Women

Women’s rights refer to the body of law that addresses uniquely female concerns, needs, and legal protection. Various women’s rights movements have made enormous strides in equality in the past century. For instance, until the 1860s, women were not allowed to own property. In the 1920s, women fought for and were granted the right to vote through an addition to the Nineteenth Amendment. But it wasn’t until the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum that the door was opened for women as equals under the law. The National Organization for Women (NOW) was and continues to be an important group that addresses women’s right at the federal level. However, even today, women still face discrimination based issues that men do not.

Legal Background

Some of the laws that protect and promote gender equality include Title IX, a federal law that disallows discrimination in the field of education. This includes science and mathematics education, as well as other areas related to academics and co-curricular activities such as bands, clubs, and sports teams, if they are federally funded. Other women’s legal issues pertain to the workplace and include sexual harassment and unequal pay. Reproductive rights are also an issue of concern for women. Abortion in the United States has been subject to intense debate over the past several decades. Today, abortion is legal in the United States but is subject to regulations that vary from state to state.

Affected Groups

Women may be adversely affected by discrimination across the lifespan. A current focus is the addition of social programs that address women’s needs. Women are more likely to live in poverty than men, due to the fact that they are more likely to take responsibility, both financial and emotional, for children. In addition, the “glass ceiling” refers to unequal pay in the workplace and also contributes to poverty among women. Women also live longer than men, which means that they require more money after retirement than men do. Social programs, including financial assistance, can help to address these inequalities and rectify them.

Challenges

One of the biggest current challenges for women’s rights is equality in the workplace. Although more and more women are stepping up to leadership and management positions, as well as positions in traditionally male-dominated feels, such as engineering and trades, there are still notable inequalities. According to the Department of Labor (DOL), women earned approximately 81% of their male counterparts’ salaries in 2011. While this figure has risen from 62% in 1979, it’s still far from even. Conversely, women’s participation in the labor force has declined in recent years down to 46.7% in 2010 from 60% three decades ago. When the recession hit in 2007, women and men were both affected in different ways. Men were more likely to lose their job, but they were also more likely to recover faster. Women were less likely to lose their job, but up to 20% reported that they could not find full-time work and instead had to settle for part-time jobs. In addition, the unemployment rate among women is lower than among men; women are also more likely to stay unemployed over the long-term.