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Employment

Employment is critical to women’s equality, because economic opportunity allows women to be independent and lead lives of dignity. Gender-based employment discrimination happens in both obvious and more indirect ways. Women still have not reached parity with men in earnings. Women still lack full access to traditionally male occupations and are often steered into lower-paying and less desirable jobs, and the industries that are dominated by women remain the least valued.

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Further, the work of caring for children, sick family, and elderly parents remains “women’s work,” and is undervalued for women, whether they work in care giving occupations or are balancing unpaid care giving obligations with paid work.  Workplace policies still fail to account for these obligations, and workers with child or elder care responsibilities often face sex discrimination and bullying, inhibiting their advancement in the workforce, and leading to a loss of productivity for all workers.

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The ACLU works to ensure that all women, especially the most marginalized, have equal access to employment free from gender discrimination, sexual harassment in the workplace, pregnancy and parenting discrimination, and unsafe and unfair work conditions. Through our efforts we are also challenging the undervaluing of "women’s work."

Additional Resources

Fighting Sex Discrimination on the Job (2010 resource): Whether in Congress or the courts, the ACLU is committed to fighting pay and promotion disparity for women. By pushing legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act and lawsuits that hold employers accountable for discrimination against women, the ACLU is working to make equal pay for equal work a reality.

AMPARO - Defending the Rights of Women Farmworkers (2008 resource): The AMPARO Project is a partnership between the ACLU Women's Rights Project, the ACLU of Washington State, the Northwest Justice Project, and Columbia Legal Services. AMPARO works cooperatively with community organizations from eastern Washington to advocate for the rights of female farmworkers.

Most Popular

The Fight for Equal Pay is Not Over (2010 blog): In this blog post our legislative office takes a close look at changes in women’s salaries over time and revals that the fight for equal pay for women is far from over.

Senate Holds Hearing On Gender Pay Inequality (2010 press release)

ACLU Calls For Passage of Equal Pay Legislation on Anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (2010 press release)

Women: Do You Work Just for the Sake of Working? (2011 blog)

Marking the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (2011 blog)

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