December 28, 2021 • 11 mins
After the traumatic deaths of two women in Romania, teenager Sofia Scarlat called out law enforcement and misogyny in the country, and formed Girl Up Romania.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Danny and Samantha. I don't go to
step I never told your production of I Heart Radio.
And we are going to go ahead and put a
little bit of a content warning on this episode of
Women Around the World. We are talking about sexual violence
(00:26):
a little bit and talking about domestic violence. We're not
going to go into two graphic details. We are also
going to talk about a specific murder case that happened
within Romania, So both of those things are going to
be mentioned in here. Again, we're not focusing so much
on that as much as we are focusing on the
young lady who has doing some amazing things to advocate
for women and young girls in her community. But yeah,
(00:51):
you know, we always want to put this in there.
But any I have a question for you before we start.
As a teenager, were you a part of any like
girl's own or girls specific clubs? Um, you know, I
don't think I was. I don't think I was. I
wasn't girls Scots very briefly when I was much younger, Um,
(01:11):
And I think I went to maybe not a club
or organization so much as like I don't know one
day where they would be like ladies your girls. Here's
how you be in business like her in vague memories
of like you know, professional development stuff women. But I
was not. I don't think I was an official club
(01:33):
or anything like that just for women and girls, I know, right,
So I think I wasn't in the Brownies for one year.
I definitely did that, I would, I guess. I guess
we could talk about like organizational sports too, that were
I was a cheerleader that was focused on of course
in that in the country they're only girls as in
like the Woods, a small town, but anyway, but yes,
(01:56):
I was part of that, but it wasn't a commanderie
for sure. It wasn't that same level. And I always
wanted something like the Babysitters Club or like the girls
only clubs that I never really had growing up either.
I am one of those that had a really good
group of girlfriends in my life and kept the core
group of girls that was in my life, maybe three
(02:16):
of us, four of us who were just you know,
always together. But yeah, I didn't get to be a
part of those either. And I'm really sad because I
feel like we've missed out a little bit and I
wonder what that would have been for us. But We're
not here to ruminism and be sad over the fact
that we weren't a part of these really very cool
women only or girls only clubs or essentially for that
(02:37):
type of Commanderie, but we are going to talk about
a young lady who created her own as well. UM.
Today we want to talk about Sophia Scarlett. UM. I
think she goes by Sophie, That's what I've seen in
her ted talk just so you know, who is an
advocate and fighter and organizer for women and girls rights
around the world and has been working within her own
country in Romania. UM Scarlett is currently a student Steppardy
(03:00):
University UM and at the age of eighteen, is already
an established a leader within the movement of women and
gender rights. And it's a force to be reckoned with, y'all.
When we do research for these segments, we look to
find those who are out there doing the work and
not holding back and and we don't talk about often
(03:20):
or we don't know about yet, or we're watching to
see what they're doing or what they've done, and we
want to get them all the accolades and all the
credit while they're still alive or just beginning even and
Scarlet is the epitome of that. To me, she's a force.
Like I watched her speak, uh, and the TED talks
I've seen, like she writes, it's beautiful and I'm like,
(03:41):
my gosh, that sense of self and self awareness is amazing.
And she doesn't have a Wikipedia page, which needs to
change asap, so we need to find someone to do this. Uh.
And most of the information on her is from her
own writings or interviews again her TED talks about her work,
but also yeah, through a lot of the panels that
(04:02):
she's a part of, a lot of the community like
organizations she's a part of, We've been able to find
some of that information. Um. And it's these types of
foremasts that bring attention to what is or isn't happening
within Romania, and we felt like it was really important
to highlight what she's been doing. Yes, definitely, And as
always with these fun with pronunciation, we're going to do
(04:23):
your best, but yeah, bear with us. After it was
discovered that victim Alexandra Massasau had tried to contact police
before her brutal murder, begging for help, many around the
country protested for justice, and the whold authorities accountable. Many
criticized the law enforcement, saying they did not believe that
(04:43):
this woman was in danger and they did not act
fast enough, as it took nineteen hours to discover her.
Scarlett wrote specifically on the instant, saying, today, in particular,
we talked about how, according to the Cara Cole, Chief
of Police, the first believed victim of the killer, Louisa,
had prob just packed up and left with a quote
handsome man. Where else could a teenage girl go? In
(05:05):
their minds, the case was closed. We've told this country
countless times that things need to change. The problem is
that you've just not been listening. You're wondering how this
was possible. You're telling yourself it's the first time and
so long you've heard of a crime like this. We're
not confused. The attacker might have been the one committing
the murder, the police might have been the ones waiting
(05:25):
for a warrant at the gate. But behind all of
them is collective mentality deeply marked by misogyny and distrust
and women's experiences that we are all as a country
responsible for right and she in her speech it was
just a phenomenal conversation of the fact that she says
that by the age of fifteen, we've already bonded over
the many traumas of being sexualized victimized by so many
(05:49):
and people are ignoring it. So again, like she's sixties
slash seventeen doing the speech and it's so powerful. But
it was during this time she started Romania's first agenda equality,
the organizations for teenagers called Girl Up Romania. She co
organized protests after the death of Alexandra Masasano and Louisa Melenkou,
(06:10):
who was the first victim of the tragic murders, and
she and they started a much needed conversation of the
misogyny and violence against women and girls in Romania. And
she's been upfront at the needs of training law enforcements
to better work these cases, not only to prevent the violence,
but also to help from retraumatizing victims, which we've talked
about before. She said about this quote, we must begin
(06:33):
to talk about these issues, and they're barely scratching the
surface of a society that's been built on the marginalization
and discrimination of women and girls. While our fellow European
nations are moving forward, Eastern Europe is taking thousands of
steps back. Other countries are discussing solutions while we've yet
to even acknowledge there is a problem. We must not
(06:53):
underestimate the power that conversations and educations can have on individuals,
and we must start talking now, no matter how uncomfortable
that is for us. And she credits her family as
(07:17):
a part of why she is so passionate and finding
solutions and bringing attention to the problems facing the community.
She said in an interview with Missing Perspectives. Quote. I
was born and raised in Romania in a family of
people who, despite having their own struggles, never lost sight
of their community and of the importance of looking out
for the people around them. I think this is perhaps
one of the most important aspects of my upbringing, This selflessness, determination, courage,
(07:40):
and creativity that I was surrounded by from a very
young age. In a country where our government, our representatives,
and our educational system actively teach selfishness and competition, my
parents and my brother were always concerned with the issues
in our community and always made an effort to propose
and implement solutions in their own free time. I looked
up to them as a child, and I continue to
do so today because I realized how rare that mindset
(08:01):
truly is and how important it is to protect and
cherish it and trying my best to follow in their
footsteps and make sure that they and everyone else in
Romania who advocates for their communities are not alone in
their fight right. And she talked about the fact at
fifteen she felt like she was failing because she hadn't
already started an organization like this, Uh, seeing a problem
(08:23):
and being too scared to speak out, And I'm like,
what thirty five, I didn't know, But it's it's amazing
to see again when we talk about female first and
women doing things, just seeing a problem and since there
was no solution, creating a solution um and that's exactly
what she did. And it's awesome to have a family
that actually was able to support her and and really
(08:46):
be grounding for her and things like this. And one
of the things is the organization she created, Girls Up Romania,
which is a team of over a hundred thirty students
from around the country, so it's made up of all
teenagers and they've been working to educate and use events
and campaigns to bring attention and open up conversations about
how to advocate and work to address problems concerning women
(09:08):
and girls today. They've been able to raise funds for
shelters and programs to help women and children in need,
as well as collaborating and lobbying the romaaniing in Parliament,
which includes protesting and marching. Um and have also helped
provide mental health and legal services for underage victims of
sexual and gender based violence. And about that, She's talked
about the fact that she handed it over to the
(09:29):
leadership because she really felt it was important that it
stays within the team community and I think that's beautiful
and she isn't looking to slow down at any point.
He's currently a co director of the Sexual Violence Prevention
Committee at Stanford UM and has also been working closely
with researchers at the CLAIM and Institute of Gender Research
to investigate the effects of the COVID Night Team pandemic
(09:52):
on domestic violence, which is huge and I'm honestly scared
about those numbers when we come back to face it.
Um And she been a past intern of Romania's Permanent
Mission to the u N as a researcher for the
U S Department of State Initiative to research human trafficking preventions,
so she has plenty of experience in helping with these.
Oh my god, I'm tired just hearing what she's been doing.
(10:14):
She's also a member of the UN Women's Generation Equality
Youth task Force. I belish she's maybe the youngest and
as a Women Deliver Young Leader and an International Children's
Peace Prize nominee. So when we say people are doing things,
people are doing things. Yes, this is so amazing, and
(10:35):
so it's just so powerful and and so it's so
it's so so impressive, and we look forward to seeing
what else Scarlett accomplishes. This is so fantastic. Yes, and yes,
please take the time, go ahead, and we'll go look
at her Ted talk, look at look at her speeches
and her essays and interviews. It is so inspiring. Yes, definitely.
(10:56):
And if there's someone that you think we should be
shouting out in this segment or anywhere, we're always happy
to shout out people who are doing amazing things. Yes,
you can contact us. You can email us at Stuff Media,
mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can find
us on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast or on Instagram
at Stuff. I've never told you. Thanks as always too
of much. Super producer Christina shout out to you because
(11:16):
you're amazing. Oh yeah, and thanks to you for listening.
Someone ever told the sprection of I hier radio. For
more podcast from I Heart Radio physically I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast or ready listen to your favorite ships
Hey, this is Danny and Samantha. I don't go to
step I never told your production of I Heart Radio.
And we are going to go ahead and put a
little bit of a content warning on this episode of
Women Around the World. We are talking about sexual violence
(00:26):
a little bit and talking about domestic violence. We're not
going to go into two graphic details. We are also
going to talk about a specific murder case that happened
within Romania, So both of those things are going to
be mentioned in here. Again, we're not focusing so much
on that as much as we are focusing on the
young lady who has doing some amazing things to advocate
for women and young girls in her community. But yeah,
(00:51):
you know, we always want to put this in there.
But any I have a question for you before we start.
As a teenager, were you a part of any like
girl's own or girls specific clubs? Um, you know, I
don't think I was. I don't think I was. I
wasn't girls Scots very briefly when I was much younger, Um,
(01:11):
And I think I went to maybe not a club
or organization so much as like I don't know one
day where they would be like ladies your girls. Here's
how you be in business like her in vague memories
of like you know, professional development stuff women. But I
was not. I don't think I was an official club
(01:33):
or anything like that just for women and girls, I know, right,
So I think I wasn't in the Brownies for one year.
I definitely did that, I would, I guess. I guess
we could talk about like organizational sports too, that were
I was a cheerleader that was focused on of course
in that in the country they're only girls as in
like the Woods, a small town, but anyway, but yes,
(01:56):
I was part of that, but it wasn't a commanderie
for sure. It wasn't that same level. And I always
wanted something like the Babysitters Club or like the girls
only clubs that I never really had growing up either.
I am one of those that had a really good
group of girlfriends in my life and kept the core
group of girls that was in my life, maybe three
(02:16):
of us, four of us who were just you know,
always together. But yeah, I didn't get to be a
part of those either. And I'm really sad because I
feel like we've missed out a little bit and I
wonder what that would have been for us. But We're
not here to ruminism and be sad over the fact
that we weren't a part of these really very cool
women only or girls only clubs or essentially for that
(02:37):
type of Commanderie, but we are going to talk about
a young lady who created her own as well. UM.
Today we want to talk about Sophia Scarlett. UM. I
think she goes by Sophie, That's what I've seen in
her ted talk just so you know, who is an
advocate and fighter and organizer for women and girls rights
around the world and has been working within her own
country in Romania. UM Scarlett is currently a student Steppardy
(03:00):
University UM and at the age of eighteen, is already
an established a leader within the movement of women and
gender rights. And it's a force to be reckoned with, y'all.
When we do research for these segments, we look to
find those who are out there doing the work and
not holding back and and we don't talk about often
(03:20):
or we don't know about yet, or we're watching to
see what they're doing or what they've done, and we
want to get them all the accolades and all the
credit while they're still alive or just beginning even and
Scarlet is the epitome of that. To me, she's a force.
Like I watched her speak, uh, and the TED talks
I've seen, like she writes, it's beautiful and I'm like,
(03:41):
my gosh, that sense of self and self awareness is amazing.
And she doesn't have a Wikipedia page, which needs to
change asap, so we need to find someone to do this. Uh.
And most of the information on her is from her
own writings or interviews again her TED talks about her work,
but also yeah, through a lot of the panels that
(04:02):
she's a part of, a lot of the community like
organizations she's a part of, We've been able to find
some of that information. Um. And it's these types of
foremasts that bring attention to what is or isn't happening
within Romania, and we felt like it was really important
to highlight what she's been doing. Yes, definitely, And as
always with these fun with pronunciation, we're going to do
(04:23):
your best, but yeah, bear with us. After it was
discovered that victim Alexandra Massasau had tried to contact police
before her brutal murder, begging for help, many around the
country protested for justice, and the whold authorities accountable. Many
criticized the law enforcement, saying they did not believe that
(04:43):
this woman was in danger and they did not act
fast enough, as it took nineteen hours to discover her.
Scarlett wrote specifically on the instant, saying, today, in particular,
we talked about how, according to the Cara Cole, Chief
of Police, the first believed victim of the killer, Louisa,
had prob just packed up and left with a quote
handsome man. Where else could a teenage girl go? In
(05:05):
their minds, the case was closed. We've told this country
countless times that things need to change. The problem is
that you've just not been listening. You're wondering how this
was possible. You're telling yourself it's the first time and
so long you've heard of a crime like this. We're
not confused. The attacker might have been the one committing
the murder, the police might have been the ones waiting
(05:25):
for a warrant at the gate. But behind all of
them is collective mentality deeply marked by misogyny and distrust
and women's experiences that we are all as a country
responsible for right and she in her speech it was
just a phenomenal conversation of the fact that she says
that by the age of fifteen, we've already bonded over
the many traumas of being sexualized victimized by so many
(05:49):
and people are ignoring it. So again, like she's sixties
slash seventeen doing the speech and it's so powerful. But
it was during this time she started Romania's first agenda equality,
the organizations for teenagers called Girl Up Romania. She co
organized protests after the death of Alexandra Masasano and Louisa Melenkou,
(06:10):
who was the first victim of the tragic murders, and
she and they started a much needed conversation of the
misogyny and violence against women and girls in Romania. And
she's been upfront at the needs of training law enforcements
to better work these cases, not only to prevent the violence,
but also to help from retraumatizing victims, which we've talked
about before. She said about this quote, we must begin
(06:33):
to talk about these issues, and they're barely scratching the
surface of a society that's been built on the marginalization
and discrimination of women and girls. While our fellow European
nations are moving forward, Eastern Europe is taking thousands of
steps back. Other countries are discussing solutions while we've yet
to even acknowledge there is a problem. We must not
(06:53):
underestimate the power that conversations and educations can have on individuals,
and we must start talking now, no matter how uncomfortable
that is for us. And she credits her family as
(07:17):
a part of why she is so passionate and finding
solutions and bringing attention to the problems facing the community.
She said in an interview with Missing Perspectives. Quote. I
was born and raised in Romania in a family of
people who, despite having their own struggles, never lost sight
of their community and of the importance of looking out
for the people around them. I think this is perhaps
one of the most important aspects of my upbringing, This selflessness, determination, courage,
(07:40):
and creativity that I was surrounded by from a very
young age. In a country where our government, our representatives,
and our educational system actively teach selfishness and competition, my
parents and my brother were always concerned with the issues
in our community and always made an effort to propose
and implement solutions in their own free time. I looked
up to them as a child, and I continue to
do so today because I realized how rare that mindset
(08:01):
truly is and how important it is to protect and
cherish it and trying my best to follow in their
footsteps and make sure that they and everyone else in
Romania who advocates for their communities are not alone in
their fight right. And she talked about the fact at
fifteen she felt like she was failing because she hadn't
already started an organization like this, Uh, seeing a problem
(08:23):
and being too scared to speak out, And I'm like,
what thirty five, I didn't know, But it's it's amazing
to see again when we talk about female first and
women doing things, just seeing a problem and since there
was no solution, creating a solution um and that's exactly
what she did. And it's awesome to have a family
that actually was able to support her and and really
(08:46):
be grounding for her and things like this. And one
of the things is the organization she created, Girls Up Romania,
which is a team of over a hundred thirty students
from around the country, so it's made up of all
teenagers and they've been working to educate and use events
and campaigns to bring attention and open up conversations about
how to advocate and work to address problems concerning women
(09:08):
and girls today. They've been able to raise funds for
shelters and programs to help women and children in need,
as well as collaborating and lobbying the romaaniing in Parliament,
which includes protesting and marching. Um and have also helped
provide mental health and legal services for underage victims of
sexual and gender based violence. And about that, She's talked
about the fact that she handed it over to the
(09:29):
leadership because she really felt it was important that it
stays within the team community and I think that's beautiful
and she isn't looking to slow down at any point.
He's currently a co director of the Sexual Violence Prevention
Committee at Stanford UM and has also been working closely
with researchers at the CLAIM and Institute of Gender Research
to investigate the effects of the COVID Night Team pandemic
(09:52):
on domestic violence, which is huge and I'm honestly scared
about those numbers when we come back to face it.
Um And she been a past intern of Romania's Permanent
Mission to the u N as a researcher for the
U S Department of State Initiative to research human trafficking preventions,
so she has plenty of experience in helping with these.
Oh my god, I'm tired just hearing what she's been doing.
(10:14):
She's also a member of the UN Women's Generation Equality
Youth task Force. I belish she's maybe the youngest and
as a Women Deliver Young Leader and an International Children's
Peace Prize nominee. So when we say people are doing things,
people are doing things. Yes, this is so amazing, and
(10:35):
so it's just so powerful and and so it's so
it's so so impressive, and we look forward to seeing
what else Scarlett accomplishes. This is so fantastic. Yes, and yes,
please take the time, go ahead, and we'll go look
at her Ted talk, look at look at her speeches
and her essays and interviews. It is so inspiring. Yes, definitely.
(10:56):
And if there's someone that you think we should be
shouting out in this segment or anywhere, we're always happy
to shout out people who are doing amazing things. Yes,
you can contact us. You can email us at Stuff Media,
mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com. You can find
us on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast or on Instagram
at Stuff. I've never told you. Thanks as always too
of much. Super producer Christina shout out to you because
(11:16):
you're amazing. Oh yeah, and thanks to you for listening.
Someone ever told the sprection of I hier radio. For
more podcast from I Heart Radio physically I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast or ready listen to your favorite ships
Stuff Mom Never Told You News
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