For forty-two years Women For: Orange County has honored "outstanding Orange County citizens who embody the spirit and characteristics of those who have struggled courageously for women's suffrage and other human rights." At this year's Annual Suffrage Day Celebration on August 24, the organization honored Huntington Beach City Councilmember Natalie Moser and UCI Professor Jane Stoever. Citric Acid is proud to share their acceptance speeches. OC Supervisor Katrina Foley introduced Natalie Moser. Amy Abshier, Staff Attorney at Community Legal Aid SoCal, introduced Jane Stoever. Thanks to Carol Tuch and Felicity Figueroa of Women For: Orange County. --- The Editors

Natalie Moser: On Choosing to "Do Something"

Thank you, Supervisor Foley, for that warm introduction and for your unwavering support. I am deeply honored to receive this honor today, and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the hosts of this event, my family, friends, and everyone here who has supported me along the way.

I am especially humbled to be honored alongside Professor Jane Stoever. Jane, your work at UCI’s Domestic Violence Clinic and the Initiative to End Family Violence is extraordinary, and it is a true privilege to share this moment with you today.

As we celebrate one hundred and four years of women’s suffrage, we are reminded that this movement is ongoing, right here in our communities—and back in my hometown of Huntington Beach. The echoes of the suffragists' struggle resound through the generations, reminding us that the work of building a just and equal society is ongoing.

This movement has been driven by women of all ages, stages, and backgrounds, from high school girls bravely speaking out in City Council Meetings, to librarians, teachers, and moms standing up for our children’s right to access information and read freely, and their right to feel welcome in our city.  

We have seen our elders, like my dear friend and mentor Shirley Dettloff, who worked tirelessly to breathe life into our democracy and "kept going" until her last breath this past April. 

We must also honor the grassroots organizers and "friends of our libraries" who tirelessly advocate for our freedoms block by block. 

These women, men, and so many others, have been the echoes of those who came before, carrying forward the fight for equality, justice and dignity with unwavering determination.

On election night in 2020, wearing my pink suit and surrounded by my family (in our backyard) and by a grid of supporters (on my laptop), I remember a special moment. 

The final Registrar of Voters update comes in with the news that I most likely won. My husband and son give me big proud hugs and our then ten-year old daughter, in her "Natalie Moser for City Council" shirt, stands over me, and tightly wraps her arms around me. 

In that moment, in that hug, I hoped my daughter saw not just her mom, but a woman who chose to "do something"' for her hurting community.

I stood up then and I continue to stand up now because I believe we are all connected—each of us playing a vital role in our community’s narrative and our country’s story. Surviving breast cancer underscored this truth: life is brief, but within that brevity lies the key to how we live and what we give.

Years ago, I turned to Shirley to guide me in making a difference. She welcomed me, and together we chose to work with joy and determination. Now, I strive to embody that spirit for our kids, teaching them that they, too, hold the key to creating change and making a difference.

In the past week, we’ve heard powerful words from remarkable women. Words that remind us to “keep going,” to “do something,” and to vow that “we will not go back.” These messages are a rallying cry for all of us as we continue to fight for our freedoms—whether it’s the freedom to read, the freedom to vote, or the obligation to continue this fight for past generations, for future generations, and for our democracy.

But this is not just about the words of leaders; it’s about the actions we take in our own lives. It’s about the young women finding their voices, the mothers speaking out, and elders walking neighborhoods—even if they can only make it three doors with a walker. The echoes of our actions today are shaping and unlocking our future.

The right to vote was just the beginning. It was the key that opened the door for us to continue this work—to reclaim our communities and our country, block-by-block. Together, we are making a difference, and together, we will keep moving forward.

Thank you.

Jane K. Stoever: "We Have So Much Work to Do!"

You can believe it’s true when I say I have my dream job – the chance to teach and learn from my students and work with clients, and then for graduates like Amy Abshier to become valued colleagues and friends. Amy, thank you for your incredibly generous introduction.

Thank you, Women For: Orange County, for this honor, with a special thanks to Felicity Figueroa, Carol Tuch, and Londa Woods for your organizing efforts.

And my admiration to Councilmember Natalie Moser, one of my heroes for her courageous, essential work in Huntington Beach. Speaking of heroes, a special thanks to my parents for making the trip from Kansas City here.

I grew up in a family dedicated to peace and justice. My upbringing was one of community organizing and peace activism. My mom had worked for United Farmworkers, and my dad represented the missile silo plowshares in the Midwest, with Howard Zinn staying in our humble home when he served as an expert witness.

My parents worked for peace and an end to war in the world, and my work has focused on non-violence in the home, in relationships, and in families. Since my days in college interning at the Children’s Defense Fund’s Nonviolence and Youth Development Unit and working at a shelter for teenage girls, to later living as a staff member at a shelter for unhoused families, to now directing the UCI Law Domestic Violence Clinic and the UCI Initiative to End Family Violence, I fundamentally believe that safety in one’s relationships, home, and the world should be – must be – a basic human right.

In so many ways, we’ve changed the world. And in so many ways, we have so much work to do.

We still live in a world in which the most dangerous place for a woman is in her own home. The World Health Organization had declared domestic violence a global pandemic before Covid, and the public health message of “stay at home, safe at home” simply wasn’t true for our clients. Still today, injury through domestic abuse occurs more often than the combined number of auto accidents, muggings, and stranger rapes. I think of how I am forever telling my parents and sister to be careful out there, call or text me when you get home. We do this as a society, but we don’t warn each other of the dangers of home.

In terms of the significance of Suffrage Day and the vote, it’s the right to have our voices, choices, and future matter. Too many of my clients have been denied these freedoms.

o   Clients held in captivity, locked in their homes with a double-barrel deadbolt;

o   Threatened with deportation,

o   Clients trafficked by their boyfriends or husbands

o   Clients whose children were abducted – and we’ve always recovered the children

o   And clients whose partners interfered with their contraceptive use and pregnancy outcomes – which led our clinic to draft and pass the first-in-the-world legislation on reproductive coercion (Amy Abshier was central to that effort).

And, all of us are experiencing nationwide efforts to control women, girls’, and pregnant people’s bodies, to deny our voices, choices, and futures. Project 2025 promises to devastate LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, abortion and contraceptive access, and gender equity. But we won’t go back. We know what our Project 2024 is. It’s the vote.

I want to leave you with three ideas:

First, vicarious resilience. Our clients have survived so much, and we work to achieve truly transformational outcomes, and have the incredible joy of seeing our clients’ glorious futures. I am inspired by them – by their determination and capacity to heal, to create change and safety for their children, by their humor, by their resilience. Yes, we know vicarious trauma, but I want to hold up vicarious resilience.

Second, remedying gender-based violence is key to solving so many societal issues. Do you want an end to gun-violence fatalities? The combination of firearms and DV increases lethality by 700%. Do you care about remedying the gender wage gap? Someone who experiences teen dating violence has lifetime depressed wages, and the average assault results in eight days of missed work for an abused woman. Do you care about ending houselessness? Domestic violence is the primary cause of women and children being unhoused, and over half of women who attempt to leave an abusive relationship fall below the poverty line. So we see the interconnectedness and have to work at the root causes.

My final point is our commitment to freedom and just how overdue we are to shatter all the glass ceilings. Dave and I teach our children that gender shouldn’t define what or how big you can dream. Of course, in 2016, nearly sixty-six million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams. All of us are still focused on a better tomorrow, and on freedom – achieving freedom from violence, from control, from fear, and freedom to not just survive, but to thrive.

I am grateful for all that Women For: Orange County does to better the human rights of our clients and community and to ensure that my daughter can someday have as many and even more rights than my mother. Thank you for this wonderful recognition.

Natalie Moser, Jane Stoever, and Katrina Foley

Photo by Alyssa Napuri, Deputy Chief of Staff for OC Supervisor Katrina Foley