Cross Street Bridge hosts celebration

On Tuesday, March 8 Middlebury participated in the “Join me on the Bridge” celebration, organized by “Women for Women International.” Karin Hanta, director of the Chellis House, said the group, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day this year, “focuses on providing women survivors of war, civil strife, and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency.” The demonstration took place on the Cross Street Bridge.

“Last year women from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, two notoriously war-torn regions in which rape and torture have been commonplace, came together on a bridge that borders the two countries to stand up for peace and an end to violence,” said Hanta, who mentioned 119 other bridges also participated in the movement last year.

On Tuesday, cities across the globe from Kabul, Afghanistan to Sarajevo, Bosnia to Paris, France, joined in the festivities. Melissa Many-Sullivan, who works in the College’s Mailing Services in Forest Hall, organized the celebration in the town of Middlebury, with help from Hanta. She felt it was a good cause to acknowledge and that the College’s liberal and progressive attitude suited the demonstration well. Many-Sullivan stumbled across the organization’s website this winter and proceeded to send emails to students; ideally, she wanted a student organization to plan the celebration, but could not find the support.

“I was surprised that Middlebury was the only place in Vermont registered for the event,” she said. “I thought people would have jumped on the idea.”

Though 45 people pledged to attend the event, twelve individuals, including Hanta and Many-Sullivan, trekked down to the bridge.

As seen on its website, http://womenforwomen.org/bridge, the organization is proud to celebrate its anniversary. The site said, “Thanks for showing how one woman can change anything and many women can change everything.” In 1911, Hanta said one million men and women met and sought ways to fight for women’s rights. Since then, she said, “…events have been held all over the world to inspire people who identity and are identified as women and [to] celebrate their achievements.” The March 8th demonstration attempted to spread the message that “stronger women build bridges of peace.”

Zainah Salbi, who founded “Women for Women International” said on her website, “Millions of women around the world are still being denied an education and most importantly their rights. Nowhere is this more evident than Afghanistan, where behind-the-scenes negotiations threaten to sell women’s rights down the river.” While Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo were the targeted countries last year, the organization is now focusing on the needs of women in Afghanistan. With the help of prominent figures like Meryl Streep, women are slowly gaining more rights, as well as a voice in public forums.

New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, the Millennium Bridge in London and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco drew the largest crowds this year.

“In 2011 much remains to be done: men continue to outearn women by roughly 25 percent, violence against women is still a pandemic,” said Hanta. “What better way therefore to commemorate the day than meeting out in the open with some signs to point to the most salient issues. Bridges are potent symbols: they establish connections, people meet on them halfway.”

 

This article was updated on 3/13/11 at 9:30 p.m.