Celebrating Affordable Health Care

Women’s bodies are now the main battleground in the fight for women’s rights. Conservative male pundits, legislators, and political commentators have become more and more audacious and hostile in their attempts to control women’s lives through their bodies. But as we have seen in recent weeks these attacks have had the reverse effect: this reactive environment has galvanized women to stand up, to fight for our rights, and to fight to make the health care law work for us.

So join us, and the Coalition to Protect Women's Health Care, today, as we celebrate 'women’s day' and the two-year anniversary -- the Friday March 23rd -- of the Affordable Care Act. Let’s fight to take back control of our own bodies.

As the National Women’s Law Center shows, health care reform is already helping women and families. It’s making health care more affordable for both insured and uninsured women; it has stopped insurance companies from making the fact of being a woman a “pre-existing” condition; it will (hopefully) ensure that women’s preventative health is universally covered. We know that if implemented correctly -- with women’s health given priority and coverage -- the Affordable Care Act will have a huge impact for women across the country.

But unfortunately there is a ways to go.

The New York Times reports that there is still a gender gap in affordability and the toxic political and cultural environment has made the few gains we have achieved vulnerable to attack. We know that health care reform is good for women, but we must continue to push for positive policy and implementation. That is why we are asking you to help us celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act and stand together with us for women’s health!

You can:

• Get involved locally and press for the implementation of health care reform in your state by finding your nearest chapter of Raising Women’s Voices.
• Tweet about the health care law using the hashtag #herhealth, or just follow the conversation at #herhealth.
• Show your support on facebook by sharing the image from this post.
• Join the movement and have a say by uploading a video for the Coalition's "I Have a Say" campaign.
• Attend or volunteer at the Women's Visibility Event at the Supreme Court on March 27th. Monday, March 26th marks the first day of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) oral arguments at the Supreme Court.

We must stand tall and show that we will not be bullied by rhetoric or political attacks. We must show that we will stand strong for women’s health.

Sex Education Week of Action Urges Solutions to Poor Sexual Health in the South

This week, the Ms. Foundation for Women is joining a diverse group of 20 organizations across 10 states in the U.S. South urgently calling for age-appropriate, medically accurate, evidence-based or evidence-informed sexual health education.

These organizations, brought together by the Ms. Foundation since 2010 through a series of in-person and telephone gatherings, are mobilizing in communities throughout the region to conduct local activities and events—from meeting with legislators and school board members to hosting press conferences and events that showcase the stories of young people—to raise awareness about poor sexual health in the South and advocate for change.

Among the highlights:
• The ACLU of Mississippi, in collaboration with state partners, is hosting gatherings with teen girls to discuss how the absence of comprehensive sex education has impacted their communities. The groups will write letters to the state superintendent and local school board members.
• The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina is hosting a two-day retreat called “Your Story is Your Strength: Turning Teen Parenthood into Power” in which teen mothers from across the state participate in workshop discussions and a media training.

A report just released by Auburn University at Montgomery’s Center for Demographic Research, “Sexual Health of Young People in the U.S. South: Challenges and Opportunities,” underscores the critical need for improved sexual health education in the Southern region.

Key findings include:
• The South’s sexual health profile ranks below that of every other region in the U.S.
• The teenage birth rate is higher in the South than anywhere else in the country.
• The teenage rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea are higher in the South than in other regions in the nation.
• Poor sexual health among teenagers has real costs in terms of public funds. For example, in 2008 an estimated $2.3 billion from federal, state and local governments was spent on teenage childbearing-related expenses in the South.

The report, commissioned by the Ms. Foundation for Women, also highlights opportunities decision-makers have to improve the sexual health of teenagers in the U.S. South, including new federal grant programs for adolescent sexual health and teen pregnancy prevention, which provide funding for the implementation of evidence-based and evidence-informed programs that teach young people how to delay sexual activity and avoid risky sexual behaviors.

Among other topics, these approaches include information about abstinence but also teach information on healthy relationships, contraception and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. The report also found that nearly 90 percent of people in the U.S. South favor the teaching of sex education (covering a range of topics) in public schools.

Photo (c) Elizabeth Rappaport & the Ms. Foundation for Women

Happy International Women’s Day! A Blog Carnival Calling All Women to Send a Message of Strength

[This post originally appeared on the MomsRising.org blog carnival]

by Anika Rahman

Happy International Women’s Day, and welcome to the first #callingallwomen blog carnival. This March – Women’s History Month – 25 women’s funds from across the U.S. are uniting to promote solutions to the critical issues that women face.

Against the backdrop of an intensified war on women, the “Calling All Women: Send a Message of Strength” campaign is raising awareness of the inequality that exists and highlighting the change that women’s organizations are advancing in communities around the country. The campaign is encouraging women to “Sound Off” about the issues that matter most in their lives.



As this video demonstrates, equality for women has not yet been fully realized in 2012. With women still earning only 77 percent of men’s pay – and disparities in access to health care and education pervasive, we cannot afford to take any steps backward. Yet, some politicians are openly supporting a reversal of women’s rights – from attempts to deny us access to contraception to deeming us unfit for military combat.

The Calling All Women campaign is spreading the message far and wide that women must harness our collective power for change. Together we can support creative solutions to injustice. We can transform the lives of women, families and communities nationwide.

Help us spread the word! Watch and share the video on our campaign’s website, and tell us which issue is most pressing in your life on our “Sound Off” blog. You can also help amplify our voices by following us and sharing posts on Twitter (#callingallwomen). And support Ms. Foundation for Women’s campaign by texting WOMEN to 50555 to donate $10 to fund women’s programs.

Our blog carnival features women’s personal experiences with inequality – and their optimism for a brighter future. Read more below about the positive change happening in your community, and mine.

***

The Value of a Woman, Joy Rose
Rhode Island: We’ve Got Your Back for Paid Family Leave, Gayle Goldin
Women Voters and Voter ID, Faye Anderson
State-Sanctioned Shaming and the Battle for Reproductive Rights, Madeleine Gyory
Challenging Women’s Imprisonment in the United States, the World’s Top Jailer, Rachel Roth
Latte Factor: End Breastfeeding Discrimination, Genevieve Colvin
Barefoot and Pregnant: What This “War on Women” is Really About, Phoebe Taubman
We’ve Come a Long Way, Maybe: Women’s History Creates the Future, Gloria Feldt
Gloria Steinem Speaks Out on the War on Women, Rush Limbaugh, Angela Hill
Super Tuesday: It’s the Women’s Vote, Stupid!, Mona Gable
Has Political Discourse Hit Rock Bottom?, Andrew Rosenthal
When States Abuse Women, Nicholas Kristof

***

Read more: http://callingallwomen2012.com/2012/02/26/blog-carnival/

Ms. Foundation Leads Coalition Launching Women’s History Month Campaign

Happy Women's History Month! Prompted by intensified attacks on women’s rights this election year, the Ms. Foundation for Women is leading a coalition of 25 women’s funds from across the country to increase attention to the issues affecting women and girls nationwide.

Throughout Women’s History Month, the “Calling All Women: Send a Message of Strength” campaign is raising awareness of the inequality that exists, highlighting the change that local and national women’s funds are advancing in communities around the country, and encouraging us all to stand together and support women nationwide.

Join us. Text WOMEN to 50555 to donate $10, which will be distributed to participating women’s funds. Watch and share the video on our campaign’s website, tell us which issue is most pressing in your life on our “Sound Off” blog, and join the conversation on Twitter #callingallwomen.

As our campaign video demonstrates, equality for women has not yet been fully realized in 2012. With women still earning only 77 percent of men’s pay and disparities in access to health care and education pervasive, we cannot afford to take any steps backward.

Your support of the Calling All Women campaign this Women’s History Month will help us make inequality a thing of the past. Together, we can send a message of strength!

Ms. Foundation Launches Fellowship Program

The Ms. Foundation is launching a new fellowship program!

We’re seeking leaders who are advancing solutions to the critical issues that women face. One dynamic leader will be chosen to develop their approach, while leveraging the Ms. Foundation’s resources and support.

The Ms. Foundation is particularly interested in projects that demonstrate and inspire the potential for large-scale, structural change in the areas of child care (access to affordable care and improved working conditions for care providers), reproductive health or child sexual abuse.

The fellow will receive financial compensation and health benefits, in addition to mentorship and support from Ms. Foundation staff. The fellowship is a full-time, one-year commitment, beginning Sept. 4 at the Ms. Foundation offices in New York. The fellow will be eligible to apply for a $50,000 continuation grant upon completion of the fellowship.

Learn more about the fellowship and begin your application! Applications must be submitted by April 30.

Call For Papers on "Social Justice Feminism"

Anika Rahman, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, will be the keynote speaker at the University of Cincinnati College of Law's upcoming 2012 conference, “Social Justice Feminism.” 

The conference is not until October, but abstracts and panel proposals are due on April 1st. So start your brainstorming, and make sure your voice is heard on this incredibly important topic. 

_________________

Call for Papers

“Social Justice Feminism”

University of Cincinnati College of Law

October 26-27, 2012

Keynote Speakers

Patricia Hill Collins, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland; Charles Phelps Taft Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Cincinnati

Anika Rahman, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women

The University of Cincinnati College of Law’s Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice seeks submissions for its upcoming 2012 conference “Social Justice Feminism.” For more information about the conference, please click here.

What is Social Justice Feminism? It is the type of work feminist activists on the ground say that they want to do. This desire for “social justice feminism” (SJF) emerged from a three-years’ long conversation among women leaders from national groups, grassroots organizations, academia, and beyond (the New Women’s Movement Initiative) who gathered to address dissonance in the women’s movement, particularly dissatisfaction with the movement’s emphasis on women privileged on account of their race, class, or sexuality. In 2010, Kristin Kalsem and Verna L. Williams of the University of Cincinnati College of Law published an article, “Social Justice Feminism,” that takes initial steps at broadly defining SJF as that which is productive, constructive, and healing. Moving from practice to theory, it suggests a new way of articulating and understanding the feminist work that is being done in this current stage of feminist jurisprudence, after the path-breaking interventions of anti-essentialism and intersectionality. The article also sets forth methodological tools for “doing social justice feminism.” 

“Social Justice Feminism” was written to advance the conversation that has already begun, both in the world of practice as evidenced by the work of the New Women’s Movement Initiative, as well as the world of feminist legal theory. To download a copy of the article click here. The upcoming conference is intended to continue and expand the conversation. We are seeking papers from academics who are interested in practice and activists who are interested in theory. Possible panels include: 

• A social justice feminist approach to women and prison 
• Critical Race Feminism and SJF
• The intersections of SJF and environmental justice
• History and reproductive justice
• New approaches to domestic violence activism
• SJF and criminal justice 

Deadline: April 1, 2012. We invite submissions of abstracts for individual papers, as well as complete panels. Send paper abstracts of no more that 500 words and a short biographical statement to lawsonmn@ucmail.uc.edu. In the subject or “re” line of your submission, please type: SJF conference submission. Include your full contact information, including an email, phone number, and mailing address where you can be reached. We will notify presenters of selected papers by June 1, 2012.

We look forward to your submissions. If you have any questions, please contact Professor Kristin Kalsem at kristin.kalsem@uc.edu

Guest Blog: Affordable Child Care Yields Social and Economic Benefits

Ms. Foundation for Women grantee All Our Kin authored this guest blog post about the substantial economic and community benefits of access to reliable, high-quality child care. Please join All Our Kin Jan. 19 at 9 a.m. at the Yale Club of New York City for a presentation and discussion of the University of Connecticut’s study on the economic impact of child care. Click here for more information and an event flyer.

By Shannon Hill, All Our Kin

Recently, in an interview with Melinda Henneberger, Nancy Pelosi remarked that next on her agenda is “the mother of all women’s issues: child care.” She lamented that she had never been able to find a babysitter, and that everywhere she goes women are talking about how hard it is find the kind of reliable care that would enable them to be more productive workers. When it comes to “unleashing women” in a way that would boost the economy, Pelosi said, “[child care] is the missing link.”

According to a new study conducted by the University of Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, Pelosi is absolutely correct - investing in early childhood care and education is the missing link. It not only supports women who need access to child care in order to work, but creates jobs for women, who constitute the majority of child care providers in the United States.

The University of Connecticut study looked at an innovative child care licensing initiative implemented by Connecticut-based nonprofit All Our Kin. All Our Kin’s Tool Kit Licensing Program helps family child care providers become licensed and empowers them with the resources and skills they need to run a successful small business and provide high-quality child care.

By increasing the availability of flexible, affordable, high-quality child care, the program enables more low-income parents to work; the study estimates that for every child care provider licensed through the program, four to five parents entered the workforce.

It also increases the earning potential and quality of life for family child care providers. Sixty percent of family child care providers who became licensed through the program earned $5,000 more the first year after getting licensed, and forty-five percent of providers earned at least $10,000 more the second year. Fifty-five percent of providers used their increased income to pay down debt, forty-two percent opened a savings account, thirty-one percent moved to a larger apartment or house, and twenty-four percent bought or leased a car. Moreover, fifty percent of the child care providers went on to achieve either an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education or a Child Development Associate credential.

Through its impacts on both providers and parents, the Tool Kit Licensing program generated $18.4 million in additional tax revenue and $15.2 million in gross regional product (GRP) between 2006 and 2009.

In total, the University of Connecticut study found that for every $1 spent on the Tool Kit Licensing Program, $15-20 are returned to the economy in terms of gross regional product (GRP).

That is a significant economic impact, and the findings reify something many feminists have long known: that child care is a job issue, a matter of economic justice.

Lack of access to reliable, high-quality child care makes it more difficult for parents – especially mothers - to hold or find jobs, particularly when the jobs they have or need are during nonstandard hours (forty percent of Americans work some form of nonstandard hours). And the high cost of child care, coupled with the fact that many parents have lost their child care subsidies due to state funding cuts, means that many parents cannot afford child care while they look for work or work low-wage jobs.

But parents shouldn’t have to choose between the economic survival of their family, and the safe, healthy development of their children.

It is critical that economic development and recovery plans, which have focused heavily on male-dominated industries such as construction and banking, include women and children. It is critical that these plans include family child care providers, not just because family child care providers care for the majority of our most vulnerable infants and toddlers, but because investing in them gives parents the support they need to work and has the potential to boost our economy.

It also provides our children, the workforce of tomorrow, with the educational foundation they need to succeed in school and in life. Children in high-quality early childhood education programs are less likely to be held back, drop out of school, go on welfare or commit crime. According to studies, every dollar invested in early childhood education today saves the public eight dollars later.

When that figure is combined with the immediate economic impact, it is easy to see that investing in our children, and the women who teach and care for them, really is the best of investments: the social benefits are enormous and the economic return rate is high – both today and for years to come.