Any law restricting the right of a woman to have full control of her own body and make her own choices is a violation of basic human rights. Relegating women to a series of body parts is demeaning, subjugating and creates blatant inequality.
This Saturday, April 28, 2012 beginning at 11:00am nationwide marches and rallies are being scheduled to bring attention to the war on women's rights. The government is denying half the population equal pay, reproductive rights and access to health care. These laws impede a woman's ability to achieve her goals and dreams. As backbone of our society a woman's health and over all wellness not only affects children but also the ability to provide for and care for her parents and partners.
Reasons why you should be there:
Economics/Money
Families depend in whole or in part on a woman’s earnings, the pay gap doesn’t just shortchange women, it shortchanges everyone.
In 2010, women earned 77 cents to men’s dollar. This means that the wage gap has narrowed by less than half a cent per year. The wage gap is even worse for African American and Hispanic women. Source: http://unitewomen.org/unite/press-room/equal-pay-day/
Security/Safety
The Violence against Women Act (VAWA) is currently being blocked in Congress. This act supports a variety of critical efforts such as: initiatives aimed at preventing teen dating violence and sexual assaults, improving the reporting of these crimes, reducing the backlog of rape kits and building the capacity of Tribal Courts to combat domestic violence.
On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States, based on a survey conducted in 2010. Over the course of a year, that equals more than 12 million women and men. Approximately 1 in 5 Black (22.0%) and White (18.8%) non-Hispanic women, and 1 in 7 Hispanic women (14.6%) in the United States have experienced rape at some point in their lives. Undocumented female immigrants frequently have their undocumented status used as a weapon against them. Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf
No person whether gay or straight, man or woman, legal or undocumented should be denied protections against domestic abuse or sexual violence.
60 percent of single women and 74 percent of single mothers are living in a state of economic insecurity. Leaving women precariously perched between violence and economic insecurity. Source: http://wowonline.org/documents/WOWUSBESTLivingBelowtheLine2011.pdf
Health/Wellness
The Affordable Health Care Act. Not all Americans have equal access to health care. Low income Americans, ethnic minorities and other underserved populations often have higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care. They are also less likely to have health insurance than the population as a whole.
By improving access to quality health care for all Americans, the Affordable Care Act will help reduce these health disparities. The new law will bring down health care costs, invest in prevention and wellness, and give individuals and families more control over their own care.
Reproductive Rights
· Doctors, not governments, should be the only ones giving medical recommendations and opinions.
· Laws against abortion do not stop abortion; they simply make it less safe.
· Reproductive choice can be the only thing that stands between a woman and poverty.
· Every woman should have control over her own body. Reproductive freedom is a basic right.
· Abortion is a decision between a woman and her doctor. It's no one else's business. Everyone has a constitutional right to privacy.
· Imposing conditions on a woman's choice is cruel and degrading punishment. And in the case she is forced to term equal to torture.
Women are not a series of body parts rather whole complete human beings. Equality for women in the US can only happen when laws degrading and subjugating women are abolished. Women have the right to vote and should be able to exercise their full rights and privileges as every other human being. Equality for women needs to happen NOW.
Marches & Rallies are happening Nationwide on 04.28.12!
Find your local event by clicking here.
You can read the official UnitedWomen.org press release here.
UniteWomen.org is a national nonpartisan grassroots women’s organization founded in February 2012 to protect and advance women’s rights in all areas of women’s lives.
Call to action videos from local video producer and writer, Nanette Harrison.
