supervisor olague. [applause] when he had the opportunity to appoint someone to the position which he formerly held as the chief administration officer of the city and county of san francisco, he immediately nominated -- to be our cao. we are living in a city that and we are very lucky. we know that women around the world are not as lucky. in san francisco, we have many departments that are headed by women. we are very proud.

i am looking forward to the next few years. we are very fortunate to have someone who believes in making room for women at the table. i would like to invite shelley bell to join me in presenting this award. [applause] >> thank you.

thank you very much for this very -- it is very much appreciated. i am sitting here listening to the introductory remarks, and i have flashbacks. it begins with having a different attitude. i have a strong mamom. understanding how a single mothers have to survive and raise a whole family, it gives your life's lessons. i also need to thank anita because she appointed me as her husband. [applause] i can go on and on about a lot of things, but i'm more excited

to work hard with us. there is a lot more to do. there will be efforts that will try to hold us back as a society, but we have to continue moving forward. we cannot let the kind of radio talk-show host and things like that hold us back. i, too, have to express my personal shock how such a vicious language could be used. when someone is invited to present their expertise as a law student about the needs for women. it has been spoiled to be in san francisco because this is often our culture, to listen and to follow up with the articulation from advocates and people who served in all kinds of government and business, educational institutions, the

private sector and the public sector, to listen carefully to the names of our children. to not only survive, but to go beyond that and succeed. i'm often reminded who holds half of the sky up in this city. i am going to continue inviting all of you -- i am speaking to the women here who do have experience and knowledge and foresight to advise me and my administration of how we can do better. nationally, locally, and internationally. to keep advocating strongly how we can protect and nurture and make sure our society is of equalness. the flashbacks of being at the

human rights commission, recalling the advocates that came to meet with me and said palin pour into this for a city to sign on to united nations convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination. [applause] that is still important. a decade later to realize we are one of the very only cities to have done that. how can we still be alone in this effort? we have a lot more work to do. if you do not continue advocating, if we do not have opportunities for you to speak out and for us to listen and to absorb and integrate into our policies, you'll have voices out there that suggest that the issues that women bring not our part -- to bring up our private

matters. that cannot be accepted in a city like san francisco. [applause] i join you in recognizing international women's day. i thank you for this awards and recognition, but i want to make sure you are challenged and you are invited and you are encouraged to advocate to this administration. we will listen and we will act on those things to make sure we are more of an equal society and we can provide leadership to other areas of the country that have yet to catch up. thank you very much. [applause] >> we will make a first presentation. it is from an incredible artist. she is over in the corner.

she has done a series of portraits murals of each of our honorees. it is our gift to you for all that you have done. we presented to you the ed lee mural. [applause] >> thank you. i understand you have other skills that i may need, like hypnotherapy and emotional healing. those are things that usually need after i meet with the board of supervisors. [laughter] [applause] [applause]

>> i forgot my cheat sheet. that was a waste of time. i do want to acknowledge a couple of very important organizations. one is wells fargo. thank you wells fargo. [applause] the other is union bank. thank you very much, at union bank. for those of you who do not know the global arts is a fiscally sponsored program of the women's intercultural network. they just came back from a u.n. conference on women. we will tell you a little bit more later on.

[unintelligible] i knew there was something i've was forgetting. one of the important things that happened with this event, the international institute of education partnered with us to help us make this -- thank you very much. that is what they did. they helped make this a very important event. one of the things they did, they have this incredible group of women who are traveling to the u.s. from various countries who worked in the areas of domestic violence and human trafficking in their countries, from greece, turkey, doorjageorgia.

we want to welcome you with open arms to the city of san francisco. they're traveling with the u.s. state department and they are over at the iee table. welcome to san francisco. [applause] they helped make this a truly international conference. our keynote speaker is coming to us from that group. rose is going to introduce our keynote speaker. >> i would like to welcome the project manager of the shelter for women accident prostitution in iceland. she has built her career as an active proponent of women's issues in iceland. she previously served as

director of the national committee for -- [applause] to >> hello, everyone. thank you so much for having us here today. we are honored to be with you. on the international women's day, i always feel like i have to say thank you. i want to thank all of the women who paved the way. i am grateful for having the right and the opportunity to go to university. i am grateful for my right to vote. thank you that i can have a job and that can have my own property. thank you for the freedom to choose. the international women's day is

celebrated all around the world. we celebrate and commemorate the achievements of our mothers and grandmothers and of their mothers and grandmothers. we celebrate their success in bridging the gap between men and women. we also realize there is still a long way to go. i am very happy to be with you. we've had the opportunity to have participated in a program that is offered by the u.s. department of state. it seems to build -- and six to build mutual understanding between the u.s. and other nations. it is organized by the state department and a nonprofit organization. there is a local sponsor here in san francisco, the institute for

international education. for three weeks, we have traveled to new york, at san diego, and san francisco. i am happy to of traveled with a group of nine other inspiring women. we are all young professionals in this field. we come from different countries to companies around europe. some of us work and the government formulating policies. others work and organizations. i think we'll have different reasons for why we work. some of us want to be a voice for women that are silenced. others are enthusiastic about creating a social policies to help people. some of us are dissatisfied with the patriarchy.

and we want to change. we live in a world -- in iceland, we have fought hard to put a stop to this completely. it has not been easy. we have managed -- we have managed to have strip club -- strip clubs closed as well. by doing this, we are saying women should not be for sale. you cannot buy another human being. [applause]

however, we still face a prostitution and trafficking. there is still demand. the sex industry, where women are treated like commodities, it is driven by demand. if we do not become successful and decreasing the demand, we get stuck in the same place. it is a known fact that it is estimated worldwide that one out of every three women will experience domestic violence sometime in her lifetime. this is terrible. however, violence is not a natural disaster. there is someone who is committing to the violence. it is likely that one in every three men is an abuser.

violence against women is an epidemic. this means we have an epidemic of a violent man. he is there with an organization -- he says that men are silent about other men's of violence. that is a big part of the problem. if another man makes a joke about women or makes fun of raping women, other men should not stand by and laugh. men should come out of the closet, they have to speak out.

he talked to was about society pushing men into a box of masculinity by objectifying women. encrusting the sexuality or the man had -- manhood of the men who dare to take a stand. this is a society that objectifies women and end justifies violence against them. this is a society that we need to change. i am so grateful to my predecessors here today for making changes that allow me greater freedom as a woman. i really hope that on the -- in the near future, young men and young women can think their predecessors.

they will not have to live in a society where women are bought and sold, and violated and degraded, where violence against when is a part of history that once was. let us be those predecessors. let us make those changes. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. it is amazing that no matter where we are in the world, women are addressing the same issues. you could have been talking about san francisco or chicago. thank you so much. i want to acknowledge a few people.

one of them, most of you have spoken to at some point. i forwarded by telephone to her so i would not have to answer my -- answer the questions. that is my in auto -- that is my incredible organizer today, angelo washington. [applause] i would be talking backwards if i had to do this without her. thank you for making this happen. thank you. i want to acknowledge a few people in the audience. the director of the commission of women. [applause] supervisor cohen. there she is. supervisor olague. [applause]

andrea shorter. [applause] we have some other commissioners. you've already heard from claudine chang. she is a member of treasure island authority. thank you. the president of that commission is here. that is lender richardson. -- linda richardson. [applause] then there is the newlywed to city government. she is due to the small business commission. commissioner white. [applause]

i will go through more. i have so many things in my head, i am so move today by what we are doing. the next thing i get to do it is bring up an incredible lawwoman. i will speak from that clipboard right there. they have two wonderful daughters who they have raised to attend college, and we are very honored to have you here. as our first lady of the city and county of san francisco. our first lady is a fabulous

role model for us all. she has dedicated her self to work as well as family. we all know that is often challenging to find the balance in life, taking care of family. that is a great accomplishment. the mayor has said that he will never be where he is without her love and support. this is the best testimonial of what a first lady is. i hope you'll join me in bringing forward our first lady of san francisco, anita lee. [applause] we are going to stand together and to the presentation of the awards to our winners.

rose is on her way. all of our honorees are receiving certificates from members of the board of supervisors, nancy pelosi. i am going through my list. i want to thank you at all. rose. >> the organization of the year award goes to an incredible organization -- sage.

standing against global exploitation project. the project is a nonprofit with the primary aim of bringing an end to human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adults. sage continues to this goal by providing treatment services for survivors. it was founded in 1992. norma devoted her life to end the sex trade in the u.s.. i saw her in action and she was an amazing women. in 2004, it led to a california law that allows prosecutors to charge pimps with child abuse if the prostitute a minor. please join me in giving a big congratulations to standing

against global exploitation project. [applause] >> thank you. >> bravo! [applause] >> thank you. norma's vision lives on. she passed away in 2008. it is 2012. for the past several years, the staff and the board and all of you have been doing an incredible job of making sure that the intentions to provide services to people who are either trying to get out of the sex industry or -- norma put

into place. sage is a peer-led organization. the most important people are the staff. i ask you to please stand up. [applause] thank you. the board is fantastic. our president is here. [applause] we have advisory board members who are here. some of you were sitting at the tables. please stand up. you know who you are. thank you. [applause] this is a community

organization and the work goes on. our young speaker, who i thought was a fantastic, she let you know we all have to do. we have to keep fighting. thank you. [applause] >> do not walk away without the painting. >[applause] >> our next award is the unsung

heroine award. leisel is the director of -- is an expert on human rights in africa. her work at him and rights watch has included documenting access to safe and legal abortion in ireland. before doing -- before the joining human-rights watch, she worked for some of the key institutions promoting human rights and democracy. including the south african human rights commission. she was involved in high-profile human rights litigation to promote women and children's rights, including the case the change the definition of rape in south africa. please join me in congratulating her. [applause]

>> thank you. i think we do not do enough to celebrate some of the things that we have achieved. as many of the speaker said today, there are still many things we need to write. i think if will look over the past 20 years, we will see that significant improvements have been made to the lives of women. i am really happy you chose to take a timeout to celebrate those. i am very honored to be part of this distinguished group. the work that you do is amazing. i feel very privileged to be part of you today.