EVANSTON, Ill. —-The Northwestern University Women's Center will co-sponsor an off-campus talk related to gender violence by noted scholar, activist and author Beth E. Richie, during a March 8 breakfast commemorating International Women's Day.
International Women's Day ( March 8 ) is a global day that recognizes the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
Richie's keynote address, "Gender Violence: Addressing Injustice," will be co-hosted by the YWCA Evanston/North Shore together with Northwestern's Women's Center and the Woman's Club of Evanston and other local organizations, including the Evanston Women's History Project, Frances Willard Historical Association, League of Women Voters of Evanston and the City of Evanston.
Free and open to the public, the International Women's Day 2016 Commemoration breakfast will take place from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 516 Church Street, in downtown Evanston. A light breakfast will be provided.
Richie's talk will focus on gender violence, particularly on how race/ethnicity and social position affect women's experiences of violence and incarceration.
Attendees will be encouraged to take action to change the criminal justice system's impact on gender-based violence by using steps that will be outlined by the event's co-sponsoring groups.
To learn more about the breakfast commemoration in Evanston and to pre-register to attend, visit: http://ywca.pingg.com/IWD2016.
Richie is a professor of criminal justice and gender and women's studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also is the author of "Arrested Justice, Black Women, Violence and America's Prison Nation," published in 2012 by NYU Press.
Richie's book focuses on black women in marginalized communities who are at risk of battering, rape, sexual harassment, stalking and incest. It includes compelling stories of black women who have been affected by racism, persistent poverty, class inequality and limited access to support resources or institutions. It also is a call to action for change.
"While International Women's Day celebrates women's progress, it also is an opportunity to listen, learn and reflect on current issues," said Karen Singer, CEO of YWCA Evanston/North Shore.
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