First Lady Katie O'Malley Delivers Speech on Women's Rights in Honor of National Women's History Month

Addresses Audience in Turkey; Delivers Speech at U.S. State Department in Washington, DC

 

ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 18, 2009) - First Lady, Judge Katie O'Malley today, in honor of National Women's History Month and International Women's Day, delivered a speech on women's rights in America via videoconference from the United States Department of State to a group of students, academics, non-governmental organization representatives, and a few journalists from Turkey. Prior to her speech, Judge O'Malley participated in an on-line chat where she answered questions from the audience on women's rights in America, and domestic violence. The speech was sponsored by the Turkish American Association.

"We've come a long way in America thanks to the generations of women that came before us. A century and a half of perseverance has granted us rights and opportunities that today we often take for granted," Judge O'Malley said. "I put it into perspective when I consider the incredible events that my own teenage daughters have witnessed in just their lifetimes."

"They've seen the first American woman to pilot the Space Shuttle. The first woman Secretary of State. The first female Speaker of the House of Representatives. The first African American woman Secretary of State. The only First Lady to go on to be elected to the U.S. Senate. And in just one year, they witnessed Senator Hillary Clinton run for President as the Democratic Party's nominee and Sarah Palin run as the first female vice presidential candidate on the Republican ticket," she said.

Judge O'Malley outlined a brief history of women's rights in the United States, including the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919, 70 years after the Seneca Falls Convention, which was formed to advocate for the equal rights of women; the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 giving women equal wages for equal work; and the passage of several laws in the 20th century giving women more sovereignty over their bodies and protecting them from domestic abuse. She also mentioned a major victory this year, when President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 into law - a major step forward in giving women the ability to challenge unequal pay.

"Human progress can easily be seen and defined when you look at what our mothers, our grandmothers and our great-grandmothers did in American history to lay the groundwork for greater rights for generations to come," Judge O'Malley said.

"That brings us to where we are today. Looking back, it's now clear that it is only through 'sacrifice, struggle and tireless exertion' that women have made so much progress in America. But in spite of all the progress we have made, there is still much more to do."

During her speech, Judge O'Malley outlined a number of areas where women have achieved, or broken ground, but still have room to grow. For example, in occupations that require degrees in the fields of math, science and engineering, the gender ratio is approximately 3 men to every 1 woman. And although we are an all-time high for the number of women serving in Congress, today only 95 out of 535 members of Congress are women. Eight women are currently serving as governors of the fifty states in American, out of a total of 31 women ever to hold their state's highest elected office. Another twenty-percent of our cities with populations of more than 30,000 are governed by women mayors.

"But we've still got room to grow in this new century, and our goals remain the same as those that came before us - to lay the groundwork for our daughters to be the next great leaders, and to provide for them the same opportunities that we provide for our sons."

Last year, Judge O'Malley traveled to St. Petersburg and Tosno, Russia where she part of the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium's (RAROLC) delegation, a group of volunteer legal experts that partner with professionals from a Russian region, and promote the development of legal institutions and the rule of law in Russia, to help build a more democratic society in the future.

During her trip, Judge O'Malley helped the RAROLC host a group of Judges, Justices of the Peace and Prosecutors from Tosno, Russia who were interested in domestic violence initiatives in Maryland. The Chief Judge of the Tosno city court requested that the program participants, including Judge O'Malley, visit their city to further discuss U.S. policies, procedures and laws pertaining to domestic violence. The RAROLC accepted the invitation, enthusiastic about their prospects to strengthen relationships and develop new ones to advance domestic violence reform in Tosno and the greater region of Leningrad Oblast.

The Russian American Rule of Law Consortium is dedicated to improving the capacity of local Russian legal institutions to implement reform, already having been instrumental in the development of bar associations and judicial and lawyer education programs. The RAROLC has also provided training in the use of technology, initiated the adoption of alternative dispute resolution methods, and trained legal professionals to effectively implement reforms, bringing justice to citizens.

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