Last Saturday, I had the honor of participating in the 2018 Women of the World (WOW) Festival held at Notre Dame of Maryland University. I shared my personal and professional journey with some incredible trailblazing women, including Major General Linda Singh, the first African-American and first woman to become Adjutant General of Maryland.

I was especially honored to meet Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, whose personal story and heroic resilience has been so moving to witness. Ms. Burke spoke about the intersection of race, gender, and class in her experience as a survivor of sexual violence and as an advocate for women and girls.

Early on in my life, I saw how a cultural confluence of gender discrimination and sexual violence could set a hardworking woman back. It was apparent in my own mother’s life.

When I was a child, my family emigrated from China to the United States with only $40 to our name. My mother took a job as a cashier at a video rental store to help make ends meet. I was young at the time, but I remember her coming home and crying and crying. I didn’t understand until much later that her boss was assaulting her—verbally and physically. I reflect now on the shame, fear, and indignity that she must have felt. We were in a tenuous financial situation and had uncertain immigration status. My mother felt powerless to speak up and to stop the abuse: if she did, what would be the consequences?

There is a tendency to blame the “system” for the inequities and power dynamics that result in discrimination and abuse. But we must ask ourselves: who is the system? If it’s about all of us, then we all must take collective responsibility for the injustices that have come before us. The onus must be on all of us, but in particular on those of us in positions of power, to correct that indignity, that harassment, that unacceptable behavior.

Now that I am in a position of authority myself, I feel a particular responsibility to promote, support, and mentor other women. At the Baltimore City Health Department, I am proud that my Chief of Staff and all three of my Deputies are women. Together, we set the tone that inappropriate, discriminatory behavior can never be tolerated; allegations are immediately investigated and action taken with the full force of the law. We must work hard every day to foster a culture of equity, diversity, and respect.

My mother passed away eight years ago. If she could see the work that we do at the Health Department, I hope that she would have been proud of what we are doing to fight for children, women, and families. (I think that she would have been particularly happy to see my 8-month old son, Eli, join me at City Council this week, to support the “Diaper Duty” bill!) In her honor, and in tribute to the many courageous women who have come before us, let us heed the words of my mentor and friend, Nicholas Kristof, who came to visit Baltimore this week:

“In the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century, it was the battle against totalitarianism. We believe that in this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world.”

That struggle belongs to all of us.

Leana Wen, M.D., M.Sc.

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