OXFORD, Miss. – Two programs designed to focus on women’s
issues in the state before the upcoming election are
scheduled Oct. 22 and Nov. 5 at the University of
Mississippi.
Sponsored by the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender
Studies, the brown bag luncheon programs are set for noon
in the Student Union Ballroom. The public is invited at no
charge.
“The purpose of this series is to foreground issues
affecting the status of women – and children – in
Mississippi, concerns that are seldom raised in the current
political statewide dialogue,” said Mary Carruth, Isom
Center director. “Another purpose is to drive home the
importance of women voting on November 6.”
Speaker for the first presentation, “Mississippi Law and
Intimate Partner Violence,” is Deborah Bell, UM professor
of law.
“The incidence of partner violence remains a serious
problem for women of all backgrounds,” Bell said. “I will
be talking about recent laws that provide additional
protection for women and which are designed to provide more
ready access to court.”
The second program, “Women’s Status and Political
Participation in Mississippi,” features a panel discussion
followed by questions from the audience. Panelists are
retired Supreme Court Justice Kay Cobb; Marianne Hill,
policy analyst at Mississippi Institutions of Higher
Learning; Donna Yowell, chair of the Mississippi Commission
on the Status of Women; and Lena Wiley, executive director
of the Interfaith Compassion Ministry in Oxford.
For more information or assistance related to a disability,
call 662-915-5916. To learn more about the Isom Center,
visit