International Women's Day

As a mother of 3 girls (my youngest was adopted from China 2 years ago) and 1 boy, I want to send a strong and empowering message to them and all women and girls around the world. A message to keep fighting for their rights as equal memebers of society and persue education when ever how ever possible.

Love & light,
Dr. Ester Ben-Zion

The next president will be very busy starting on day one undoing all the wrongs the current administration has implemented. Both Hillary and Barack have xclnt human rights background. I am confident whoever is elected will immediately begin to implement programs to help those who have been forsaken by the evildoers.

My interest is largely the addictions field and the lack of resources for women who need and seek help, especially housing, while attempting recovery from addictions. Community supports and government backing have wained over the past several years and someone needs to call attention to the urgency of this need. The Paul Wellstone Act recently passed in the House is a move in this direction for addictions treatment in general, but may end up being a tug-of-war between mental health care and addictions treatment advocates. Neither should gain at the expense of the other, but both need improved coverage and general attention. By the same token, women's treatment needs to be improved, but not at the expense of men's offerings. Women's issues are more complex in our society as women are still seen as the sole providers of domestic provisions including cooking, shopping, child care and rearing, laundry and keeping partners best interests at least equal to their own. Carving out time for treatment can be cause for severe conflict personally and familially for women. This is rarely an issue with men seeking treatment.

On Day 1, the new President should:
1. Move to ratify CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women)
2. Restore our country's full share of funding for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
3. Sign into law S.2279, The International Violence Against Women Act
4. Re-sign the Rome Statues to make the US a party to the International Criminal Court
5. Renounce the use of torture, rendition, detention without charge with regard to all people under US jurisdiction.

I am very concerned about the number of people on our planet. This can be helped by treating women everywhere with respect they deserve. They deserve to have adequate medical care for themselves and their children, including pregnancy education and options. When women have the education and medical care needed to assure their children will survive to reach adulthood, they choose to reduce the number of children they bear. This is the very beginning of how to improve life for women and the children the raise. It's a good thing for them, their communities and the world.

There are women from our own country working for Haliburton who are unable to take their rapists to court. How can we talk about the rights of women in other parts of the world unable to take cases to court when our own women cannot. Rules covering merceneries should be substantially overhauled.

Em qualquer parte do mundo, em qualquer pais ou lugar a mulher tem e deve ser respeitada, ela é a criadora do futuro, aquela cuja semente fecundada dá ao mundo uma nova chance de viver e melhorar. Feliz sejam aqueles que entendem o universo a partir da união, homem e mulher juntos para o futuro.

Prior to Day One my wish is that the two democratic contenders for the Democratic Party nomination for President, stop the same old, same old political back biting, name calling, etc.I would wish that with their wisdom and intelligence that could join forces and work together to unite the Party and the Country so that all the difficult issues that need help can be worked on, rather than the same political power contest that is going on now.

women's rights and CHILDREN's rights are integrally intertwined. TThe rpimary caretakers in most of the world, most of the tiem are women, woemn in povery =children in poverty. Women abused almsot alwyas + children abused. Child abuse is linked to almost every socail ill in this country, from mentla illness to smoking. The next presidnet should understand this. HE shoudl make social policy and economic policy BASED On FACT, adn BASED ON HOPE not FEAR. FAMIly values ARE for REAL FAMilies, not made pu white male ideal FAmilies, PRIMARILY for the WHITE MALE's benefit. THE next presidnet shoudl put WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST NOT LAST!