New York’s Women’s Equality Agenda- A Bill Worth the Fight

In his January State of the Union address, Governor Cuomo announced his proposal for a 10-point omnibus bill called the Women’s Equality Agenda, which will:

• Enact the Reproductive Health Act, to ensure that every woman in New York has access to the reproductive health care she needs, without stigma.
• Strengthen and enforce existing measures to ensure that women achieve pay equity.
• Close loopholes in existing law to end sexual harassment in the workplace.
• Allow for attorney fees in employment, credit and lending discrimination cases. Women are by far more likely to be victims of these types of discrimination than men.
• Strengthen sex trafficking laws.
• End family status discrimination, because women with children are routinely discriminated against for work and promotion.
• Stop source-of-income discrimination, because landlords don’t like to rent to those who need low-income housing, the majority of whom are women.
• Stop housing discrimination for victims of domestic violence, the majority of whom are women.
• End Pregnancy Discrimination. Too often women are fired or forced to take unpaid leave due to pregnancy. Now employers are required to make reasonable adjustments for pregnancy-related issues.
• Strengthen Order-Of-Protection laws to protect victims of domestic violence by making the process less burdensome.

Finally, a model of a positive, high-ground goal for feminists! The Women’s Equality Agenda, coming to your state soon!