Three Women’s History Month Essay winners were recognized during the Board of Trustees meeting last Wednesday.

The three that were recognized were Melvi De La Cruz, psychology and sociology major, Carol King, English major and Katie Colln, English literature major.

The winners were as followed:

? 1st Place De La Cruz’s “”Broken Silence: The Somaly Mam Story”? 2nd Place King “The Women and Girls of Sierra Leone”? 3rd Place Colln “A Decade of Tears”

During Women’s History Month in March essay were sought to focus “state” is a key instrument in maintaining gender norms and hierarchies. The lives of women around the world vary, in part because of their countries’ policies and ideologies regarding women.

The paper could focus on an individual or on a phenomenon or trend which affects women in a specific area.

Topics might include the following: How state policies contribute to domestic violence or rape, women’s abilities to meet the needs of their children, particular concerns about women’s rights in work conditions, limits on the age of marriage, and state policies on reproductive health.

One may explore how women’s human rights are often violated by states and by international organizations, as well as what is being done to change this.

Such phenomenon as female gender mutilation, honor killings, dowry deaths, missing women unaccounted for in many countries, forced marriage, mail order brides, male preference of fetuses, modern-day slavery are possibilities.

The time in which students had the opportunity to turn in the essay were October of 2006 for the closing of Feburary 2007 English instructor Barbara Mueller said.

For De La Cruz, it was a focus on a one-time orphan and a former sex slave of the Cambodian brothel industry, of which girls as young as five years old were sold by their families for as little as one U.S. dollar.

“I wanted to step out outside of the box,” she commented, “and hopefully students who read it will have an understanding.”

As the “Women of Juarez” as her focus, Colln said that what she’d learned was that the women in Mexico are suffering.

“There was this one woman whom I researched who was gang raped,” she explained, “and other who are living in poor working conditions going missing.”

King could not be reached for comment.

In addition, De La Cruz said that her boss had informed her that she had been one of the contest winners.

Mueller said that there were approximately 60 essays that were turned in and that she along with, English instructor Lydia Alvarez, Joana Mootz-Gonzales, Linda Palumbo were on a committee that chose the essays.

Finally, Mueller said that one thing that she hopes students will walk away with if they haven’t read the essays.

“I do want students to know that much of the work of feminists and women’s movements throughout the world has significance, relevance, and efficacy in achieving rights for women.”