current events

NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League)

​

NARAL was founded in 1969 as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. Its mission was to change laws that made abortion illegal. Over time, the name changed to NARAL Pro-Choice America to focus on supporting the right of people to choose whether to have an abortion. NARAL works to protect people’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies, especially when it comes to reproductive health, like birth control and abortion. They also help elect leaders who support these rights.

​

Catholics for Choice

Catholics for Choice was founded in 1973 by Catholics who believe that the Catholic Church should support a woman's right to choose what to do with her body, including deciding whether to have an abortion. This group offers help and advice to Catholics who want to learn more about reproductive health and make their own choices, all while staying true to their faith.

​

Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC)

Founded in 1973, RCRC supports the right of people to make their own choices about pregnancy, including having an abortion. It was created because many religious groups were fighting against abortion rights, but not all religious people agreed with those views. RCRC helps remind people that not all religious groups are against reproductive rights and works to protect those rights.

​

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood was founded in 1916 by Margaret Sanger. She believed everyone should have control over their own bodies, especially when it came to pregnancy and family planning. At first, Planned Parenthood helped people get birth control, but over the years it has grown to offer many other services, like health care, education, and legal support. Today, they have clinics around the world and help millions of people with reproductive health care.

​

The Interfaith Alliance

The Interfaith Alliance was founded in 1994. This group is made up of people from different religious backgrounds who want to protect religious freedom and stand up against the hatred and extremism that sometimes appears in politics. They believe that religious beliefs should not be used to take away people's rights, like the right to choose an abortion.

​

National Organization for Women (NOW)

Founded in 1966, NOW works for women’s rights and equality. They want to make sure women have the same rights and opportunities as men, especially when it comes to things like jobs, education, and reproductive health. NOW organizes people to take action and supports women’s rights in many ways.

​

People for the American Way

People for the American Way was created in 1981 by a group of leaders, including TV producer Norman Lear and Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. This group stands up for freedom, equality, and fairness. They focus on protecting American rights, like freedom of speech and religion. They also fight against extreme groups that try to push their religious beliefs into government laws, like banning abortion.

​

Struggle to Be Borne

Struggle to Be Borne is a book and photo exhibit created by poet Fran Adler and photographer Kira Corser. Fran Adler is a poet who writes about her thoughts on topics like abortion and women's rights. Kira Corser is a photographer who captures powerful images related to these themes. Together, their work highlights the emotional journey of people who have faced difficult decisions about reproductive health.

​

Take Back the Night, October 1975

Take Back the Night is an international event and non-profit organization with the mission of ending sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, sexual abuse, trafficking, and all other forms of sexual violence. The word “night” was originally used to literally express the fear that many women felt during the night but today expresses a fear of violence in general. The first Take Back the Night march to protest violence against women was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in October 1975, after the murder of microbiologist, Susan Alexander Speeth, who was stabbed to death while walking home alone. Hundreds of events are held in over 30 countries annually and have grown into hundreds of events on college campuses and in communities of all sizes and locations. Events often include marches, rallies, and vigils intended as a protest and direct action against rape and other forms of sexual, relationship and domestic violence. Events typically consist of a rally followed by a march and often a speak-out or candlelight vigil calling attention to violence against women. Early marches were often deliberately women-only in order to symbolize women's individual walk through darkness and to demonstrate that women united can resist fear and violence. The mission of Take Back the Night has since grown to encompass all forms of violence against all persons, though sexual violence against women is still the main focus. Take Back The Night Events have been held in over 36 countries, in over 800 communities, and is being organized in more locations every year. They have reached over 30 million people with a message of strength and support, and a commitment of ending sexual violence.

​

ERA March, August 26, 1977

The Equal Rights Amendment states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” It was first introduced in 1923, however, the ratification of the Amendment began in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1977, Hazel Hunkins Hallinan, an original suffragette, led about 3,000 supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment down Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C. With support from President Carter, she was presented with a pen with which the President signed the Women's Equality Day proclamation.On the 57th anniversary of the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment, President Carter called for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Supporters gathered to begin their parade commemorating the 1913 suffrage march that was broken up before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration.

 

The president of the National Woman’s Party in 1977, Elizabeth Chittick, wanted to celebrate the anniversary of Suffrage Day to honor the NWP founder Alice Paul. On August 26, 1977, most of the marchers wore white just as the marchers did in 1913 and others commemorated the original

colors – gold, white, and purple. Marchers also carried original banners and created new ones to support the ERA. The marchers also drew up a petition that was carried throughout the march. The petition had called on Carter "to exert the full political and moral leadership of his office to help ratify the Equal Rights Amendment." Although the ERA has been proposed many times, it has never been ratified as a national law.

​

March for Women’s Lives, March 9, 1986 & April 25, 2004

The mission of The March for Women's Lives, organized by the National Organization for Women (NOW), was to keep abortion and birth control legal. On March 9, 1986, 125,000 women marched in Washington, D.C. One week later on March 16, a companion march in Los Angeles attracted 30,000 people. This was the largest march in Los Angeles since 1968, in spite of the heavy rain and thunderstorm. There were a total of eight such marches for women's lives in 1986 - in Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles, CA; Denver, CO (some 5,000 - the largest march in Denver's history); Harrisburg, PA; Trenton, NJ; Boston, MA; Seattle, W A; and Portland, OR. On April 25, 2004, up to one million protesters arrived on the National Mall in Washington D.C. to show support for women’s reproductive rights and their opposition to the Bush administration’s policies on women’s health issues. A variety of prominent figures attended the protest, including Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem, Dolores Huerta, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and former NOW Presidents Eleanor Smeal and Patricia Ireland. Many protesters, wearing pink and purple shirts, covered the Mall from the base of Capitol Hill, a mile back, to the base of the Washington Monument. They held

signs reading, “Fight the Radical Right,” “Keep Abortion Legal” and “U.S. Out Of My Uterus.” Despite the success of the march, the Bush administration did not change its stance on reproductive rights.

​

Million Woman March, October 25, 1997

On October 25, 1997, an estimated 750,000 African American women gathered together to march on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the Million Woman March. The day-long march and program of prayer, music, and inspirational speeches began at the Liberty Bell and ended on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This rally sought to unite and celebrate African American women and to address urgent issues of the black community. Some of these issues included the economic decline of African American communities, the importance of raising young children in a positive environment, finding a unified voice in politics and the Civil Rights Movement, and strengthening black families. Phile Chionesu and Asia Coney, two Philadelphia grassroots activists, organized the march, which was a huge success. With the help from a network of women’s organizations and utilizing fliers, leaflets, black-run media, the Internet and “word-of-mouth” to spread the word, the organizers brought women throughout the country to Philadelphia. Unlike the Million Man March two years earlier, the Million Woman March did not rely on big

names or the celebrities of the Civil Rights Movement to encourage attendance. However, several influential black women attended and spoke, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of South African President Nelson Mandela, and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

​

Speakers from religious, civil rights, and community affairs backgrounds stressed the need for black women to use the power of their numbers to help strengthen family relationships and solve the problems of their communities.

​

The Women’s March, January 21, 2017

On January 21, 2017, the day after President Trump took office, a worldwide protest occurred to advocate for a variety of legislation and policies regarding human rights, women’s rights, healthcare reform, immigration reform, criminal justice rights, reproductive rights, environmental rights, LGBTQ+ rights, racial equality, and freedom of religion. Known as the Women’s March, as many as 500,000 people took to the U.S. Capitol on Washington and marched toward the White House. Speakers included Gloria Steinem, Scarlett Johansson, Angela Davis, Michael Moore, Linda Sarsour, and Carmen Perez. At the same time, more than three million people in cities across the U.S. and from 30 countries, ranging from Antarctica to Zimbabwe, held their own Women’s Marches in resistance to the Trump administration’s policies and in global support of the Women’s March movement. Many marchers wore pink clothing, as well as the unofficial uniform of the march: pink knit hats.

​

The day after the 2016 election, Teresa Shook, expressed her opinion on Facebook that a pro-woman march was necessary due to Trump’s victory. Thousands of women signed up toparticipate in the march, including veteran activists and organizers who began planning a large-scale event scheduled for the day after Inauguration Day.

​

In New York City—Trump’s hometown—40,000 protestors marched up Fifth Avenue, while in Chicago, the crowd grew up to 150,000 marchers, relocating the protest to the city’s Grant Park to accommodate the large group. Los Angeles reportedly saw the largest demonstration in the U.S., with as many as 750,000 marchers. Despite the size of these demonstrations, the Women’s Marches remained mostly peaceful.

​

Women, Business, and the Law, 2022

Around 2.4 billion women of working age are not afforded equal economic opportunity and 178 countries maintain legal barriers that prevent their full economic participation, according to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2022 report. In 86 countries, women face some form of job restriction and 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work.

​

Globally, women still have only three quarters of the legal rights afforded to men -- an aggregate score of 76.5 out of a possible 100, which denotes complete legal parity. However, despite the disproportionate effect on women’s lives and livelihood from the global pandemic, 23 countries reformed their laws in 2021 to take much-needed steps towards advancing women’s economic inclusion, according to the report.

​

“While progress has been made, the gap between men's and women’s expected lifetime earnings globally is US$172 trillion - nearly two times the world’s annual GDP,” said Mari Pangestu, World Bank Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships. “As we move forward to achieve green, resilient and inclusive development, governments need to accelerate the pace of legal reforms so that women can realize their full potential and benefit fully and equally.”

​

Women, Business and the Law 2022 measures laws and regulations across 190 countries in eight areas impacting women’s economic participation – mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pensions. The data offer objective and measurable benchmarks for global progress toward gender equality. Just 12 countries, all part of the OECD, have legal gender parity. New this year is a 95-country pilot survey of laws governing childcare -- a critical area where support is needed for women to succeed in paid employment.  A pilot analysis of how laws affecting women’s economic empowerment are actually implemented is also included, highlighting the difference between laws on the books and the reality experienced by women.

​

The Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa regions showed the largest improvements in the WBL Index in 2021, though they continue to lag behind other parts of the world overall. Gabon stands out with comprehensive reforms to its civil code and the enactment of a law on the elimination of violence against women. Gabon’s score rose from 57.5 in 2020 to 82.5 in 2021.

​

Globally, the highest number of reforms were made in the Parenthood, Pay, and Workplace indicators. Many reforms focused on protecting against sexual harassment in employment, prohibiting gender discrimination, increasing paid leave for new parents, and removing job restrictions for women. The Pay and Parenthood indicators have the lowest average scores in the index, but they have increased in the last year, rising 0.9 and 0.7 points, respectively, with average scores of 68.7 and 55.6. The gains in the Parenthood indicator have largely been around paternity leave and shared parental leave, but the low score highlights the need to accelerate reforms in this area.

​

“Women cannot achieve equality in the workplace if they are on an unequal footing at home,” said Carmen Reinhart, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. “That means leveling the playing field and ensuring that having children doesn’t mean women are excluded from full participation in the economy and realizing their hopes and ambitions.”

​

Across the world, 118 economies guarantee 14 weeks of paid leave for mothers. More than half (114) of the economies measured mandate paid leave for fathers, but the median duration is just one week.

​

In the past year, Hong Kong SAR, China—which previously provided 10 weeks of paid maternity leave—introduced the recommended 14-week minimum duration. Armenia, Switzerland, and Ukraine introduced paid paternity leave. Colombia, Georgia, Greece, and Spain introduced paid parental leave, which offer both parents some form of paid leave to care for a child following birth. Laws promoting paid leave for fathers can reduce discrimination in the workplace and improve work-life balance.

​

Women, Business and the Law 2022 introduces pilot research behind two new areas: legal environment for childcare services and implementation of laws.  A growing number of economies are investing in childcare to enhance children’s skills and recognize unpaid care work by women, who often take on more caregiving duties. The pilot research analyzed laws in 95 economies and finds that most OECD high-income and Europe and Central Asia economies regulate public childcare services while in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia regulations mandate the private sector or employers to provide care services for children of working parents.

​

To make childcare more affordable and widely used, some countries offer financial support to parents or childcare providers. The research also looked at quality aspects regulated such as teacher-to-child ratio, maximum group sizes, training requirements for teachers, as well as licensing, inspections and reporting requirements for service providers. More evidence is needed on what constitutes good quality and what aspects of quality might determine parental uptake of services.   

​

This edition also explores the operation of Women, Business and the Law indicators in practice in 25 economies. An analysis of the laws’ implementation schemes reveals a substantial gap between legislation on the books and legal operation. Laws alone are not enough to improve gender equality; factors at play include not only their implementation and enforcement, but also social, cultural, and religious norms. These gaps will be further explored in future cycles of Women, Business and the Law reports.