The ACLU Women’s Rights Project

The ACLU Women’s Rights Project is a non-profit organization that advocates for systemic reform of discriminatory institutions and policies that affect women. Focusing on employment, violence against women, and education, the project argues that laws and workplace policies that exclude women often contribute to persistent disparities in wealth and economic security. These issues are crucial to the advancement of women’s rights. Read on to learn more about the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and its work.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, ratified in 1993, aims to eliminate discrimination against women and girls. It recognizes their right to suffrage and equal access to health services. Besides that, they are also entitled to choose when they marry and have children. Women should be free from gender-based violence, including rape, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage, as well as the right to self-determination and the ability to exercise her own body autonomy.

While gaining the right to vote was a major milestone for women, it is still a long way from the equality of men and females that has been achieved in recent decades. More than half of U.S. adults believe that women gained the right to vote between 1915 and 1925. Meanwhile, 40% of women aged between 30 and 49 say that the feminist movement and the Democratic Party have been important in advancing women’s rights. So the progress is clear, but how far have we come?

Despite the fact that the U.S. has made progress towards gender equality, a majority of Americans feel that it hasn’t been enough. More than seventy percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners believe that women still have much to gain. By contrast, fewer Republicans and conservatives think that the U.S. has made little progress in promoting gender equality. But these findings indicate that the U.S. is not making enough progress toward this goal.

Despite the many advances made in the last year, Democrats and Republicans disagree on the extent to which these changes have held women back. Most of them cite the lack of female politicians, sexual harassment, and differing societal expectations as barriers to equality. However, the Democrats’ position is likely to be a more positive outcome than that of Republicans. In fact, Republicans are more likely to agree on these issues than their counterparts. So, the question arises: What is holding women back?

As the story of the Women’s Rights Movement begins, the first movers in it were the women themselves. It began in 1848, with the women of Seneca Falls, New York, where a group of women gathered over afternoon tea to discuss the social, civil, and religious conditions of women. At that time, the country was still experiencing a post-revolutionary status quo. The Declaration of Sentiments, which arose a century later, spelled out the status quo for both European-American women and Black women.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a threat to progress in gender equality and women’s rights, and it exacerbates existing inequalities. Women and girls are vulnerable to the disease and its effects in all aspects of their lives, including their health, economic security, and social protection. The UN Secretary-General has warned against regressing towards gender equality and urged governments to place women at the center of recovery efforts. There is no better time to start promoting the rights of women and girls than today.