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Monday, May 21, 2007

CFAW’s Web site offers new forum for dialogue on women’s issues

(New York, NY) - The Center for the Advancement of Women launched today a new version of its Web site that provides added opportunities for women to share their views and concerns on topics affecting their lives.

AdvanceWomen.org offers weekly polls that capture women’s daily experiences and perspectives. In its inaugural week, the site asks visitors whether states should mandate HPV vaccinations among young women. Additional opinion surveys will be featured periodically, and the results will be included in the site and reflected in CFAW’s advocacy efforts.

The new version of AdvanceWomen.org also features a Tell Us Your Story section, in which visitors can share anonymously meaningful anecdotes or personal accounts reflecting women’s role and status in society.  In the Submit Your Ideas section, visitors will have the opportunity to make suggestions for additional research and advocacy campaigns by CFAW.  Selected entries and ideas will be posted periodically on the site to encourage dialogue.

The site will also offer a monthly blog by CFAW’s President Faye Wattleton, who will post her opinions on current issues affecting women.  Visitors will be able to respond to the blog by posting their own comments.

“Our primary goal is to collect women’s daily experiences, attitudes and opinions into an accurate portrait of their reality that can be shared through multimedia communications with opinion leaders, policy makers and allied organizations working on behalf of women,” said Faye Wattleton, CFAW’s President. “Providing daily Web-based opportunities for women to give their immediate thoughts on current topics helps us capture a different set of perspectives, which might complement our national opinion surveys or prompt additional research.”

The site’s new Media Center includes excerpts from radio and TV interviews in which CFAW representatives raise awareness of issues identified by women nationwide as top priorities.  CFAW also plans to add a series of Podcasts on current issues affecting women, which will allow visitors to access and share with others portable content on the Center’s research findings and advocacy messages.

“We don’t conduct research for research sake. We use women’s direct input to raise consciousness about their realities through the power of mass media,” said Wattleton.  “TV and radio clips included in the Media Center are clear examples of what CFAW can do to bring the reality of women’s lives to the airwaves.”

For those interested in reviewing CFAW’s latest research on women, the new site provides downloadable PDF versions of all recent study reports.