Write a Letter to Your Senators to Support Women’s Organiztions
Get in touch with your senators or representatives and:
1.Give hurricane victims a new start by urging your reps to meet their growing needs, including job training, extended welfare benefits, and funding to reconstruct women-owned businesses.
2.Protect women from AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) by nudging legislators to help pass the Microbicide Development Act.
3.Abolish sex slavery by asking your congressman to back the End Demand for Sex Trafficking Act.
4.Defend maternity leave by writing to Congress and expressing your outrage at the Labor Department’s consideration of adjusting the Family Medical Leave Act.
To find the addresses of your U.S. senators and reps, go to firstgov.gov or write to Congress by going to congress.org.
The new Charlize Theron movie “North Country,” based on a true story demonstrates that women are strong, powerful, and can make a change.
On Oct. 4th the Senate passed its version of VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) 2005, S. 1997, by unanimous consent agreement, meaning that all of the Senators had no objections to the bill.
While the House version included reauthorization of crucial VAWA programs it does not achieve all that is needed.
The Senate bill still includes many of these House-dropped provisions but faced its own trimming as a key program was dropped that would have extended coverage for unemployment insurance to domestic violence survivors who lose their jobs as they hide or flee from violence.
Whenever there are differences between similar bills that are passed in the House and Senate a “conference committee” with reps from both Houses must meet to work out the differences between the two bills and come up with one final bill before the President can sign it.
A report released Oct. 1st from a women’s organization shattered the myths about women’s equality and gender gaps.
“It turns out that when it comes to narrowing the gender gap, the U.S. is being outdone by 16 countries, including Estonia and Lithuania,” said Eve Hayek.
“Women’s Empowerment” Measuring the Global Gender Gap” judged each country based on five criteria, with Sweden ranking No. 1 and Egypt coming in last place.
The U.S. was ranked 19th in economic participation for women and in political empowerment, but earned the low rank of 46h for economic opportunity and 42nd for health and well-being, wrote Hayek.
New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Germany led the list of nations that offer the most political empowerment for women – not surprisingly, those are also among the wealthiest and most democratic nations, according to Hayek.
Worldwide, working women are still averaging slightly less than 78 percent of the wages given to men, stated Hayek.
In the U.S. the legal and social systems continue to use maternity laws to penalize women economically for childbirth and child care responsibilities, based on an article Hayek wrote.
This fact puts U.S. women on the same playing field as women in Swziland, Lesotho, and Papus New Guinea, explained Hayek.
Some good news is that the U.S. ranked eighth in educational attainment, which the report’s authors identify as “the most fundamental prerequisite for empowering women in all spheres of society,” said Hayek.
According to a public policy department with a national women’s organization, in developed countries such as the U.S. women gain employment with eases, but that employment tends to be concentrated in unskilled or poorly paid jobs which leave no room for promotion or better opportunities.
