For over 30 years she advocated for women and girls in the areas of health care, gender equality, sexual assault, and reproductive rights.
[2] In the third grade she befriended Ruth Lockhart, with whom she would co-found the Mabel Sine Wadsworth Women's Health Center.
After graduation, Barker helped manage the Community House, an adult-education program in Fort Fairfield, and worked briefly as a taxi driver.
[2] In 1991 Barker was named director of the new Women's Resource Center at the University of Maine, which provides information and advocacy for students.
[6][11][12] Barker was also a frequent speaker and workshop presenter on health care, gender equality, and women's rights.
[1][8] In 1995 she was named to a panel that developed ideas to reduce the threat of violence at state abortion clinics.