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Joint Region Marianas marks Women’s Equality Day
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- Joint Region Marianas and Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas personnel listen to Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar, commander, JRM, give the keynote speech during a Women’s Equality Day celebration at the command headquarters. (U.S. Navy/Leah Eclavea)
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- Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar, commander, Joint Region Marianas, gives a speech during a JRM Women’s Equality Day celebration at the command headquarters in Asan on Aug. 27. The celebration commemorates the milestone in history when women won the right to vote and the inclusion of the 19th Amendment into the U.S. Constitution. (U.S. Navy/Leah Eclavea)
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- Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar, commander, Joint Region Marianas, socializes with JRM employees during a JRM Women’s Equality Day celebration at the command headquarters. (U.S. Navy/Leah Eclavea)
Women’s Equality Day celebrates the milestone in history when women won the right to vote on Aug. 26, 1920. It was on that day the 19th Amendment was adopted into the U.S. Constitution.
“I believe that Women’s Equality Day is just as significant to our Navy as any war or any battle,” said keynote speaker Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar, commander of JRM. “This day represents the ideal of female equality brought to focus after years of work and sacrifice. Women’s Equality Day is a turning point that has made us a stronger Navy, a more globally engaged Navy and more importantly a Navy more fully reflective on values and best characteristics of our great nation.”
Bolivar spoke about the history of women suffrage and women’s role in Navy history.
“Our U.S. Navy has in fact often been more progressive than civilian society in allowing women the opportunity to succeed,” said Bolivar. “In 1908, women first entered the naval service more than a decade before they were granted the right to vote.”
Antonette Vegafria, a paralegal specialist for JRM, attended the event and commented on how she felt about celebrating Women’s Equality Day.
“Women’s Equality Day gives women more encouragement to say that we are being supported,” said Vegafria. “We are just like the men and it reminds us that we should not be afraid to compete, to do the things we would love to do knowing that we can do it.” (PR)
