MARBLEHEAD — The Select Board on Wednesday unanimously voted to approve a proclamation for April to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month after Megan Sweeney — a community member, mother of three, domestic violence survivor and the founder of PowerUP — presented a Women’s History Month slide show.
To kick off the presentation, Sweeney joked, “It’s no surprise for those who know me that, as much as I love women, I absolutely love defiant women, so that’s where the focus is going to be today.”
This presentation was an invitation to “celebrate and acknowledge the deep, rich history of Marblehead” while acknowledging the historical gaps in knowledge, which can most likely be attributed to the — purposeful or accidental — omission of women throughout history.
Sweeney said, “Omissions minimize women’s power, influence, existence — and quite frankly waters down Marblehead’s comprehensive and committed roles in shaping American history.”
“To discuss history without acknowledging the multiple ways that we are suppressed is inauthentic,” she said. “It prevents learning. It distorts the raw power of being a woman who defies society’s norms, who goes to war for her country, who survives and thrives.
“Most egregiously, by only celebrating our gendered norms, we limit the dreams and potential of our next generation, for all of us as women who have experienced violence, inequity, injustice, exclusion, erasure and, of course, all these ‘-isms’ impact our potential.”
By “-isms,” Sweeney is referencing racism, sexism, ageism, etc.
“We have to understand women’s collective accomplishments against these battles of everyday life,” she continued. “I believe it’s important to do that to fully acknowledge our stories, or we take a chance on forgetting our strength as women and our courage and our power as a community, as a whole.”
Sweeney’s proposal for the Select Board is three-fold: document this moment, initiate equitable representation in public spaces and acknowledge women of the past, present and future.
To document this moment, she suggested the Town support anti-violence proclamations for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is April, and Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is October. The latter was not acknowledged by the Select Board, seemingly due to the lack of timeliness as there are still seven months before Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
To initiate equitable representation in public spaces, Sweeney suggested creating a women’s veteran monument, launching a campaign to create peace gardens throughout town and designating space for portraits of women in governance, like the Town’s first female Select Board member: Joyce Maffei. According to Sweeney’s research, Maffei joined the select board in the early ‘70s.
To acknowledge women of the past, present and future, Sweeney suggested recording their contributions and omissions as well as establishing equitable representation guidelines and accountability standards.
State Rep. Jenny Armini, State Sen. Julian Cyr, the Massachusetts Women Veterans Network and the Essex County Commission on the Status of Women are all supporters of Sweeney’s proposals.
Following Sweeney’s presentation, Select Board member Moses Grader read the proclamation, which acknowledged that “the month of April is nationally recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness, educate communities and promote prevention efforts to end sexual violence.”
The proclamation also included national statistics, emphasizing that “one in three women and one in six men experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime.”
Select Board member Dan Fox eagerly motioned to approve it, citing his enthusiasm by mentioning that he was raised in a household with all women and that he has two daughters.
“This truly is just the beginning,” Sweeney said, “but this came through multiple searches, crowdsourcing, social media, media archives, online conversations, scheduled and rescheduled meetings and the generosity of a ton of Marbleheaders who share the same passion I do about history.”
She said she hopes increasing visibility of women’s history will “ignite a spark which will inspire the next generation of leaders, visionaries and revolutionaries to dream and reach their potential, knowing they have our community’s full support.”
