I grew up oblivious to gender inequality. As a child of the ’80s/’90s I never felt gender prevented me from doing what I wanted to do. I grew up playing sports, doing things that may have been traditionally “for boys,” and being told that any career option was open to me. I eventually chose to […]
Author: Panayiota Bertzikis
Panayiota Bertzikis works on women's rights issues specifically on eliminating violence against women and promoting gender equality in the United States Armed Forces.
Panayiota enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 2005 and served at Coast Guard Station Burlington, VT and Coast Guard Boston. While on Active Duty she was repulsed in the way that sexual assault survivors were treated in the United States Coast Guard and founded the Military Rape Crisis Center from her barrack room to offer support and assistance to her fellow shipmates/survivors.
She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts in 2010 with a degree in sociology and a minor in women's studies.