Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / Women Around the World: Sofia Scarlat

Transcript

Women Around the World: Sofia Scarlat · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Danny and Samantha. I don't go to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: step I never told your production of I Heart Radio.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: And we are going to go ahead and put a
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: little bit of a content warning on this episode of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Women Around the World. We are talking about sexual violence
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: a little bit and talking about domestic violence. We're not
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: going to go into two graphic details. We are also
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: going to talk about a specific murder case that happened
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: within Romania, So both of those things are going to
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: be mentioned in here. Again, we're not focusing so much
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: on that as much as we are focusing on the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: young lady who has doing some amazing things to advocate
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: for women and young girls in her community. But yeah,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: you know, we always want to put this in there.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: But any I have a question for you before we start.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: As a teenager, were you a part of any like
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: girl's own or girls specific clubs? Um, you know, I
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: don't think I was. I don't think I was. I
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: wasn't girls Scots very briefly when I was much younger, Um,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: And I think I went to maybe not a club
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: or organization so much as like I don't know one
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: day where they would be like ladies your girls. Here's
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: how you be in business like her in vague memories
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: of like you know, professional development stuff women. But I
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: was not. I don't think I was an official club
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: or anything like that just for women and girls, I know, right,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: So I think I wasn't in the Brownies for one year.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I definitely did that, I would, I guess. I guess
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: we could talk about like organizational sports too, that were
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I was a cheerleader that was focused on of course
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: in that in the country they're only girls as in
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: like the Woods, a small town, but anyway, but yes,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: I was part of that, but it wasn't a commanderie
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: for sure. It wasn't that same level. And I always
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: wanted something like the Babysitters Club or like the girls
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: only clubs that I never really had growing up either.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: I am one of those that had a really good
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: group of girlfriends in my life and kept the core
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: group of girls that was in my life, maybe three
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: of us, four of us who were just you know,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: always together. But yeah, I didn't get to be a
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: part of those either. And I'm really sad because I
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: feel like we've missed out a little bit and I
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: wonder what that would have been for us. But We're
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: not here to ruminism and be sad over the fact
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: that we weren't a part of these really very cool
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: women only or girls only clubs or essentially for that
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: type of Commanderie, but we are going to talk about
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: a young lady who created her own as well. UM.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Today we want to talk about Sophia Scarlett. UM. I
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: think she goes by Sophie, That's what I've seen in
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: her ted talk just so you know, who is an
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: advocate and fighter and organizer for women and girls rights
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: around the world and has been working within her own
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: country in Romania. UM Scarlett is currently a student Steppardy
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: University UM and at the age of eighteen, is already
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: an established a leader within the movement of women and
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: gender rights. And it's a force to be reckoned with, y'all.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: When we do research for these segments, we look to
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: find those who are out there doing the work and
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: not holding back and and we don't talk about often
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: or we don't know about yet, or we're watching to
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: see what they're doing or what they've done, and we
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: want to get them all the accolades and all the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: credit while they're still alive or just beginning even and
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Scarlet is the epitome of that. To me, she's a force.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Like I watched her speak, uh, and the TED talks
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: I've seen, like she writes, it's beautiful and I'm like,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: my gosh, that sense of self and self awareness is amazing.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: And she doesn't have a Wikipedia page, which needs to
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: change asap, so we need to find someone to do this. Uh.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: And most of the information on her is from her
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: own writings or interviews again her TED talks about her work,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: but also yeah, through a lot of the panels that
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: she's a part of, a lot of the community like
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: organizations she's a part of, We've been able to find
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: some of that information. Um. And it's these types of
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: foremasts that bring attention to what is or isn't happening
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: within Romania, and we felt like it was really important
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: to highlight what she's been doing. Yes, definitely, And as
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: always with these fun with pronunciation, we're going to do
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: your best, but yeah, bear with us. After it was
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: discovered that victim Alexandra Massasau had tried to contact police
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: before her brutal murder, begging for help, many around the
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: country protested for justice, and the whold authorities accountable. Many
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: criticized the law enforcement, saying they did not believe that
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: this woman was in danger and they did not act
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: fast enough, as it took nineteen hours to discover her.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Scarlett wrote specifically on the instant, saying, today, in particular,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: we talked about how, according to the Cara Cole, Chief
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: of Police, the first believed victim of the killer, Louisa,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: had prob just packed up and left with a quote
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: handsome man. Where else could a teenage girl go? In
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: their minds, the case was closed. We've told this country
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: countless times that things need to change. The problem is
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: that you've just not been listening. You're wondering how this
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: was possible. You're telling yourself it's the first time and
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: so long you've heard of a crime like this. We're
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: not confused. The attacker might have been the one committing
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: the murder, the police might have been the ones waiting
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: for a warrant at the gate. But behind all of
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: them is collective mentality deeply marked by misogyny and distrust
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: and women's experiences that we are all as a country
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: responsible for right and she in her speech it was
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: just a phenomenal conversation of the fact that she says
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: that by the age of fifteen, we've already bonded over
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the many traumas of being sexualized victimized by so many
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: and people are ignoring it. So again, like she's sixties
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: slash seventeen doing the speech and it's so powerful. But
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: it was during this time she started Romania's first agenda equality,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: the organizations for teenagers called Girl Up Romania. She co
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: organized protests after the death of Alexandra Masasano and Louisa Melenkou,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: who was the first victim of the tragic murders, and
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: she and they started a much needed conversation of the
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: misogyny and violence against women and girls in Romania. And
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: she's been upfront at the needs of training law enforcements
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to better work these cases, not only to prevent the violence,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: but also to help from retraumatizing victims, which we've talked
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: about before. She said about this quote, we must begin
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: to talk about these issues, and they're barely scratching the
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: surface of a society that's been built on the marginalization
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: and discrimination of women and girls. While our fellow European
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: nations are moving forward, Eastern Europe is taking thousands of
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: steps back. Other countries are discussing solutions while we've yet
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: to even acknowledge there is a problem. We must not
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: underestimate the power that conversations and educations can have on individuals,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: and we must start talking now, no matter how uncomfortable
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: that is for us. And she credits her family as
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: a part of why she is so passionate and finding
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: solutions and bringing attention to the problems facing the community.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: She said in an interview with Missing Perspectives. Quote. I
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: was born and raised in Romania in a family of
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: people who, despite having their own struggles, never lost sight
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: of their community and of the importance of looking out
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: for the people around them. I think this is perhaps
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: one of the most important aspects of my upbringing, This selflessness, determination, courage,
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: and creativity that I was surrounded by from a very
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: young age. In a country where our government, our representatives,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: and our educational system actively teach selfishness and competition, my
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: parents and my brother were always concerned with the issues
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: in our community and always made an effort to propose
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: and implement solutions in their own free time. I looked
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: up to them as a child, and I continue to
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: do so today because I realized how rare that mindset
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: truly is and how important it is to protect and
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: cherish it and trying my best to follow in their
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: footsteps and make sure that they and everyone else in
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Romania who advocates for their communities are not alone in
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: their fight right. And she talked about the fact at
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: fifteen she felt like she was failing because she hadn't
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: already started an organization like this, Uh, seeing a problem
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: and being too scared to speak out, And I'm like,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: what thirty five, I didn't know, But it's it's amazing
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: to see again when we talk about female first and
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: women doing things, just seeing a problem and since there
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: was no solution, creating a solution um and that's exactly
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: what she did. And it's awesome to have a family
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: that actually was able to support her and and really
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: be grounding for her and things like this. And one
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: of the things is the organization she created, Girls Up Romania,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: which is a team of over a hundred thirty students
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: from around the country, so it's made up of all
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: teenagers and they've been working to educate and use events
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: and campaigns to bring attention and open up conversations about
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: how to advocate and work to address problems concerning women
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: and girls today. They've been able to raise funds for
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: shelters and programs to help women and children in need,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: as well as collaborating and lobbying the romaaniing in Parliament,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: which includes protesting and marching. Um and have also helped
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: provide mental health and legal services for underage victims of
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: sexual and gender based violence. And about that, She's talked
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: about the fact that she handed it over to the
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: leadership because she really felt it was important that it
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: stays within the team community and I think that's beautiful
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: and she isn't looking to slow down at any point.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: He's currently a co director of the Sexual Violence Prevention
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Committee at Stanford UM and has also been working closely
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: with researchers at the CLAIM and Institute of Gender Research
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: to investigate the effects of the COVID Night Team pandemic
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: on domestic violence, which is huge and I'm honestly scared
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: about those numbers when we come back to face it.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Um And she been a past intern of Romania's Permanent
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Mission to the u N as a researcher for the
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: U S Department of State Initiative to research human trafficking preventions,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: so she has plenty of experience in helping with these.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, I'm tired just hearing what she's been doing.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: She's also a member of the UN Women's Generation Equality
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Youth task Force. I belish she's maybe the youngest and
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: as a Women Deliver Young Leader and an International Children's
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Peace Prize nominee. So when we say people are doing things,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: people are doing things. Yes, this is so amazing, and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: so it's just so powerful and and so it's so
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: it's so so impressive, and we look forward to seeing
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: what else Scarlett accomplishes. This is so fantastic. Yes, and yes,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: please take the time, go ahead, and we'll go look
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: at her Ted talk, look at look at her speeches
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: and her essays and interviews. It is so inspiring. Yes, definitely.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: And if there's someone that you think we should be
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: shouting out in this segment or anywhere, we're always happy
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: to shout out people who are doing amazing things. Yes,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: you can contact us. You can email us at Stuff Media,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can find
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: us on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast or on Instagram
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: at Stuff. I've never told you. Thanks as always too
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: of much. Super producer Christina shout out to you because
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: you're amazing. Oh yeah, and thanks to you for listening.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Someone ever told the sprection of I hier radio. For
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: more podcast from I Heart Radio physically I Heart Radio app,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Apple Podcast or ready listen to your favorite ships