An End to Gun Violence
“I came to the gun violence prevention movement as a young mom from Detroit who was just fed up with the future for our children, what they were facing, one married by violence,” says Shikha Hamilton, Vice President of Organizing at Brady. She along with hundreds of other women organized the Million Mom March in 2000, the largest protest on the National Mall in United States history. The Million Mom March drew thousands across the country in 78 cities demanding an end to gun violence.
Many women, young people, and people of color want to see a change on the issue of guns and have made gun violence a top priority for the Biden administration. “Women, particularly mothers, were the driving force and power behind the 1 Million Mom March and we were united,” said Hamilton. “In our resolve to end this epidemic and our rallying call or you can say warning to politicians was mom’s vote. Our organizing and our calls for change led to the passage of the bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the creation of the nation’s first-ever White House office of gun violence prevention, led by a woman, our vice president, Kamala Harris.”
Safety from gun violence is one reason women will go to the polls, but many issues that birthed the feminist movement are still on the table today. At a March 8 Ethnic Media Services (EMS) briefing, panelists discussed hot-button issues such as reproductive autonomy, racial equity, wage parity, and abuse towards marginalized communities, that will influence how women vote.
Abortion is Healthcare
Abortion rights and maternal health are the most dominant issues that women are grappling with today and one that will mobilize younger women and voters of color to support candidates who share their position on the issue.
Structural racism is deeply entrenched in the health care system, and statistics say that black women are 4/5 times more likely than white women to die in childbirth. Places like Mississippi have just one abortion clinic, forcing women to travel out of state for abortion care. Economic barriers are very real for marginalized communities, and additional barriers like the Hyde Amendment, make it extremely hard for them to access abortion care.
Monica Simpson, Executive Director of Sister Song defined reproductive justice as a human right. She urged people to pay attention to what is happening to gender and reproductive equity and to fight for ” the human right to have the children that we want and the ways that we want to raise our children in safe and sustainable communities to be able to prevent or end pregnancies without shame but with dignity.”
Threats to female lawmakers
Members of Congress — especially women of color, are facing an alarming amount of harassment and threats. A Brennan Center study reported that more than 40 percent of state legislators experienced threats or attacks within the past three years. The numbers ballooned to 89 percent of state legislators and 52 percent of local officeholders for less severe forms of abuse such as insults or harassment such as stalking.
Dr. Maya Kornberg, a research fellow on the Elections and Government Program reported that women serving in state legislatures were nearly 4 times as likely as men to experience abuse of a sexual nature. She explained that abuse also tends to be directed towards marginalized communities including women, people of color, religious minorities, and LGBTQ individuals. It is often conveyed in misogynistic, racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, or homophobic ways that targeted elements of their identity – specifically, abusive language about their appearance, their children, and their families.
Left unchecked, said Kornbeg, abuse that interferes with their work represents a clear threat to our democracy.
What Women Want
As people live longer, “we need care than ever before as a country,” said Ai-jen Poo, President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Director of Caring Across Generations. However, most home healthcare workers earn poor wages without benefits, health insurance, paid time off, or adequate protections. At $23,000 a year, “It’s hard to picture supporting yourself and raising a family in any country or any community in this country on that.”
What women want is quality affordable childcare for all who need it and a federal program for paid family and medical leave so they can take time away from work to care for themselves or the people they love.
Women and people of color form the backbone of the caregiver system, added sociologist Jessica Calarco, without support, protections, or adequate pay. “Eleven million women are sandwiched between caring for young children and aging parents, and feeling the brunt of this…at a time when we simply cannot sustain in that manner.”
“Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.”
