It’s been a year and we’re still here–fighting harder than ever for gender justice and equality for women and girls in Pennsylvania.
The theme of our December 1 party is “Nevertheless, She Persisted.”
Our party is Friday December 1, 5:30 – 8:30 at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Kids are welcome. Buy your ticket here, and then help us spread the word by clicking “Going” on the Facebook event page here.
It is, of course, a reference to the iconic moment when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shushed Senator Elizabeth Warren as she objected to the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General by reading a letter written by Coretta Scott King when opposing the nomination of Sessions for federal judge back in 1986.
Our party theme was inspired by Warren, but is in honor of you, and in honor of all the resisters and persisters that refuse to be silenced and continue to fight for equality and justice—including of course the almost 200 Pennsylvanians who tattooed the phrase on their bodies to help raise money for our work.
Can’t make the party but want to support our work? Consider honoring a woman who has persisted, or inspired you to persist this year.
We are also persisting, but we need your support. Considering the onslaught of attacks on healthcare, reproductive rights, rape victims, LGBTQ community, people of color and low-income Americans, our role as the legal watchdog for Pennsylvania women is more important than ever. We’ve been assessing the constitutionality of abortion restrictions, testifying about the need for workplace equality protections, filing lawsuits, writing amici curaie briefs for the Supreme Court of the United States, developing legislation, and organizing Community Conversations about Women’s Health across the state of Pennsylvania to do what our so-called representatives will not: listen to women, and help develop solutions to improve their health and economic security.
We continue to expand our work to eliminate gender bias in policing and improve police accountability. The Philadelphia Model, the advocate-led review of rape case files we conduct every year at the Philadelphia Police Department, continues to spread across the continent, with multiple American and Canadian cities adopting the best practice.
We worked on an action plan to protect contraception access in the wake of the Trump administration widening exceptions, and developed and launched a website that exposes discrimination against female athletes in Pennsylvania schools.
Equal pay and workplace equality are also priorities. In Philadelphia, we authored an amicus curaie brief supporting the City of Philadelphia in the lawsuit filed by businesses to block an equal pay prior-wage ordinance. Alongside our partner advocates, we declared May 23, the day the ordinance was supposed to take effect, Unequal Pay Day in Philadelphia. We continue to advocate for a bill to close loopholes in the state Equal Pay Act, which has not been updated in 50 years, call to raise the minimum wage, and work to protect pregnant workers.
This is just a glimpse into our 2017, and we have much, much more to do in 2018.
Please join us on December 1 to support and celebrate our work. Introduce yourself. Bring a friend. Let’s create a story of persistence together, and win.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing the rights of women and girls.
Sign up for WLP’s Action Alerts here. Stay up to date on issues and policy by subscribing to our blog, following us on twitter and liking us on Facebook.
We are a non-profit organization. Please consider supporting equal rights for women and girls by making a one-time donation or scheduling a monthly contribution.
