Lawless supports women's activism in Rhode Island

WARWICK, RI - Jennifer Lawless, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's second congressional district, recently reinforced her strong support for the activism of women across the state.

"In today's political climate, it is imperative that the voices of women are heard," Lawless said in a prepared statement.

"I am honored to be speaking on National Young Women's Day of Action at the University of Rhode Island and Brown - two of our state's strongholds for women's activism," she continued. "This is an issue that's really important to me - we need to encourage as many young women as possible to get involved in our political process."

Currently, Rhode Island ranks 36th out of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of women in state legislature, according to the Lawless release.

Rhode Island has never elected a female senator or governor, does not have a single female statewide officeholder, and has not elected a woman to serve in its congressional delegation in 15 years.

Lawless will be speaking on National Young Women's Day of Action today at events at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island. At 4 p.m. she will speak at Brown at an event sponsored by several organizations, including the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Students for Choice, and the Sarah Doyle Women's Center. At 7 p.m. Lawless will address an audience at URI in an event sponsored by the URI Department of Women's Studies.

Tomorrow, Lawless wil be participating in her monthly meeting of the Brown Commission on the Status of Women.

This article appeared on October 20, 2005, in the Warwick Beacon.