Posts tagged women’s rights
JOANN BELL REPRESENTS ACLU AT THE UNITED NATIONS
6.23.07
UN delegates, Joann Bell second from right
Representatives from four local ACLU offices joined Lenora Lapidus of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and Ashwini Hardikar of the ACLU Human Rights Program at the 51st Annual International Commission on the Status of Women and Girls hosted by the United Nations at its headquarters in New York. ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Joann Bell and ACLU personnel from Delaware, Michigan and Puerto Rico participated in sessions held March 5-7, 2007.
The goal of the sessions attended by the ACLU delegates was to insert language on conditions of incarceration into a one-page proposal on the treatment and rights of women and girls. Bell was chosen as a delegate because Oklahoma incarcerates women at a higher rate per capita than any other state in the U.S.A. Bell was also selected due to personal activism she initiated several years ago on behalf of a pregnant immigrant who was being held in the Oklahoma County Jail.
The efforts of the ACLU delegation were ultimately successful. Language protecting the rights of girls in custody was included in the violence and discrimination section of the Report issued by the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
The violence and discrimination section More >
Title IX: The Game’s Not Over
7.14.11
Posted by Allie Shinn in Commentary
As the United States Women’s Soccer Team fights their way to the World Cup Gold, we at the ACLU can’t help but be proud of the great strides women have made since Title IX became law. When more women participate in sports and achieve in fields that have traditionally been male dominated, we begin to close the gender gap and pull ourselves closer to equality.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination in schools. Since its passage, women and girls seeking to participate in athletics have found a path through which to do so. A 2006 study found that since 1972 women’s participation in sports at the collegiate level increased 450%. The same study found that nine times more women participated in high school sports than did in 1972.
Of course, Title IX’s scope reaches further than sports alone. In 1970, women accounted for only 17.5% of bachelor’s degrees granted in natural sciences and engineering. By 2004, the percentage rose to 38.4%. In the year 2000, 65.7% of high school girls took chemistry. Today, more than half of all bachelor’s degrees completed in chemistry are earned by women.
These numbers are inspiring and indicate how important Title IX has More >