Organizing at the Intersections of Reproductive and Environmental Justice

Very proudly, the Ms. Foundation for Women supports an amazing cadre of organizations that are blazing new trails to advance environmental and reproductive justice every day. And if the news from one such grantee, Women's Voices for the Earth, is any predictor, 2011 is off to an incredible start.

Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE) is a national organization that works to eliminate toxic chemicals that impact the health of women and girls -- who, in fact, have largely been overlooked in research about the effects on humans of the more than 85,000 chemicals estimated to be use in the US environment today. Over the last month, WVE has taken bold and concrete action to protect the well-being of women and girls, raising awareness about how these chemicals compromise women's reproductive health, pushing for increased regulation of consumer products, and organizing to ban one particular toxic substance currently in widespread use.

Though little discussed in the national media, activists and everyday women alike know that women face environmental dangers unique to those faced by men: women, on average, use more personal care products, containing potentially dangerous chemicals, than men do; spend more time in the home and using cleaning products; and have higher fat reserves -- where toxins are stored -- than their male counterparts do. And women of color, low-income women, and immigrant women tend to be at even greater risk for exposure to environmental toxins than their middle class, white peers -- either because they live in areas that are rife with toxic and hazardous materials or work in industries with few protections against exposure to chemicals.

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MassCOSH Fights Workplace Harassment Directed at Latinas

Ms. Foundation grantee MassCOSH (Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health) is shining a light on how one particular occupational hazard is impacting Latina women across Massachusetts: sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.

Though it's not the kind of offense you might think of as a typical "occupational hazard" sexual harassment and assault can make going to work a living hell for employees. And in the state of Massachusetts, Latina women -- often working in low wage jobs -- are finding themselves at an increasing risk of having to confront abuse from their employers, who many times target women who lack the resources (both financial and linguistic) to fight back.

In July, MassCOSH took a stand on the issue, in the hopes of bringing this rising trend to an end. They brought together more than twenty local Latina and Brazilian women workers for a workshop designed to empower them with information about sexual harassment -- including how to identify this kind of abuse and how to organize to bring it to a stop.

“In this group, women are free to speak about issues they face in their workplace, with the goal of supporting each other so we can overcome the problem of harassment,” says Isabel Lopez, MassCOSH’s Worker Center Coordinator. MassCOSH also aims to have the women take what they've learned in the workshop and pass along the information by doing outreach and education in their own communities.

This kind of organizing lies at the very heart of the Ms. Foundation's approach to creating a more just and safe world for women, girls and communities. Read more about the work MassCOSH is doing to end the sexual harassment of women in the workplace -- we're exceptionally proud to call them a grantee partner!