Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Spring 2013 Issue | Page 19

The culmination of the G.I.R.L.s
program was the trip to New York.
The United Nations Commission on
the Status of Women meets each
year to promote women’s rights
and respond to urgent problems for
women across the globe. The trip
started for the Virginia delegation
of 12 girls and leaders with a teen
orientation for the Working Group on
Girls, where they heard from Michelle
Bachelet, director of U.N. Women
and former president of Chile, and
Michael Kaufman, founder of the
White Ribbon Campaign against male
violence toward women. They went on
to attend sessions and discussions on
human trafficking, domestic violence
and access to health care, tweeting
along the way to let folks at home
follow along with the experience.
“I never thought I could make a
difference until I came here,” said
Kenna. “Just one person can start this
ripple effect.”

That ripple goes into effect when
the girls come home. They’re planning
a dinner for the men in their lives on
“what we want you to know about
what we have learned.” The girls are
producing a documentary on their
experience, and are energized to find
other ways to share their perspectives
with the community. “They’ve been
looking around and saying, ‘Everything
we’ve been learning about from a
faith-based perspective, it’s here,’”

Photo: Emily Cherry

The Rev. Deacon Carey Chirico, the
founder of the G.I.R.L.s group, joins (left
to right) Hannah Cannon, Kenna Dickard
and Becca Bryant.
Photo: Wendy Cannon

said Chirico. “They’re going to come
back as launched leaders.”

We asked some of the girls to
reflect on their experience in New York.
Here’s what they had to say.
Becca Bryant

“You are the change agents. You
are the voice.” Those words resonated
within my mind during my experience
in New York. I have learned an immense
amount about the challenges women
face around the world and I now feel
obligated to be the change I want
to see. I believe that by remaining
silent and letting these wretched acts
of oppression and abuse occur to
innocent women around the world,
that I myself would be committing
an act of violence. Women are being
sexually violated, trafficked, denied
an education, forced into marriage
at unreasonable ages, and facing
genital mutilation. We cannot let these

Photo: Sheryl Stroud Bryant

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop, speaks with (left to right) Kenna
Dickard, Maddie Stroud and Hannah Cannon at a special lunch at St. George’s, Fredericksburg.
In the background are the Rt. Rev. Susan Goff and the Rev. Deacon Carey Chirico.

Tzu Chi, the Buddhist Compassion Relief
Foundation, interviews Hannah Cannon
during one of the sessions.

issues continue. I intend to research
more about these problems, and by
working with my friends also involved
in G.I.R.L.s, get legislation passed
to decrease these wrongdoings and
eventually put an end to them. By
attending the Commission on the
Status of Women, I gained a greater
understanding of the term “violence”
and how it can be inflicted. One of the
biggest realizations I had was during
the Girls’ Tribunal, in which a witnesses
spoke about how media basically
promote and sell sex to society. There
are countless hardships women face
on a daily basis and I am optimistic for
solutions to come. “The end of violence
is not the end. Equality between men
and women must be achieved.” We
must all work together to create a
better future for all of our brothers and
sisters worldwide. 
Hannah Cannon

“Men and women are different,
but equality can still be achieved,”
stated Ambassador Chowdhury of
Bangladesh during his talk at the
Episcopal Church Center in New York.
This Commission on the Status of
Women was the first that included
“girl-child” in the discussion. Not
every dialect has a word for “girl”
specifically; that is how under-valued
young girls in many places around the
world are. But there is hope, because
the United Nations recognizes that
there is still injustice. Ambassador
Chowdhury's statement is what I’ve
U.N. continued on page 18

Spring 2013 / Virginia Episcopalian

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