In 1961, a psychologist by the name of Albert Bandura conducted an experiment based on the developmental theory of social learning. Boys and girls, between the ages of 36 months and 3-years, were randomly assigned to play in a room with another adult. In the control condition, the child and adult played quietly side-by-side. In the experimental condition, the adult was tasked to act aggressively (physically and verbally) with a bobo doll strategically placed in the corner of the room. After a short break by both groups, the children were brought back to the play room to continue playing uninhibited while psychologists observed their play. The results from the study were profound, revealing the salient way children learn from the modeling behavior of adults, even without direct instruction. The children who were exposed to 20 minutes of aggressive play by the adult experimenter, were significantly more likely to use aggression with the bobo doll than children who had not been exposed to that kind of modeling.

In this second edition of our new ‘Meet Our Volunteers’ series, we’re highlighting Carin Elam and Carol Moore, two of our amazing volunteers with the Global Women’s Caucus!

After moving first to Paris, then to London for an MBA exchange program in 1976, Carol quickly ended up settling down in London after meeting her future husband, and began working in international banking. She later learned about Democrats Abroad from an American colleague, and began volunteering with the Democrats Abroad Global Primary in 2004 during the Bush/Kerry election: “I was adamantly opposed to the war in Iraq and wanted to see Bush defeated.” She continued to volunteer with Democrats Abroad, phone banking during the 2008 Obama campaign, and helped to run voter registration at UK college study abroad programs. In 2015, Carol’s involvement with Democrats Abroad grew when she was asked to run for Chair of Democrats Abroad UK, a position which she held for 10 months, and led to her starting the UK branch of the Women’s Caucus.

Twenty-seven years ago, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA), a landmark piece of legislation, authored by then-Senator Joe Biden. It was designed to support and protect survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. Since that time, the federal government has awarded more than $8 billion in grants to local, state, and tribal governments and organizations, enabling them to develop programs and services to best implement the law's purpose. 

Warnock and Ossoff win their Georgia Senate Seats

Although January 6th was marked by upsetting footage and news of an aggressive mob attacking the people’s house -- our Capitol, we must also celebrate the hard-fought accomplishment of two senate seat wins from Georgia! Thanks to you, and your diligence in the cause of voting from abroad, we were able to solidify a democrat majority in the House and Senate. With important issues that have had to wait patiently on the back-burner as we mobilized to secure Biden and Harris’s win, we are now able to turn to what is important, our cause, to not only protect, but promote women’s rights. Thank you, Georgia!

CHAIR’S CORNER

Greetings from your Global Women’s Caucus team! We would like to take the opportunity to thank our two out-going Communications Co-Chairs for the Global Women’s Caucus, Stacey Kruckel and Carin Elam, for their talent and commitment to progressing our cause. Stacey Kruckel will be focusing more on her role as the Facebook channel lead within the DA Global Communications team, and Carin Elam will continue to aid the GW and LGBTQ+ caucuses IT and Newsletter. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to the GWC!

Announcing our two new Communications Co-Chairs, Jamie McAfee and Stayce Camparo. We appreciate your commitment to the Global Women’s Caucus cause, and look forward to your work going forward.

We, at Democrats Abroad, are still celebrating the amazing wins by Democrats across the United States on both small and large scales, however we still have one more important race to focus on and win! Have you received your ballot and sent it in? Get all the information you need on the critical Georgia Senate runoff here, or stop in for our one-to-one voter assistance to get all of your questions answered.

The Global Women’s Caucus is dedicated to providing updates on our continued efforts in the fight for women’s rights and upholding democratic values. In this issue, we will introduce a new Action Team that will address the enduring domestic and global problem of violence against women. We have also provided several articles on what our 46^th U. S. Presidential administration will bring for women of all groups and backgrounds, and present an exciting new event on January 23^rd, that will celebrate the Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Our efforts could not progress without the dedicated and passionate support of all our volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering with the Global Women’s Caucus, we would love to hear from you. Find out more information on volunteering here, and learn about some of the work we do in the “Meet Our Volunteers” piece.

We hope you enjoy this edition.

Ann Hesse, Global Women’s Caucus Chair

In recent months, scratch that, in recent years, I’ve felt the nagging responsibility that I should be doing more about the things I believe in and support. Of course, I vote, call/write my representatives, and donate money to a variety of organizations. More often, though, I get mad at myself for not having thousands of followers on Instagram or Twitter that I can influence with a picture or short quote. I get mad that I haven’t donated blood or delivered food to a family in need. Especially during the pandemic, when I know that staying home and isolated with my family will keep my neighbors and community safe, I am mad that there are people that won’t listen, and I can’t do anything about it.

November 3rd has come and gone and we have danced in the streets, cried, held our children, and kissed our loved ones as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were announced the 46th President and Vice President of the United States. While memes and hashtags proliferated the internet about being able to breathe lighter, or finally exhale, for the first time in four years, we were quickly reminded that a troubled time was far from over. At the time of this article, the 45th President has yet to concede and begin a peaceful transfer of power, and whether or not Democrats will hold a majority in the Senate, a crucial condition for passing essential policy, is undecided until the January 5th runoff in Georgia. 

This month, the two volunteers we’re highlighting are Ann Hesse and Stayce Camparo, both of whom volunteer with the Global Women’s Caucus - Ann as the Chair, and Stayce as the Communications Co-Chair. Both women moved abroad to Germany in order to pursue a career in the arts - Stayce as a professional ballet dancer, Ann as an opera singer - and ended up settling down in the country and becoming involved with Democrats Abroad.

Jamie McAfee

I am thrilled to begin the good, necessary work alongside Stayce Camparo as the Communications Co-Chair for the Women's Caucus. A big thank you to former co-chairs Carin Elam and Stacey Kruckel for supporting us during this transition. I am currently residing in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the summer of 2019, I moved from Denver, Colorado with my partner and young daughter, two cats and only a few personal items. We feel incredibly grateful to live smack in the middle of this gorgeous medieval city. 

Letter from the Editor

We have less than one month until Election Day! Have you requested your ballot yet, and returned it?  Depending on the state you’re in, if you haven’t done so, you still have time, so do it now at votefromabroad.org!  Do you have questions about the best way to return your ballot?  Get your questions answered at our live, one-to-one voter assistance.

If you’ve already voted, you’re probably eager and waiting for the election cycle to be over. It’s been a long time coming, and we are probably all experiencing a little election fatigue.  But we’re also fiercely hoping that the Democrats can create a #BlueWave this year, not only hopefully capturing the presidency, but also the House and Senate. Now is the time for hope.

The Global Women’s Caucus keeps going, producing a lot of great content to keep everyone informed and up-to-date.  In this issue, we provide info about upcoming events, have several articles that discuss the historic nomination of Senator Kamala Harris for Vice President, continue to provide info about Democratic women candidates, and provide several fascinating essays about our political world today.

We hope that you enjoy this edition!

Stacey Kruckel