SBWPC Members,
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish you and your families a happy new year. The beginning of 2020 finds us at the center of new and renewed conflict at home and abroad. We are confronted with our deepest fears of an escalation to a war in the middle east.
The Santa Barbara Women's Political Committee stands for peace. Our position paper titled "International Peace and Security" states:
"The 21st century world calls for a feminist approach to global engagement and international relations in order to achieve worldwide peace and security.
Women are disproportionately affected by war and political instability. The majority of refugees are women and children. Additionally, rape and sexual slavery are routinely used as tools of war. War leads to increased rates of domestic violence, child abuse, murder and suicide.
Respect for the fundamental rights of women and support for their economic and social equality are crucial to the security of every nation, including our own, and to the elimination of war and political violence."
In this time of uncertainty, we must stand together to collectively call for peace, for the rule of law, and to stand with our friends and neighbors who may be targeted by conflict occurring in the middle east. We will also stand with our friends and neighbors who serve in the armed forces and who may find themselves in harms way by the actions of an unhinged occupant of the White House.
This is not the time for rest or for armchair activism, please do anything you can to be politically involved in 2020. Whether it is by volunteering on a campaign, making a financial contribution, knocking on doors, registering people to vote, etc. The Women's Political Committee will be hard at work supporting our endorsed candidates - including electing the first woman president, Senator Elizabeth Warren. We will continue to be at the forefront of pushing for a feminist political agenda and holding our elected leaders accountable to our shared feminist values and positions.
Thank you for your continued support, we need each of you and we will be with you every step of the way.
Adelante/Forward,
Luz Reyes-Martin
