EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) - March 8 is International Women's Day and the Zonta Club of Eugene-Springfield will be holding their annual forum on the topic of 'Eliminating Violence Against Women'.
The annual event focused on the ending violence against women is coming up Friday. Organizers say the more our community knows about the issue, the more likely things are to change.
Zonta is an international organization dedicated to helping women and the local chapter held their first forum in 2004, after a
Springfield mother was murdered by her ex-husband who had been stalking her. According to Zonta, one out of three women who have been murdered were killed by an intimate partner. It's facts like these that the forum aims to shed light on, in the hope of promoting change.
“Every community member should be aware of the violence that's occurring,” says Liz Ness of Zonta. “They need to be aware that the funding that's available in our community is diminished, that the victims of assault are desperately in need of help, that these programs are dramatically affected and that it's going to take all of us to make a difference.”
The forum will be held on Friday, March 8, at the Eugene Hilton, which is located at 66 E 6th Avenue. Speakers on the panel include the Executive Directors of Womenspace and Sergeant Kathy Flynn, the Eugene Police Officer who heads the Violent Crime Division. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door; the price includes a buffet lunch at 11:30 AM prior to the forum, which begins at noon.
Ness says one of the primary focuses of this year's event will be funding issues facing women’s advocacy groups across the nation. She says it was a victory that Congress recently renewed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), but that the looming sequester cuts are going to hit women's groups hard.
