Mission Statement
Who are we?
No Limits for Women is an International organization of women (and men who are allies to women) dedicated to eliminating sexism throughout the world. Ending sexism will profoundly and positively impact human progress as a whole.
Developing female leadership is a priority of No Limits for Women. Women leaders and their perspectives are crucially needed in order to solve the enormous challenges facing the world today.
Encouraging and assisting men to become strong and independent allies is central to the work of No Limits for Women. Male allies to women are much needed in the work to end sexism.
What is our work?
The main work of No Limits for Women is to reveal how women have been emotionally damaged by sexism and to help them assist each other, woman by woman, in undoing the damage. We use the resources, theory, and process of Re-evaluation Counseling* to accomplish this task. With dedication, resources, and time to do this work, any woman can recover completely from the emotional harm done to her by sexism and reclaim her innate intelligence.
We also partner with men in assisting all men to free themselves from being used as agents of sexism (against their true natures) and to become women’s allies in ending it.
How do we do our work? What form does it take?
No Limits for Women offers a system of ongoing mutual support and resource. It is available to all women, whatever their economic, social, and cultural circumstances. The support and resource makes it possible for women (and men) to sustain our efforts to eliminate sexism. Women participants have access to effective tools that they can use on a one-to-one basis.
Societal institutions install sexist attitudes and male domination on all men. We examine and reveal male domination and the societal institutions in which it is embedded. We find new and effective ways to challenge and transform these structures.
We write and circulate draft policies about solutions to these problems. All of our policies are draft policies—they are based on our best thinking at any given time. They are updated as we develop our thinking—by reaching out to women and men globally for their experiences and thoughts, listening to one another, and continually learning as we undo the effects of sexism.
What are some of the effects of sexism?
(1) Sexism hurts and confuses everyone. Women internalize the ways they have been mistreated and are then “pulled” to treat other women with disrespect. We compete, belittle each other, and feel less than intelligent. Our connections with each other feel fragile, making it harder to build the unity we need in order to end sexism.
(2) Women have been separated from each other not only by internalized sexism, but also by religion, culture, race, ethnicity, class, age, sexual identity, disability, lifestyle, national origin, “family values,” and more. It has been difficult to build true sisterhood.
(3) Women have been and continue to be oppressed by societal institutions. A majority of the world’s females are poor. Two thirds of the world’s illiterate people are female. Women do two-thirds of the world’s work—much of it unpaid and poorly paid—while only earning ten percent of the world’s income. Women experience unequal treatment in most institutions—political, economic, religious, educational, health care, and others. Women are the victims of violence and sexual exploitation throughout the world.
(4) Oppressive societies condition and manipulate men to perpetuate sexism, which, in addition to harming women, degrades men’s humanity and integrity. Sexism narrows the lives of both women and men. However, women and men are natural allies. Our separation from each other is unnatural and can be ended.
How does No Limits for Women help?
(1) No Limits for Women helps women recover from their internalized oppression and to overcome the limits installed by sexism. No woman is blamed for what she has had to do to survive sexism. We listen with respect to each woman as she tells about her life. As we do this it becomes clear how sexism operates and how it distorts our inherent intelligent, good, and powerful nature.
We support each other to resist oppression and to recover from the emotional damage it has inflicted on us. Our members gain an increasingly accurate picture of every woman’s significance and uniqueness. We publish and share what we learn in order to counter the widespread misinformation about women. We remind ourselves that patterns of sexism and internalized sexism have been passed down from generation to generation.
(2) We look at the divisions among women and the injury caused by those divisions. We learn to listen with respect as each woman acknowledges the goodness in her culture and community while also unraveling the sexism that may still be contained within it. We strengthen connections and build increasingly honest relationships between women targeted by the various oppressions, leading to unity of purpose and action. We assist all women to play leading roles in ending our oppression.
(3) We understand that sexism also harms men and have learned that men and women can work together to eliminate sexism. We support women to lead in this effort. (Every oppressed group must take the lead in their own liberation.) Women and men form strong partnerships and find increasingly effective strategies for ending sexism and its effects.
* Re-evaluation Counseling is a form of peer counseling. People of all ages and backgrounds learn how to exchange effective help with each other in order to free themselves from the effects of past distress experiences. People learn the theory and practice in classes and practice exchanging listening (Co-Counseling) with one another, guided by their class teacher.