{"id":90,"date":"2011-03-12T20:58:51","date_gmt":"2011-03-12T20:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=90"},"modified":"2011-03-13T21:22:04","modified_gmt":"2011-03-13T21:22:04","slug":"international-womens-day-reggie-littlejohn-is-keynote-speaker-award-recipient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/international-womens-day-reggie-littlejohn-is-keynote-speaker-award-recipient\/","title":{"rendered":"International Women’s Day: Reggie Littlejohn is Keynote Speaker, Award Recipient"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reggie Littlejohn highlighted the suffering of women under China\u2019s One Child Policy as the Keynote Speaker and Award of Excellence recipient at the 100th<\/sup> Anniversary of International Women\u2019s Day celebration in Boston on March 8, 2011.\u00a0 Below are her remarks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I am deeply humbled to receive the Award of Excellence on this historic day, and I applaud the Women\u2019s Information Network for its vision and courage in highlighting the biggest women\u2019s rights issue in the world today:\u00a0 the coercive enforcement of China\u2019s One Child Policy.\u00a0 I accept this award on behalf of the women and families who continue to suffer because of forced abortion, forced sterilization and infanticide.\u00a0 In accepting this award I acknowledge Congressman Chris Smith, and his wife Marie, who have gone before me as true heroes tirelessly advocating against forced abortion in China for decades.\u00a0 I also acknowledge Bob Fu, Mark Shan and Brother George of the China Aid Association, who have worked shoulder to shoulder with me in the delicate and difficult effort to document coercive family planning in China.\u00a0 I acknowledge the anonymous sources within China who have risked their safety to leak to the West the brutal truth about coercive population control at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n

Today marks the 100th<\/sup> Anniversary of International Women\u2019s Day.\u00a0 Think of how far we\u2019ve come in the past 100 years. \u00a0Women of the 20th<\/sup> century have been true trail-blazers, shattering almost every glass ceiling that loomed above our foremothers of 100 years ago. Marie Curie became pre-eminent in the sciences, winning not just one, but two Nobel Prizes.\u00a0 Amelia Earhart was a pioneer in aviation, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.\u00a0 We have seen the rise of great women humanitarians, such as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Mother Teresa.\u00a0 And we have seen several powerful Prime Ministers:\u00a0 Golda Meir of Israel, Indira Gandhi of India, and Margaret Thatcher of the UK.\u00a0 It is only a matter of time before we see a woman President of the United States.<\/p>\n

While women in some areas of the world celebrate the great advances in women\u2019s rights in our nations, women in other areas have seen a decline. \u00a0As the president of Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers, I am dedicated to the plight of more than half a billion women in China who are victims of the One Child Policy.\u00a0 They have had perhaps their most fundamental right stripped away:\u00a0 the right to bear children. \u00a0And let us not forget the 100 million missing women who are victims of \u201cgendercide,\u201d the sex-selective abortion of baby girls.<\/p>\n

Most people know that China has a One Child Policy.\u00a0 Very few people stop to think about how it\u2019s enforced \u2013 through forced abortion, forced sterilization and infanticide.<\/p>\n

The coercive enforcement of China\u2019s One Child Policy causes more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on earth.\u00a0 It is the biggest women\u2019s rights issue in the world today.\u00a0 It does not matter whether you are pro-life or pro-choice on this issue.\u00a0 No one supports forced abortion, because it is not a choice.<\/p>\n

The One Child Policy causes violence against women and girls in the following ways:<\/p>\n

First, forced abortion<\/strong> is violent.\u00a0 Women are literally dragged out of their homes.\u00a0 These forced abortions can happen up the ninth month of pregnancy.\u00a0 Sometimes the women themselves die during late term forced abortions.\u00a0 [Note:\u00a0 to view a four-minute video, \u201cStop Forced Abortion in China!\u201d click here. http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JjtuBcJUsjY<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Second, forced sterilization<\/strong> is also violent and can lead to life-long health complications.<\/p>\n

Third, regarding infanticide<\/strong>, I point you to a document I submitted into the Congressional Record, called \u201cBest Practices \u2013 Infanticide.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a web-based discussion copied from the official website for Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists about how best to kill infants being born alive during induced labor forced abortion.\u00a0 [Note:\u00a0 To read this document and other expert reports, click here. http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=congressional<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Fourth, because of the traditional preference for boys, girls are selectively aborted, resulting in the snuffing out of little female lives.\u00a0 It is estimated that there are 100 million women and girls missing in the world today due to sex selective abortion.\u00a0 This is called gendercide<\/strong>, the sex-selective abortion of baby girls.<\/p>\n

Fifth, because of this gendercide, there are an estimate 37 million more men than women living in China today\u00a0 — 37 million frustrated men who will never marry because their future wives were sex-selected for abortion before they were born.\u00a0 This gender imbalance is in turn the driving force behind human trafficking and sexual slavery<\/strong>, not only within China but also the surrounding countries, including North Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Mongolia and Thailand.<\/p>\n

Sixth, China has the highest female suicide rate<\/strong> in the world.\u00a0 According to the World Health Organization, 500 women end their lives every day in China.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that the despair that leads to suicide is unrelated to the coercive enforcement of the One Child Policy.<\/p>\n

Forced abortion.\u00a0 Forced sterilization.\u00a0 Infanticide.\u00a0 Gendercide.\u00a0 Sexual slavery.\u00a0 Suicide.\u00a0 These are the unintended consequences of the One Child Policy.<\/p>\n

Not only are the women themselves persecuted, but those who stand up for them are persecuted as well.\u00a0 Blind activist Chen Guangcheng is a hero in China, because he has had the courage to stand up against the hated One Child Policy.\u00a0 Chen exposed the fact that there were 130,000 forced abortions and sterilizations in Linyi County in 2005.\u00a0 For this he was jailed for four years and three months, tortured, and denied medical treatment.\u00a0 Last month a video featuring Chen Guangcheng was leaked to the West.\u00a0 Chen and his wife, Yuan Weijing, were \u201cbeaten senseless\u201d in retaliation for the release of the video.\u00a0 They were denied medical treatment.\u00a0 Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers calls for the immediate, unconditional release from house arrest of Chen Guangcheng and his family, and for urgent medical treatment. [Note:\u00a0 to sign a petition to Free Chen Guangcheng, click here: http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=chen-guangcheng<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Those in China cannot criticize the One Child Policy without putting themselves and their families at risk.\u00a0 As an American, I have free speech.\u00a0 Because I can speak out, I feel the moral obligation to do so.<\/p>\n

How does forced abortion in China affect us as Americans?\u00a0 In two ways:<\/p>\n

First, CNN\u2019s Ted Turner has repeatedly called for the whole world, including the United States, to adopt the One Child Policy, most recently at the Cancun Climate Conference in December 2010.\u00a0 Turner says that its enforcement is not coercive.\u00a0 This statement is demonstrably false.\u00a0 Adopting the One Child Policy worldwide would hurl women\u2019s rights back to the dark ages.<\/p>\n

Second, forced abortion in China affects us as Americans because we\u2019re subsidizing it by funding the UNFPA, which was found by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to be complicit in coercive family planning in China.\u00a0 Why should American tax dollars subsidize forced abortion in China?<\/p>\n

People often ask me how I became involved with this issue.\u00a0 For years I was a litigation attorney and represented large companies in their intellectual property or commercial lawsuits.\u00a0 In the mid-nineties I represented a Chinese refugee in her case for political asylum.\u00a0 She had been forcibly sterilized — dragged out of her home screaming and pleading, strapped down to a table, and sterilized without anesthesia.\u00a0 The surgical instruments were not sanitary, so she suffered from a massive infection that left her with chronic back pain, abdominal pain and migraines, destroying her health.\u00a0 It was through this dear woman that I discovered the horrifying reality behind the One Child Policy.<\/p>\n

In 2003 and for several years afterwards, I faced my own personal health crisis.\u00a0 During mastectomy surgery, I became infected with a highly drug-resistant MRSA staph infection.\u00a0 Overnight I went from being a big firm lawyer to lying flat on my back, completely disabled, and crying out to God to spare my life.\u00a0 As I faced my own mortality, my heart went out to those who were worse off than I was, especially women like my former client who were undergoing forced abortion or forced sterilization at that moment.\u00a0 Facing death, I wanted my life to make a difference for them.\u00a0 I believe I was restored to complete health by a divine hand and given a mission that sets my heart on fire:\u00a0 to end forced abortion and sexual slavery in China.\u00a0 Doors have swung open to me as I embraced this mission.<\/p>\n

Every woman here has her own story, and no one on earth is immune from suffering.\u00a0 May our pain make us more compassionate towards the needs of others, especially those in even greater pain.\u00a0 Perhaps you have already found an issue that sets your heart on fire and you have dedicated your life to making a difference for others.\u00a0 If so, I wish you all the best.<\/p>\n

But perhaps you haven\u2019t yet.\u00a0 Do you want your life to have more meaning and purpose?\u00a0 Do you want to have an impact?\u00a0 Women in the United States and all over the world need your help.\u00a0 In the US, we have an urgent problem with human trafficking and sexual slavery.\u00a0 There are many excellent organizations that address this issue.\u00a0 Donate money to them, or volunteer for them.\u00a0 Get involved!\u00a0 If you want to help fight forced abortion in China, please let me know — I\u2019d love to work with you.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing how much power there is in simply putting the link to an organization on your Facebook page or tweeting about it.\u00a0 You can start by signing the petition to free Chen Guangcheng. http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=chen-guangcheng<\/a><\/p>\n

There are women all over the world who desperately need our help \u2013 victims of female genital mutilation, bride burning, stoning, honor killing, forced abortion, forced sterilization, gendercide, sexual slavery. \u00a0These practices must be stopped, and stopping them is no small challenge.\u00a0 We need the full commitment of every person who is able to help.\u00a0 Think of the issue that breaks your heart.\u00a0 Resolve to take the first step towards helping women who need you today \u2013 the 100th<\/sup> Anniversary of International Women\u2019s Day.\u00a0 A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. Remember, women are not free until all women are free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reggie Littlejohn highlighted the suffering of women under China\u2019s One Child Policy as the Keynote Speaker and Award of Excellence recipient at the 100th Anniversary of International Women\u2019s Day celebration in Boston on March 8, 2011.\u00a0 Below are her remarks. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,13,10,5,14,12,7,16,15,6,18,17,21,24,8,20,19,11,25,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abortion","category-bob-fu","category-chen-guangcheng","category-china","category-china-aid-association","category-chris-smith","category-forced-abortion","category-forced-sterilization","category-gendercide","category-human-rights","category-human-trafficking","category-infanticide","category-international-womens-day","category-life","category-one-child-policy","category-reggie-littlejohn","category-sexual-slavery","category-ted-turner","category-women","category-womens-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}