Global Women Rights award

MEDIA ADVISORY

For immediate release Contact: Alba Gibson 310.384.1732
April 6, 2009 Merilee Newman 310.556.2500

Feminist Majority Foundation announces
Global Women’s Rights Awards Recipients

Awards ceremony hosted by Mavis and Jay Leno

FEATURING: Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent
Dr. Neal Baer, Executive Producer of Law & Order: SVU
Mariska Hargitay, Actor on Law & Order: SVU
Janet Johnson Bryant, Liberian Mass Action for Peace
Abigail Disney, Producer of Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Gini Reticker, Director of Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Billie Heller, National Committee on U.N./ CEDAW
One Million Signatures Campaign, for Iranian women’s rights

WHEN/WHERE: Beverly Hills Hotel
April 29, 2009, Wednesday
6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

LOS ANGELES — Hosted by Mavis and Jay Leno, the Feminist Majority Foundation will hold its Fifth Annual Global Women’s Rights Awards the evening of April 29th at the Beverly Hills Hotel, honoring extraordinary people who have worked tirelessly for global women’s rights.

This award is given annually to a select few individuals who have contributed significantly – often against great odds and at great personal risk – to advance the rights of women and girls and to increase awareness of the injustices women face on account of their gender:

Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent who, at the risk of her own life, was among the first television correspondents to bring to the world’s attention the plight of women under the brutal Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Janet Johnson Bryant helped lead an unprecedented mobilization of women from across Liberia to end the bloody 14-year-long civil war. Producer Abigail Disney and Director Gini Reticker championed their story to worldwide audiences in their award-winning film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell.

Dr. Neal Baer (Executive Producer) of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU), and Mariska Hargitay (as Detective Olivia Benson) have brought television audiences a better understanding of violence against women, including international human trafficking and child soldiers in war.

Billie Heller will receive a special award for her nearly three decades of work to win U.S. Senate ratification of the International Women’s Rights Treaty (CEDAW).

The One Million Signatures Campaign will be specially recognized for their groundbreaking work to demand an end to discriminatory laws in Iran against women. Iranian campaign activists, including Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, are being repeatedly arrested and harassed for speaking out for women’s human rights.

The evening will feature a panel discussion with the honorees. The evening raises funds for the Feminist Majority Foundation’s global programs, including its Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls. With President Obama’s promise to change US policy in Afghanistan, the Feminist Majority Foundation is working ensure that women and girls are not left out of the security and development plans.

The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), founded in 1987, is the nation’s largest feminist research and action organization dedicated to women's equality, reproductive rights and health, and non-violence. Feminist Majority Foundation was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for its efforts to help the women and girls of Afghanistan reclaim their full rights.

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Note to Editors: Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) board member and gala co-chair Mavis Leno, FMF President Eleanor Smeal, and FMF Executive Vice President Katherine Spillar are available for interview preceding the event.