St. Joan's International Alliance is a non profit women's organization. St. Joan's is a feminist Catholic organization, with a focus on women's equality. It is named after St. Joan of Arc. The organization has played a major role in influencing the ordination of women and general human rights. Their mission is "to secure the political, social and economic equality between men and women and to further the work and usefulness of Catholic women as citizens".
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History
The organization was founded in London, England in 1911 as the "Catholic Women's Suffrage Society," with a focus on women's suffrage. St. Joan's was the first group in Catholicism to work for women priests. They started publishing a journal, The Catholic Citizen, in 1915. As of 1923, the organization had members in 5 continents in 24 countries. That year it changed its name to "St. Joan's Social and Political Alliance." The organization presented a paper about "the Condition of Women," to the League of Nations in 1937. That paper is considered an influence on International matrimonial law.
The first chapter in Australia was founded in 1946, in New South Wales. Additional Australia chapters started in 1950 and the first Australian conference was held in 1951 in Sydney. Enid Lyons was the Victoria, Australia founding president. The first German chapter was founded in 1950, starting in West Germany with approximately 50 members. In 1952, the organization was placed on consultative status with the United Nations, triggered by the organizations involvement in a discussion with the United Nations about female castration. The organization also became involved in anti-slavery and anti-human trafficking causes. At that time, the United Kingdom founding chapter was known as the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Section of the St Joan's International Alliance.
In 1977, The Catholic Citizen was published in English and French. They also publish materials in Spanish. Since 1967, the organization has issued resolutions following women and human rights focused declarations by the Vatican. St. Joan's also influenced the Catholic community in Canada to approve of the ordination of women in 1971. Collections and archives related to the organization are held in the Women's Library.
Notable members
Notable members included Alaskan lawyer and politician Dorothy Awes Haaland, who served as president of the Alaskan chapter. Anna Maria Dengel, Mary Daly, and Ida Raming were also a members.