California Domestic Workers Win Big!

Congratulations to grantees Mujeres Unidas y Activas and the National Domestic Workers Alliance! Last Thursday, the California Assembly passed their Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, 41-19. This is a crucial step forward in the fight to secure labor rights for nannies, elderly caregivers and housekeepers, who make up one of the most invisible, excluded workforces in the nation and have been explicitly barred from state and federal protections afforded nearly every other worker. These domestic worker activists -- the majority of whom are immigrant women of color -- will now set their sights on the California Senate, and hope to bring the bill up for a vote soon.

If successful, California would become the second state in the country with a domestic workers bill of rights on the books, following closely behind New York, which passed the first such law last year. The historic New York State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights was won thanks to a years-long campaign led by another Ms. Foundation grantee Domestic Workers United (DWU). Founded in 2000 in a small office in the Bronx, DWU drafted the original legislation and then built a diverse statewide coalition of supporters, including representatives from labor, religious, immigrant and youth movements, who learned to see domestic workers' rights as intimately linked with their own. Today, DWU is partnering with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, led by former DWU executive director, Ai-Jen Poo, to advance similar wins in other states -- the first, of course, being California.

Domestic workers' organizing in New York, California and nationwide is a powerful lesson in movement building -- uniting and mobilizing diverse groups in common purpose -- and the role that philanthropy can play in bringing such success about. The Ms. Foundation, which has proudly supported Domestic Workers United throughout its development, has embraced opportunities to support the once emerging, and now thriving, domestic workers movement. Today we also fund DWU's state and national sister organizations -- Mujeres Unidas y Activas and the National Domestic Workers Alliance -- groups that are making striking progress during a time of extreme right-wing pushback and a punishing economic crisis.

In fact, last week's win in California (along with fabulous news about paid sick leave and single-payer health insurance in Connecticut and Vermont) is just the kind of medicine our movement for progressive change needs. Domestic workers are making key strides on behalf of women, workers, and immigrants at a time when the rights and well-being of these groups are under attack in Washington and statehouses nationwide. So, let's all find great hope and inspiration in this positive news. And then think of ways to help ensure that the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights becomes law. Think you're happy now? Then we'll really have something to celebrate!

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Photo: Mujeres Unidas y Activas

Weekly Round-Up: Grantees Making Waves Nationwide

Last week, in a word, was HUGE -- for our grantees and the progressive movement writ large. Take a look below for highlights of some truly historic wins for women, workers, immigrants -- for all of us nationwide. Once again, the tenacity, courage and success of our grantee partners leaves us in awe.


Grantee win alert! Congratulations to Mujeres Unidas y Activas, the California Domestic Workers Coalition and the National Domestic Workers Alliance! Thanks to their advocacy, the CA Assembly just passed the CA Domestic Workers Bill of Rights today, 41-19. Bring on the Senate!

Grantee win alert! Family Values @ Work and their state coalition member, Connecticut Working Families, won a significant victory last week when Connecticut became the first state in the nation to pass paid sick leave legislation. Congratulations! This is truly a collective win for all of our grantees advocating for paid sick leave at federal, state and local levels across the US.

Grantee win alert! Last week Vermont passed legislation that will move the state towards a universal single-payer health insurance system -- to be phased in alongside national health-care reform. The Vermont Workers' Center, affiliated with the national organization Jobs With Justice, played a vital role in this win, advocating for health care as a human right and building a robust political coalition in support of change.

For more than a year, Families for Freedom, a New York State member organization of our grantee, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, has been advocating for the state’s withdrawal from Secure Communities, a program rife with problems that allows immigration officials to access fingerprint databases and identify individuals for deportation. Last week, their fight finally paid off when New York became the second state in the nation to suspend its participation. Let's hope it's contagious! Already, Massachusetts has followed suit.

The National Day labor Organizing Network released their own statement about the New York State news. “It is clear the tide turning on SCOMM, and it’s high time for the President to terminate the program before any further damage is done to our communities.”

Christina Rodriguez, Co-Founder of SMART Youth, spoke at the press conference announcing the launch of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report, “AIDS at 30: Nations at the Crossroads.” Just 20 years old (we're so impressed!), she shared her youth perspective and emphasized the critical need for access to comprehensive sexuality education in the fight to end HIV/AIDS.

Women’s Voices for the Earth and the National Asian and Pacific American Women’s Forum held a successful Congressional briefing on salon worker health and safety. The purpose was to increase co-sponsorship of the federal Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011, which will likely be introduced this week. It was well attended and covered by several media outlets. Read coverage from the Wall Street Journal and learn more.

Service Women’s Action Network launched a new blog last week called About Face, which exists to provide a safe space for servicewomen, veterans, advocates and other concerned individuals to candidly promote the discussion of issues facing and influencing our community. Be sure to visit this important and unique platform for servicewomen and their allies nationwide!

Service Women's Action Network proudly endorses legislation proposed by Rep. Slaughter and Sen. Gillibrand that would expand the reproductive rights of military women. Read the full press release and stay tuned for the progress of the bill, "The MARCH for Military Women Act" (Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health), H.R. 2085! 

The Women of Color Policy Network released a brief, Workplace Flexibility and Women of Color [pdf], on the impact and importance of workplace flexibility arrangements for women of color, particularly Black and Latina workers, who are less likely to have flexible schedules, access to paid sick leave, and other work supports.

In the News
In "Spending Cuts and the 'Womencession'," a commentary in the Lexington Herald-Ledger, Attica Woodson Scott of Kentucky Jobs with Justice (and 2011 Woman of Vision awardee!) draws on findings from a recent national poll commissioned by the Ms. Foundation to bolster her case that many women and children in Kentucky are facing tremendous economic insecurity and injustice.

Wider Opportunities for Women’s Executive Director, Joan Kuriansky, published an opinion piece in the Washington Post in support of continued federal funding for job training programs, including the burgeoning green jobs field.

Upcoming Events
On June 8, organizers from Parent Voices in California and their allies in New Mexico (OLÉ Working Parents Association) and Washington, DC (Parent Ambassadors) will sit down with President Obama's top education policy adviser, Roberto Rodriguez, and offer a grassroots perspective on how to improve child care programs.

On June 9, in Washington, DC, the Institute for Women's Policy Research and the National Women's Law Center are holding a congressional briefing, Combating Pay Secrecy for Paycheck Fairness.

On June 15, in Denver, CO, Lorena Garcia and Kenia Morales of Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) will lead the training, Breaking Down Issue Silos: Strategies for Building Campaign Messages that Cater to Different Communities, as part of The White House Project's Go Lead program.

On June 23, in New York City, the Ms. Foundation is co-sponsoring an Emerging Leaders event organized by the National Council for Research of Women and the Girls Scouts of the USA.

New Study Shows Media Underreport and Misrepresent Child Sexual Abuse

Tens of thousands of children are sexually abused each year in the United States, yet news coverage of the subject is out of sync with both the magnitude of the issue and the context in which it occurs. This finding comes from a study commissioned by the Ms. Foundation for Women as part of our groundbreaking partnership with the NoVo Foundation and individual donors to end child sexual abuse.

The report, Case by Case: News coverage of child sexual abuse, was announced last week by Berkeley Media Studies Group, a project of the Public Health Institute.

The study examined national news stories on child sexual abuse published between 2007 and 2009. Fewer than one story a week focused on the topic and even fewer covered the issue in detail. Several troubling patterns emerged, such as:

Read more »

Grantee Commentary: Kentucky on Verge of Full-Blown 'Womencession'

Attica Woodson Scott, 2011 Ms. Foundation Woman of Vision honoree, and coordinator of Kentucky Jobs with Justice, knows all too well that women in her state are among the hardest hit by our nation's ongoing economic crisis -- a situation made worse by cuts to social services and other policy maneuvers that undermine their ability to recover and survive. In "Spending Cuts and the 'Womencession'," a commentary in Sunday's Lexington Herald-Ledger, Attica draws on findings from a recent national poll commissioned by the Ms. Foundation to bolster her case that many women and children in Kentucky are facing tremendous economic insecurity and injustice. She writes:

Why do so many people in Kentucky seem to be suffering even more today than at the height of the recession?

Today, 814,000 Kentuckians participate in the federal food stamp program; more than 1,000 homes face foreclosure in our state every month; and 576,500 Kentuckians lack health insurance.

A new national poll for the Ms. Foundation for Women confirms what has been clear for some time to Kentucky residents: The so-called economic recovery is taking place far from our doorsteps, with women and children increasingly paying the heaviest price.

Government cutbacks at the federal, state and local levels have had a particularly severe impact on women and children. Women across all groups are suffering, but for low-income women the situation has gone from bad to worse.

Read the full commentary here.

Weekly Round-Up: Grantees Making Waves Nationwide

This week we celebrate, highlight and call your attention to the successes and ongoing campaigns of our grantee partners. Salute them, join with them and help them make change.

Congratulations
Rachel Laforest has been selected to serve as first Executive Director of the Right to the City Alliance. Congrats!

Grassroots Leadership announced that Gail Tyree is a Soros Justice Fellow and will work to create a network of organizations and individuals in the southeast US to respond quickly and effectively to stop for-profit prisons, jails or detention centers from moving into their communities.

In the News
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed a law that voids Milwaukee's paid sick leave ordinance that was passed by voters in a referendum and upheld recently by the state Court of Appeals. Dana Schultz, of 9 to 5, National Association of Working Women, said in a statement: "We will continue this fight until paid sick days is the law of the land in Milwaukee and nationwide. We are going to fight to ensure the government works for everyone, not just a select few."

In the News: On May 16 Angela Davis -- guest at Critical Resistance’s Brecht Forum event Conversations Uptown: The world we want is the world we need -- was featured on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC talking about the history of struggle against the prison industrial complex.

Read more »

Gloria Awards Celebrate Women of Vision

"Last night's gala was a tremendous success," says Anika Rahman, Ms. Foundation president and CEO. "With great pride we celebrated Women of Vision who -- whether advocating for the rights and well-being of women, workers, immigrants or youth -- are tackling the most urgent issues of our time. They give us renewed hope that, despite our nation's many challenges, we will one day achieve justice and equity for all."

Below is a sampling of event photos. See all 23rd Annual Gloria Award photos. Watch the videos of this year's Gloria Award honorees: Kathy Miller, Priscilla Rorie and Attica Woodson Scott.

Anika Rahman Gives Commencement Speech to Columbia University School of Social Work 2011 Graduating Class

On Wednesday, May 18, Anika Rahman, our president and CEO, had the distinct honor of giving the commencement speech to the 2011 graduating class of the Columbia University School of Social Work. A graduate of Columbia Law School, it was a welcome homecoming, a pleasure to share her own motivation for a career that has been marked by a steadfast dedication to women's human rights, and to offer words of encouragement to a new generation of social justice leaders. Following are excerpts of her remarks:

I am so pleased to join you in celebrating the 2011 graduating class of the Columbia University School of Social Work.

I congratulate and commend you all on the discipline and passion that got you to this point. It is an honor for me to join with your families, friends, colleagues, faculty, and all who are present today to witness your accomplishment. I can only imagine the pride they must feel. My clarion call to my own daughter, who is just seven years old, is that she make a meaningful contribution and a difference in the world.

At this moment, I urge you to call to mind precisely what drew you to this educational pursuit and life path. My own background is in law, and the focus of my work, my heart, is human rights. Like many of you, I have been determined to channel my personal beliefs into a professional obligation. It is my personal mission in life to ensure that women—like the women who raised me and the one who gave life to me—get the respect that is their due.

Read more »