Women have fought - in the courts and the legislatures, as well as in the streets and the forums of public opinion - for the right to vote, to hold property, to be elected to public office, to gain an education, to hold certain kinds of jobs, and to receive pay equal to men. In addition, women face unique kinds of discrimination based on gender, such as sexual harassment and job discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.
President
Obama this week released a
groundbreaking new plan and issued an executive
order to increase U.S. support for strengthening the participation of women
around the world in ending conflict and securing peace.
A Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing this week on the role of women in the Arab Spring movement drew attention to the need for the United States to join with 187 other countries that have committed to advance and protect the rights of women by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes et al. will limit the use of “class action” lawsuits and make it harder to bring large-scale discrimination cases, according to many civil and human rights groups.
The Senate and the House of Representatives will introduce the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA) today in honor of Equal Pay Day, a day when people around the country call attention to disparities in salary between men and women.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has issued a new guidance letter to schools and colleges to clarify Title IX requirements pertaining to sexual violence and harassment allegations.
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while in Memphis, Tenn., defending the fundamental rights to fair pay, safe working conditions, and an equal voice in solidarity with more than one thousand city sanitation workers on strike for better wages and benefits. This week, the civil and human rights community remembers and honors King’s sacrifice and commitment to economic justice and workers rights by uniting with union members, students, and other advocates for the “We Are One” campaign.
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, an employment discrimination class action lawsuit. Civil rights groups are watching the case closely because the Court’s decision could limit the use of “class action” lawsuits and make it harder to bring large-scale discrimination cases.
Despite an increase in the number of women pursuing higher education, disparities between women and men still exist in the employment sector, according to a report compiled by the Council on Women and Girls, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Economics and Statistics Administration.
The civil and human rights community is urging the Senate to vote down legislation that would cut all funding to Title X programs, which was passed by the House of Representatives today. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Mike Pence, R. Ind., is part of the FY2011 Continuing Resolution, which would fund the federal government through the end of September.
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, spoke Tuesday at the State Department with Luis CdeBaca, ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, on ways of combating human trafficking and modern day slavery. The discussion was part of an ongoing video program by the Bureau of Public Affairs entitled "Conversations with America,” which aims to provide insight into how the leaders of national nongovernmental organizations engage with senior State Department officials around foreign policy and global issues.
