she and her husband, Gary, weren't saving enough for retirement. They had moved back and forth between Florida and Alabama, both changing jobs. Gary had also changed careers, and Cheek worried because his new job didn't offer a 401(k) plan.

``I had been trying to get my husband to sit down and do it for 20 years,'' she said. ``Finally I did it myself.'' Like the half-dozen or so seminars since the program started, hers was attended solely by women.

With the exception of some information on socially responsible investing and estate planning, the seminars teach the basics: setting goals, budgeting, investing for the future.

There are two main differences when presenting investment information to women, said Burbano, an adviser at American Express division Brooks, Burbano, Engebrelson, Miller & Associates.

First, because women tend to earn less and be in charge of the household budget more than men, they look at investing differently.

``Men invest to make money, whereas women invest not to lose money,'' she said. ``So, the basics are the same, but we present them from a viewpoint women can relate to.'' The other difference is the comfort level, which Burbano said comes from the all-female setting.

Men and women tend to approach learning about investing and planning differently, she said. Simply, both groups tend to believe men know more about the topic. So, nobody asks the questions they want to ask for fear of looking stupid in front of the opposite sex.

In contrast, Tampa environmental engineer Isabel King remembers the session she attended as more helpful than expected. Hers was in the spring, as part of a weekend retreat. In a laid- back setting, about 45 women sat on couches or sprawled on pillows. They broke in often with questions that helped direct presenters to the next topic.

The women came from all ages and education levels, said King, who is 27 and just getting started in her career. After the session, planners stayed awhile for one-on-one advice, she said.

``I learned about the differences in investments and how to put all the information together just for what I need,'' she said.



Warmke learned most of her financial lessons on her own, she said. After ending life on the run, she enrolled in college, supporting herself and her daughter on $216 in monthly public assistance. She taught herself to budget. She kept her money in four yogurt cups, hidden in different places.

She managed to save. Instinctively, she did the right things, identifying her goals and then figuring out how to achieve them.``I figured it out for myself,'' Warmke said. ``But why should women have to go through that when there are people out there who know how to do it and can help?''

Janet Forgrieve can be reached at (813) 259-7870 and jforgrieve@tampatrib.com

Jun 1, 2000 - 01:15 AM

UNICEF calls female abuse global problem
A New York Times report

UNITED NATIONS - The prevalence of domestic abuse of women and girls around the
world is ``alarming,'' UNICEF reported Wednesday, with statistics suggesting that up
to half the female population comes under attack by those closest to them at some
time in their lives.

The report, ``Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls,'' is a first effort by UNICEF
to establish the global dimensions of this form of abuse, drawing together already
published research from various countries. And it takes the U.N. agency another step
deeper into an aggressive campaign to address the root causes of the problems of
millions of the world's children.

``Statistics are grim, no matter which part of the world one focuses on,'' says the
report. No country or region is exempt from domestic abuse, but the problem is often
most acute in the poorest countries, or the poorest neighborhoods.

The study was released ahead of a special U.N. General Assembly session next
week to assess advances women have made since the Fourth World Conference on
Women in Beijing in 1995.

Under Carol Bellamy, a former New York City council president and Peace Corps
director who is in her second term as UNICEF's executive director, the agency that's
better known for its education and vaccination programs has commissioned a series
of studies on women's rights and family and community life. The aim has been to
learn why millions of women, and the children in their care, are unable to overcome
poverty, illiteracy and many other disadvantages.

Domestic violence has been given too low a priority, Bellamy said in an interview
Wednesday.

She said that the new study - conducted by the agency's Innocenti Research Center
in Florence, Italy, using a range of information from governments, international
organizations and academic research - defines abuse in the very broadest terms.

It begins with aborted female fetuses or the killing of female babies and extends to the
deliberate underfeeding of female children and their lack of access to medical
attention, to the sexual abuse of girls (often in extended families, where they are at
the mercy of uncles and cousins) and the fatal beating of adult women.

May 15, 2000

Guns don't kill bills; lobbyists do

by: Mollie Ivins

"I come to you today, two days after what would have been her seventh birthday." -- Veronica McQueen, mother of the girl who was shot to death by a 6-year-old classmate in Michigan this February, addressing Million Mom Marchers.

Slogan of the march: Enough Is Enough.

Legislative goals of the marchers:

* Licensing and registration of handguns.

* Background checks for gun buyers.

* Requiring manufacturers to put trigger locks on guns.

* A one-per-month limit on handgun purchases.

The 30,000 gun deaths a year in this country are not a consequence of our lack of common sense; they are a failure of our political system. The system does not work on this (and most other issues) -- and not because the anti-gun-control forces are stronger than the pro-gun-control forces, or because the anti-control people are more passionate about the issue, or because they are single-issue voters. It doesn't work because of money.

From 1989 to 1999, the National Rifle Association contributed $8.4 million to congressional candidates and national party committees, including soft and PAC money, according to Common Cause. The combined campaign contribution money of Handgun Control Inc., Texans Against Gun Violence and the few other anti-gun groups is a relative joke.

So? If enough people feel strongly enough about gun control, shouldn't they go out and raise more money than the NRA and buy the lawmakers for our side? No.

Why should we have to outbid a minority for control of, or even a response from, our own political system? If the system doesn't work for the majority of Americans, what good is it?

And I submit to you that at this point it is no longer working for most of us. Instead, our lawmakers -- the ones we voted for -- consistently respond to the interests of their major campaign contributors rather than to the interests of most Americans.

Behold the wondrous conversion of our governor, George Dubya Bush, who was elected by the NRA. In 1994, he promised that, unlike Ann Richards, he would sign the concealed handgun law, making it legal to pack a rod almost anywhere. The NRA went all-out for Bush. Richards' veto of the bill cost her a crucial slice of the good-ol'-boy vote. Bush was surrounded by NRA officials when he signed the law.

Frankly, the NRA gets nuttier by the day: its executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, recently claimed that President Clinton, who favors gun control, is "willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda."

According to a 1999 report by the Violence Policy Center, since the Texas concealed handgun bill passed, 2,713 licensees have been arrested for crimes ranging from DWI to murder. Bush says he supports stronger enforcement of existing gun laws. But according to `The Wall Street Journal,' in Texas, almost 800 convicted felons have been denied a license to carry guns but have not been prosecuted for violating state and federal possession laws.

Bush did not support legislation to close the gun show loophole, or the two bills last session to require child safety locks. Bush's Web site says that he "supports the current ban on automatic weapons." As Handgun Control notes, there has been a ban on automatic weapons since the 1930s. The question is whether Bush would re-authorize the 1994 federal ban on semi-automatic assault weapons, which sunsets in 2004.

But two days before the Million Mom March, Bush had a conversion experience and announced that all Texans will henceforth be given a `free' trigger lock, paid for by the governor's office. Gee, what a gun-control advocate. I'm sorry to make this sound like a partisan issue by exposing Bush's record, but it is a `political' issue.

According to Handgun Control, for every child killed with a gun, four are wounded. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of firearms death of children 0-14 years old is nearly 12 times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized nations `combined.' The people in those countries are not more civilized than we are -- they just don't have easy access to guns. Again according to Handgun Control, more than 6,000 students were expelled in 1996-97 for bringing handguns to school. In 1996, more than 1,300 children aged 10-19 committed suicide with firearms.

According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, since the shootings at Columbine High School, 4,001 people have died because of firearms in 100 U.S. cities. Because of the NRA, there is still a gun show loophole in federal law that doesn't require all sales to be subject to a background check of criminal or mental histories. The Columbine shooters used four guns purchased at gun shows, three of them bought by an 18-year-old.

Enough `is' Enough.

CHANGING THE WORLD ONE EAR AT A TIME
By: Tom Jackson

May 21, 2000

DADE CITY - Armed with spirit and brandishing statistics, Candice Slaughter Warmke is the last person you'd expect to arrive anywhere packing limited expectations. But, as the head of a Women's Peacepower delegation visiting Ireland this week, Warmke has adopted a minimalist agenda.

The group from Dade City will present a handful of Amigas Awards, honoring women involved in cutting-edge society-building in a country torn by generations of deadly religious intolerance. These Irish women are examples of those who "take risks financially, physically and emotionally to make the world a better place."

Ideally, Warmke would return having established an Irish branch of Women's Peacepower, but she considers that overly ambitious. A week isn't enough time to overcome Irish expectation that deserving social agencies should feed off governmental largess.

Because there is no tradition of individual giving - except to the church - Warmke will be content if she returns having sown the seeds that blossom in some season yet to come.

It's not that she doesn't recognize urgency when she sees it. Urgency is everywhere she looks. But when you have jounced along mountain roads near the border of Nicaragua and Honduras where nursing mothers sling automatic rifles over their shoulders; when you have waded into the fight against female circumcision in East Africa; when you wept over descriptions of life in India: when you have lived much of your life traveling in fear, and you have survived all of it, then patience is a natural byproduct.

Thus will she urge her Irish hosts to reshape their thinking. Who has the biggest buildings, the best real estate? The church? And how did that happen? "By asking for money from everyone and whenever the opportunity arises," she says.

She can sermonize all day - "You can take the woman out of the Baptist church," she says, "but you can't take the Baptist church out of the woman" - but she will try her best to listen and learn. After all, she says, while America has the most resources and the most sophisticated thinkers, it still hasn't figured out how to solve its raging societal problems: gun violence, sexual assault, homelessness, poverty.

It's simple enough, and tempting, to take Warmke out of context. Americans who, by and large, lead peaceful, law-abiding, tax-paying and charity-giving lives naturally bristle when our shortcomings are thrown in our faces.

And when she says the numbers make it clear - "America is the most violent society in the world" - we rush to point out Rwanda and the Balkans and Sierra Leone and Chechnya, where killing is wholesale. The United States abolished slavery and genocide in the 1800's. Furthermore, whatever its First Amendment problems, hate-crimes legislation codifies our stand against ethnic cleansing.

We accept that certain domestic subcultures abuse and bully one another, but it's the rare citizen who condones that nonsense in his back yard.

But we are sufficiently circumspect to understand we lack answers that work for everyone. And if folks such as Warmke, working out of tidy bungalows in little towns like Dade City, can be our ears and later, our conduits, the planet has a chance to improve, incrementally at least.

Says this excellent woman who has learned to accept the slowness of change, "One person doing the right thing can change the world."

But first, we must listen to each other. Is that so much to ask?

Peacepower aims to help women

March 6, 2000

ANDY GOTLIEB

of The Tampa Tribune

The grim topic of abused women aside, Candice Slaughter Warmke claims to have the world's best job.

``I get to hear about all these amazing people who do incredible, selfless things,'' she said. Warmke serves as president and chief executive officer of the Women's Peacepower Foundation, a group that raises awareness of domestic violence and abuse via grants and recognition.

The past few months have been busy for the organization, which was founded in 1988. Last year, it changed from private foundation status to a public organization, Warmke said. That means that instead of relying on a single, primary donor, the group can accept contributions worldwide.

And last month, it moved its offices from the restored train depot in Dade City to a 1920-era house at 38047 Pasco Ave. Women's Peacepower tries to make a big impact bit by bit, Warmke said. ``It's one person at a time, one act at a time,'' Warmke said. Peacepower makes grants via its Amigas Awards to those worldwide who work to prevent violence against women and those who foster peace.

1999 winners included a West Virginia Girl Scout troop that developed a domestic violence awareness patch program and Jagoda Gajicm, a Croatian activist with the human rights group Losinj. Area honorees also were featured prominently, including Tampa's Eunice Justice, who runs the Dorcas House shelter, and Wilma Green of St. Petersburg, who teaches housing project children in an after-school program.

``These are not people sitting in office buildings,'' Warmke said. Women's Peacepower doesn't forget its local roots. Sunrise Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Center in Dade City received money to fund a Women's Information Fair last year.

Sunrise Chief Executive Officer Penny Morrill said promoting awareness is crucial. ``I think they bring the international flavor to the mix - that domestic violence is a worldwide problem,'' Morrill said.

Women's Peacepower doesn't limit its activities to doling out money. The organization plans a dinner and auction fundraiser at 6 p.m. March 18 at the Dade City Women's Club. A weekend retreat at Holy Name

Monastery is planned for March 31 through April 2. In May, a seven-day tour of Belize is planned. The organization also has sponsored financial planning workshops for women.

Warmke cites a couple goals for 2000. Key is raising $200,000, enough to pay off the new office and expand the grants program. ``We want to have some financial stability,'' she said. ``Our goal is to create a much larger donor base.''

The Women's Peacepower Foundation can be reached at (352) 567-9116. Its Web site address is www.peacepower.org Staff writer Andy Gotlieb can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

From The Tico Times
San Jose, Costa Rica Sept 24, 1999

On The Air aw-debra.jpg (2541 bytes)

9-24-99 Tico Times, San Jose, Costa Rica

Radio for Peace International is proving that even small organizations can make a big impact. Since 1987, the non-profit Costa Rica-based short-wave radio station has been reaching out to an international audience from the campus of the University for Peace in Ciudad Colon - 20 miles west of San Jose.

This year the station's co-founder, general manager and CEO DEBRA LATHAM, was awarded for her peace efforts by the Women's Peacepower Foundation, a family non-violence advocacy group in Dade City, Florida.

Latham was honored with six others including folk artist and songwriter JOHN JENNINGS and actress ERIN GRAY - of Buck Rogers fame - at the first annual Peacepower Media Award ceremony in Florida last week. The foundation donates $250 to non-profit peace organizations in the names of the winners.

"This is the first time my many years of work have been recognized in this way, I am very grateful," said Latham.

"These awards provide an opportunity to promote people who work hard dedicating their lives to make a difference in media. Recognizing them publicly brings attention to the importance of the media in our daily lives."

The Women's Peacepower Foundation, founded in 1988, funds innovative programs that bring peace to the everyday lives of abused women and their families throughout the world. The Media Awards honors radio and television programming that set an example on ways to end family violence.

Latham was awarded for best radio news. Other categories include: television public service announcement, radio public service announcement, television news feature, arts and entertainment, print news, and Internet. For more information, log on to www.peacepower.org -WPPF

From The Associated Press
Jan 20, 2000

Study: Third of All Women Abused

By SHEILA HOTCHKI

BALTIMORE - One of every three women worldwide has been beaten, raped or somehow mistreated, according to a sweeping new report that says violence against women should be treated as a global health problem rather than just a law enforcement matter.

``I see the health care setting as an opportunity - and right now, it's an opportunity lost,'' said co-author Lori Heise, who visited at least 20 countries during the past decade, collecting data from 2,000 domestic

violence studies. ``It's an opportunity to perhaps prevent a health problem from materializing.''

Authors of ``Ending Violence Against Women,'' released Thursday by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the Center for Health and Gender Equity, say it is the first study to take a worldwide look at violence against women.

Besides immediate physical injuries, abuse has also been linked to problem pregnancies, substance abuse, gastrointestinal disorders and chronic pain syndromes, perhaps due to anxiety, the study said.

``Women who have a history of abuse are at much higher risk of having these chronic conditions than other women,'' said Heise, the co-director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity.

Anywhere from 22 percent to 70 percent of the women interviewed had never told anyone about abuse they suffered, according to the studies compiled in the report.

Heise also said the report included studies that, for the first time, linked child mortality to mothers' abusive relationships.

A Nicaraguan study concluded that children of abused women were six times more likely than other children to die before age 5. An Indian study also found that women who had been beaten were more likely than other women to face miscarriages, stillbirths or infant deaths.

Other studies linked abuse to miscarriages, premature labor and fetal distress.

``We don't understand what's operating there because people are just beginning to look at it,'' Heise said.

The report said that the health care system is the only institution that interacts with nearly all women during their lives, giving health professionals an ideal vantage point to identify and assist victims of abuse.

Dr. John Nelson, a gynecologist and spokesman for the American Medical Association, said he agreed ``unequivocally.''

``The bottom line is physicians and all health care workers are in a unique position to determine if inappropriate relationships exist and intervene very early in the game,'' Nelson said.

Cincinnati Police Lt. Kathleen Howard, who has taught classes on domestic violence at the police academy for more than a decade, acknowledged the limitations of law enforcement in addressing the problem.

``The problem is we're reactive,'' Howard said. ``Until an incident happens, we can't go there and watch them. We can't take any action until they do something.''

flower graphic

Seeking
by Diane McCabe

Seeking, Seeking,

hands clasped,

lips pursed.

Seeking, Seeking,

teeth gritted,

eyes squinted.

Seeking, Seeking,

dreamers dreaming,

thinkers thinking,

Seeking For Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow,

fulfillment of dreams,

promises kept.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow,

filled with life,

bursting with love,

Tomorrow Arrives.

Seeking, Seeking.....

Women's Peacepower Foundation, Inc. would like to offer anyone the opportunity to submit stories or poems for our review and upon selection be placed on our website.

Entries may be submitted via email or mail preferably in Word format, send to Women's Peacepower Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 1618, Zephyrhills, FL 33539, Email: peace@womenspeacepower.org.

Women's Peacepower Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 1618
Zephyrhills, FL 33539
e-mail: peace@womenspeacepower.org