Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "womens rights"

Professional Women’s Club Presents “Ruby Award”

2011-02-08T02:56:52Z

Members of Soroptimist International of Sacramento, Inc. (SIS) will be presenting their “Ruby Award” to Donna Yee, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Asian Community Center of Sacramento Valley (ACC) on February 18, 2011. Ms Yee will be receiving the award in recognition of her efforts to help elderly women in the Sacramento Community. The “Ruby Award” is an award presented by Soroptimist clubs all over the world to recognize women who have distinguished themselves by helping other women.

Ms. Yee is truly a woman helping women. As CEO of ACC for the last 10 years, Ms. Yee has helped make an extraordinary impact on the lives of the aging population in Sacramento, which is about 75% women. Through her guidance and effort, the agency provides a nursing home, an apartment complex for the elderly, a community center for caregivers, a drop-in day respite center, transportation services, and a dementia care network, all for the region’s elderly. In addition, the agency recently took on the Meals on Wheels program for homebound seniors – program was facing being “shut down” because of the County’s budget short-fall until Ms. Yee and the Asian Community Center stepped up to continue providing these vital services. Because of Ms. Yee's creative leadership, Meals on Wheels has prevented about 4,300 elderly women in our area from going hungry.

About Soroptimist International of Sacramento
Soroptimist International of Sacramento (S.I.S.) was established in 1923, the fifth club in the world. Currently there are almost 95,000 Soroptimists in 120 countries around the world. S.I.S. is very active in raising funds for and providing services to activities and organizations which assist “at-risk” women and children in our community and world-wide. For more information, visit www.soroptimistsacramento.com.

Holiday Shopping Supports Women and Youth Locally and Globally

2010-12-10T15:16:47Z

Members of Soroptimist International of Sacramento (SIS) are always on the look-out for ways to help raise money for agencies that provide services to “at-risk” children and women, both locally and globally.

At this year's Holiday Store in Loehmann’s Plaza, SIS will raise funds for Soroptimist charitable projects in the Sacramento region through the sale of See’s Candies®. Some of the projects supported by the See’s Candies profits are programs to help stop human trafficking provided by Sacramento’s My Sister’s House — a 24-hour help center for women and children impacted by domestic violence in the Central Valley's Asian and Pacific Islander community — and assistance to foster youth through the Independent Living Program at Sacramento County.

This year, through its Holiday Store, SIS is joining with other Soroptimist Clubs in the Sierra Nevada Region by supporting the Solar Cookers Project of Jewish World Watch by gathering donations of $30 for each solar cooker provided. The project aids the women of Darfur, who have been relocated to refugee camps in Chad to escape the genocide occurring in their homeland. In order to cook dinner for their families, refugee women and girls are forced to leave the camps to search for firewood braving possible beatings, rape or worse. Each solar cooker purchased allows refugee women and girls to feed their families through using the power of the sun, so firewood is no longer needed. Additionally, the project is income-generating, providing the women with employment to put the solar cookers together and training other women and girls in camps on how to use them.

This year, SIS will team up with members of Soroptimist International of Sacramento South to operate the temporary See’s Candies store, located at 2527 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Loehmann’s Plaza (the corner of Fair Oaks Blvd. and Fulton Ave.) The store is located between the European Wax Center and the Briar Patch. The store is open December 1-24 from 10:00 am and 6:00 pm, and is staffed entirely by volunteer Soroptimist members.

About Soroptimist International of Sacramento
Soroptimist International of Sacramento (S.I.S.) was established in 1923, the fifth oldest club in the world. Currently there are almost 95,000 Soroptimists in 120 countries around the world. S.I.S. is very active in raising funds for and providing services to activities and organizations which assist “at-risk” women and children in our community and world-wide. For more information, visit www.soroptimistsacramento.com.

Disclosure: Corrie Pelc is a volunteer for TEAM (Teaching Everyone Animals Matter).

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Mu Sochua visits Sacramento

2009-09-18T05:02:02Z

Mu Sochua had a request of her audience: "I ask you to please monitor [my] case, because it's very very likely that I will go to jail," the native Cambodian said in a speech in Sacramento.

The social worker and women's rights and democracy activist was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2005.

About 40 people gathered Monday at noon in a conference room at the U.C. Center in Sacramento to hear Sochua speak. In the speech, presented by the World Affaris Council, she spoke about ending the sex trafficking of women and children, opposing land grabs and reforming the corrupt Cambodian court system.

Sochua came to Northern California in 1973. She earned a degree in psychology from San Francisco State and a master's in social work from the University of California at Berkeley in 1981. Before she could return to Cambodia, Sochua learned that her parents had been killed by the Khmer Rouge, the regime responsible for the deaths of more than a million Cambodians.

Sochua returned to Cambodia after 18 years of exile to help the government rebuild after the Khmer Rouge lost power. She is an outspoken member of Parliament, and spoke about her recent defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Hun Sen of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

"He said that I go around, grab men and take off my shirt," Sochua said. It's an insult that usually would not be challenged by a woman in a society rife with gender inequality, she explained, but added "that cannot be tolerated. The issue here is dignity."

"That situation was reverse, actually," Sochua said. "An official in the military who was campaigning for the ruling party assaulted me at the marketplace and my shirt came undone."

But before the prime minister could be brought to trial, he countersued Sochua's lawyer. "The Cambodian Bar Association put so much pressure on my lawyer that he would have been disbarred," Sochua said. "Then he left me without defense, apologized to the prime minister and joined the prime minister's party."

So Sochua defended herself in court.

In what she called a show trial in which no investigation was conducted, Sochua was found guilty of "speaking out," "speaking on behalf of women," "spreading disinformation" and "suing [the prime minister]," she said. After not paying a $4,000 fine and being stripped of her legislative immunity, Sochua, a member of Sam Rainsy, the leading opposition party, could face life imprisonment when she returns to Cambodia.

"That's why I'm going from place to place, talking to people like you," she said. In a recent meeting with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Sochua urged the United States to send a high level delegation to assess civil rights issues in Cambodia.

"If I were imprisoned, the situation would bring more attention to donors and the world community," Sochua said. "That is the symbol for struggle for justice, it will speak loud[est]."

Hers is not a poor country, Sochua said, citing Cambodia's natural resources and more than $1 billion of foreign aid per year. She pointed out that $53 million of that money comes from the United States. "It's just badly managed, losing about $500 million a year to corruption and a lack of political will."

Moderator Robert Cassinelli, on the board of the World Affairs Council, spoke of the importance of Sochua's speech. "I would like to thank Mu Sochua for illuminating something which is a [part of the] human condition: human rights and gender issues," he said.

A young Cambodian American asked what Cambodians in the United States can do to help reform the Cambodian justice system.

"I hope that you will take some action, because you can," Sochua said. "I would like you to go and write a letter to your legislators and ask your government, 'What are you doing in Cambodia?' "

Audience member Samedi Thach called for action. "I hope everybody listens to her and writes the letter she asks for and keeps tabs on her to make sure that she doesn't disappear and what she's fighting for doesn't go away.

"Instead of staying here and living the American Dream, like a lot of Cambodians, she's actually trying to make changes in Cambodia," added Thach, a 24-year-old Cambodian American living in Sacramento. "Knowing that she's going to go back to face 20-to-life, or assassination, it makes her message more powerful: She's willing to go back and be a martyr for the cause that she believes in."

The PUNCH!

2009-01-24T19:43:13Z

I just remembered a very fond memory... Now, as I was gathering information to write this, I realize that many people won't find it entertaining or hilarious and they will think I'm mean for thinking it's so funny, but seriously... think about the situation and the level of CRAZY with this dude and just appreciate it for that.

Back in 2002 a legend was being created. A man by the name of Richard Jiron was beginning to carve his name into history and Sacramento folklore. Richard was not a rich man, nor was he a powerful man. Ney, he was a crazy man. Richard was a man who said he resented watching the good life pass him by. Now, in today's consumer driven society, where so much emphasis is placed on possessions and success is often based on what one has been able to acquire, many people have come to feel the same way Richard did. People sometimes feel depressed when they see others' successes and long to live the lives that others lead. We've all heard stories of people who reach a point where they're tired of feeling depressed about missing out on "the good life" so they do something about it. People who shoot from the bottom to the top because of a driving force inside that motivates them do whatever necessary to succeed. It's always a great, heartwarming story to hear. Richard, however, took a different approach.

Richard, a part-time carpet layer who had found himself out of work for long stretches of time, was having a hard time trying to survive and began to resent others who had things that he did not have; such as cars, homes and cash. Richard began to express resentment toward minorities who he felt had taken jobs away from him as well as resentment toward women who don't work but appear to be affluent. Richard expressed his resentment to the fact that his poverty has prevented him from attracting a wife and that no rich woman has come along to support him.

Richard's resentment began to reach a boiling point, especially toward women. Richard told the Sacramento Bee, "It's always been me against the world. While they were living it up I'm out here getting run over. How would a woman feel if she had to pedal a bicycle for 20 to 25 years." Richard decided that he was finally going to do something about his situation, so he, and his bicycle, hit the streets to make a difference.

How... you ask? We'll get to that, first a bit of background on Richard's craziness. Richard felt that for years his mother had lied to him about his father's identity. Richard discovered that his father was in fact a highly decorated World War II Air Force pilot. How did Richard make this discovery? Richard was pro-active in his approach and put in many hours of work tracing his own genealogy... on the History Channel.

So back to Richard's journey to change the world and his life. As I said earlier, many people have reached a point in their life when they decide they want what others have and begin to feel resentful toward others for what they've achieved, so they do something about it. Richard was doing something about it alright... but what he decided to do wasn't to improve his life, Richard decided to take revenge. As noted earlier, Richard was angry at women who he felt didn't work for their money and he was angry that no rich woman had come along to support him. So one night, Richard hit the streets of downtown Sacramento armed only with a mountain bike, two fists and a dream. Richard was going to make himself feel better about his place in the world by riding his bike past women and punching them in the face. Over a span of 11 months, Richard did the modern day version of the joust to 23 different women... and on a couple occasions, two in one night.

Richard was eventually arrested in Des Moines Iowa by officers who he suspected of being "KGB Agents." Richard was then shipped back to Sacramento where he faced trial. During the trial, Richard did express some remorse when he stated, "Maybe it was out of madness, and maybe I might have got a few of the wrong ones that didn't need it. But there are a lot of them (women) that don't get the discipline they need."

So this is dedicated to a man who tips all scales in the world of crazy, Richard Jiron a.k.a. "THE PUNCH."