Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Peace Pentagon Virginia Branch
Women’s International Leage for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is the oldest women’s peace organization in the world. WILPF’s herstory dates back to the Mother's Day Proclamation, written by Julia Ward Howe in 1870.
After the carnage of the Civil War, Howe called for a Women’s Congress to promote the "great and general interests of peace.” The first International Congress of Women took place in Paris in 1878, and it was attended by suffragettes from around the world.
After World War I, the Women’s Congress met in 1915 and rebranded as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Jane Addams (1860-1935) was co-founder of WILPF in the United States and its first President. In 1931, Addams was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Peace Pentagon WILPF Branch
“True peace is not merely the absence of war; it is the presence of justice” ~ Jane Addams
WILPF-US is a 501(c)(4) non-profit, and it has more than 40 branches in the United States, including the Peace Pentagon branch and an at-large, virtual Jane Addams branch.
WILPF-International is a 501(c)(3) charity, and it is headquartered in Genva, Switzerland. WILPF-Int has a global presence in more than 40 countries, and its premier project is the Women, Peace, and Security Programme, which strives for global gender equity and the end to war.
The Peace Pentagon branch in southern Virginia was formed in 2024. Our branch focuses on protection of reproductive rights and the threat of Christian Nationalism. Our branch also seeks to empower the International Court of Justice with mandatory jurisdiction over nation-state conflicts – the most direct path to contain the Military Industrial Complex.