And yet, it is not a perfect, cure-all solution. The ERA will not immediately garner rights for women and people across the gender spectrum that they do not already have under law—rights that were secured by over years of litigation and activism.
What the ERA could do, however, is provide essential support in litigating sex discrimination by bolstering existing statutory protections that are currently vulnerable to attack by the Trump administration and conservative lawmakers. Moreover, the effect of the ERA depends in large part on how it is interpreted and enforced.
Constitutional protections against discrimination, and existing statutory protections for that matter, are hollow without vigorous enforcement. Laura E. Colin Seeberger Director, Media Relations. Opportunities for progress alongside the ERA The ERA represents critical progress, but it is important to recognize that its passage alone will not end discrimination overnight or result in instant equality. Protecting and expanding access to abortion care: Lawmakers must eliminate harmful restrictions, such as targeted regulation of abortion providers TRAP laws and the Hyde Amendment, as well as expand insurance coverage of abortion care.
Eliminating racial disparities in maternal health outcomes: Lawmakers must improve access to critical services; improve the quality of care provided to pregnant women; address maternal mental health; enhance supports for families before and after birth; and improve data collection and oversight, particularly with a focus on persistent racial disparities.
Combating workplace discrimination: Lawmakers must enact policies that improve protections against pay discrimination, enhance protections against workplace sexual harassment, and expand pregnancy accommodations and anti-retaliation protections for pregnant workers.
Increasing wages: Lawmakers must raise the federal minimum wage, eliminate the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities, and eliminate the tipped minimum wage. Supporting workers who are caregivers: Lawmakers must implement comprehensive paid family and medical leave for all workers, secure paid sick days, and increase investment in universal child care.
Implementing a structural redesign for workforce equity: Lawmakers should consider redesigning a workforce system that utilizes high-quality skills training and employment services to combat occupational segregation and workforce inequality. Ratified in , the 19th Amendment mandated that states could not deny voting privileges on the basis of sex—however, this right was enjoyed primarily by white women, while many women of color were not allowed to vote until many decades later when, for example, the Voting Rights Act of was enacted.
Reed v. Reed , U. Richardson , U. Alabama, Louisiana, South Dakota v. David S. United States v. Morrison , U. Sharon G. Joanna L. Grossman and Deborah L. Griswold v. Connecticut , U. Wade , U. Texas , U. Casey , U.
Steven A. See also Alabama, Louisiana, South Dakota v. State and federal laws mandate equal access to education and treatment of female students in schools. What has been your experience? Conduct the following activity to discuss the issue. Form small groups consisting of roughly the same numbers of male and female students. Conduct a discussion using the questions below.
Use your whole education experience when thinking about a given question, not just your experience in a particular school or class.
Be prepared to discuss your findings with the class. Do male and female students have equal opportunity to select courses or extracurricular activities? Why or why not? Do female and male athletes have equal opportunities to participate in sports and are facilities and equipment adequate for both? Why or not? Do male and female students have equal opportunities to participate and get called on in class? Are female and male students treated equally in terms of grading or opportunities for academic honors?
Why or Why not? Are female and male students subject to the same amount of discipline and treated equally when they are disciplined? Are there any other ways in which one gender is discriminated against or treated unfairly? Conduct a discussion with the entire class by asking each group to report on its responses to the above questions. After the discussion, debrief the activity by asking:.
Were there any significant differences in the responses of male or female students to the items? Based on your experiences, do you think gender equity has been achieved in education? Women by the Numbers from the U. Census Bureau. Fact Monster from Information Please. Equal Rights Amendment. Encarta: Equal Rights Amendment. Wikipedia: Equal Rights Amendment.
National Organization of Women: Constitutional Equality. Wikipedia: Title IX. Encarta: Title IX. Has Title IX had a positive or negative effect on college athletics? Pro and con positions.
What Is Title IX? Yahoo Directory: Title IX. Yahoo Directory: Feminism. Alumni Volunteers The Boardroom Alumni. Curriculum Materials. Add Event. Main Menu Home. Have Women Achieved Equality?
For Discussion and Writing 1. After the discussion, debrief the activity by asking: a. Women are still not receiving equal pay for equal work. According to the U. Census Bureau, women on average earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Passing an ERA will put the full weight of the U. Constitution behind employment laws relating to the prevention of sex discrimination in hiring, firing, promotions, and benefits — especially in the public sector.
An ERA will eliminate sex discrimination in the armed services and ensure that government programs, such as Social Security, do not have a disparate negative impact on women.
Pregnancy discrimination continues to be prevalent in the workforce. An ERA can protect women from being harmed by a policy simply because she is a woman. The 14th amendment is not enough. Laws can be repealed and judicial attitudes can shift. Supreme Court Justice Scalia has even said that the Constitution does not protect against discrimination on the basis of gender. An ERA will ensure that the rights of American women and girls will not be diminished by any Congress or any political trend, but instead be preserved as basic rights guaranteed by the U.
An ERA would help promote equal pay for women in the country. Opinion: Women's Equality Day: Looking back and moving forward on constitutional equality. Female Olympians Face Extra Hurdles.
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