Democratic congressional candidate Elizabeth Lee attended a women's safety happy hour Monday at Snakes & Lattes in Tempe, hosted by Arizona State University Young Democrats, to discuss how students can be safer on and off campus.
Lee and event attendees pointed to dangers facing female students on college campuses and said more work needs to be done to stop gender-based violence.
During her speech, Lee discussed her stance on the importance of women's safety and government accountability.
"We sure as hell have money to put these test strips on college campuses, in bathrooms, in dorms, in places where people who benefit from their use have access to them," Lee said.
Lee is a reproductive health nurse running for Congress in a district that includes parts of Chandler, Mesa and Queen Creek. She is running against Republican Mark Lamb, a former Pinal County sheriff.
Incumbent Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican, is running for Arizona governor and leaving the seat open.
Students should expect more from their leaders, Lee said, and they should be working "far harder" to protect the community and prevent violence against women, minorities and youth.
"When I pay taxes, I expect my taxes to go towards the betterment of the community," Lee said.
Lee spoke alongside Joy Hoover, CEO of Esōes Cosmetics, about how students can protect themselves.
Hoover said she wanted to partner with Lee to discuss the importance of safety with students.
"When she asked, we did not hesitate," Hoover said.
Esōes Cosmetics is a company manufacturing women's personal safety tools disguised as makeup products. Hoover founded the company to create innovative ways for women to protect themselves from targeted violence by utilizing tech-enabled beauty and community advocacy, according to its website.
Hoover said shehas been involved in the women's safety industry for 16 years, supporting survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence.
"This is a preventable issue," Hoover said. "We just have to come together to prevent it."
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, one in eight students experiences sexual violence during college, and the first year specifically is considered a high-risk time. Of undergraduate women, 16% reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent in their first year.
"Our whole mission is to make sure that you're safer, and that's safe drinking, safe partying, safe walking to your car, just a little bit of safety wherever you go," Hoover said.
Hoover created a customizable Esōes safety app allowing students to easily share their location or sound an alarm if they feel like they are in danger.
Her company sells a variety of self-defense tools to protect women when they are in public spaces, like cup covers, test strips for drinks and lip glosses featuring shades "It's Not The Dress" and "No Means No."
Alisha Usman is the social chair for ASU Young Democrats and a junior studying political science and justice studies. She said Lee's team reached out to the club and the organizations began planning the event in July.
Usman said she wanted to help organize the event because of the importance of making sure women feel safe on campus.
"It's not really talked about as much as it should be," Usman said.
Edited by Andi Ruiz, Carsten Oyer, Grace Lawrence, Kate Gore and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at achern41@asu.edu.
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Ariana Hernandez is a part-time reporter at The State Press. This is her first semester with The State Press. She is in her sophomore year studying Journalism and Political Science.
