WOMEN SENATORS GET A LESSON ON GIRLS' RIGHTS

WOMEN SENATORS GET A LESSON ON GIRLS' RIGHTS
Five girls visit Capitol Hill to Help Launch Girls Inc. Center for Girls' Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2001

WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 2001 - It wasn't too long ago that 18-year-old Abby Solomon believed adults rarely heeded the concerns of teenagers - let alone the opinions of girls. Now, she wants the nation's 36 million girls to know and assert their rights, so she is starting with elected officials on Capitol Hill.

Solomon realized her opinion counted when some members of the local board of education in Meriden, Connecticut, visited with the high school student government to listen to students' concerns on changes to grading policy. On the students' urging, the board reviewed the policy and reinstated the traditional grading system.

She says, "I was surprised the board [of education] actually took what we said into consideration at their next meeting."

Now that Solomon knows the power of speaking up first hand, she will travel to Capitol Hill on May 15th with four other girls from across the country to introduce women Senators to the Girls Incorporated Girls' Bill of Rights, six principles of empowerment for every girl. In Washington, D.C. the girls will also help launch the Girls Incorporated, Center for Girls' Rights, a public education center dedicated to creating social change on issues of gender equity.

Solomon's goal? She is hoping to affect change for girls nationwide through advocacy - by institutionalizing the Girls Inc. Girls' Bill of Rights.

"The Girls' Bill of Rights has given me a sense of well being - just knowing that I have these rights and no one can take them away," says Solomon. "They have helped me remember who I am, and I hope other girls will have the same opportunity to use them and have the same rights."

Solomon and the four other young women will meet with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, California Senators, Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Washington state Senator Patty Murray and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

As part of Girls Inc. Girls' Rights Week, girls, ages 6 to 18, from Girls Inc. centers all over the country are joining the effort by asking their local officials to pass a girls' rights resolution. Girls nationwide will also be able to join an online (www.girlsinc.org) e-card writing campaign aimed at elected officials - to tell them why girls need a Bill of Rights.

"We conducted a national survey and found that in spite of their self confidence, girls are still limited by outmoded stereotypes," said Joyce Roch', President and CEO of Girls Incorporated. "Our goal is to make sure that every girl knows her rights and that everyone in a girl's life respects those rights."

Learn more about the Girls Inc. Scholars traveling to Washington, D.C.

Girls Incorporated Harris Interactive poll on gender stereotypes