WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Gender inequality continues to be a worldwide issue that women face daily in many aspects of their life. More recently seen is the Hobby Lobby case, where women’s reproductive rights were dismissed over the religious rights of companies. On June 30, the Hobby Lobby case ruled “that the owners of closely-held, profit-making corporations cannot be forced under the Affordable Care Act to provide their employees with certain kinds of contraceptives that offend their religious beliefs.” Many have fought that the outcome of this case is further discrimination on the basis of gender and a violation of women’s rights. Laws continue to regard women and girls as second class citizens.

Below is a list of U.S. Supreme Court cases involving gender discrimination and women's rights, including links to the full text of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

    •       Cleveland Bd. of Ed. V. LaFleur (1974)
Found that Ohio public school mandatory maternity leave rules for pregnant teachers violate constitutional guarantees of due process.

    •       Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)
Found that a claim of "hostile environment" sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that may be brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

    •       Johnson v. Transportation Agency (1987)
The Court decides that a county transportation agency appropriately took into account an employee's sex as one factor in determining whether she should be promoted.

    •       Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv., Inc. (1987)
Held that sex discrimination consisting of same-sex sexual harassment can form the basis for a valid claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

    •       Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992)
The Court decided that an award of money damages is possible in a case brought to enforce Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, alleging sexual harassment and abuse by a teacher.

    •       Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998)
The Court decides that an employer may be liable for sexual discrimination caused by a supervisor, but liability depends on the reasonableness of the employer's conduct, as well as the reasonableness of the plaintiff victim's conduct.

    •       Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999)
Held that a lawsuit under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 may be filed against a school board based on student-on-student sexual harassment, if the board is deliberately indifferent to sexual harassment, has actual knowledge of the harassment, and the harassment is so serious that it deprives the victims of access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.

           The expected outcome of our effort is to raise awareness of the Hobby Lobby case and how it impacts women and their reproductive rights, and to further educate women on how it is contributing to the already prevalent gender discrimination in our country. We hope that by making women realize that they continue to be treated unequally in comparison to men,   that they will feel compelled to have their voices heard joining with all women across the country to share with America all the forms of discrimination they have experienced in their own lives for being women.                                  

            Another possible outcome is to have women through their discrimination experiences enforce the ratification of CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against women) which most other countries have ratified to protect women’s rights. However, the US decided against it explaining their concern that CEDAW would challenge the current laws and culture of the U.S placing women’s rights in the hands of the CEDAW committee which is composed of 23 people (Lowen, n.d.). Raising awareness and knowledge about the CEDAW and having the US ratify this treaty would ensure equality and reduce discrimination against women. It would aim to address issues such as sex trafficking, domestic violence, provide access to education and vocational training, ensure the right to vote, end forced marriages and child marriages and provide access to health care services, and ensure the right to work and own a business without discrimination.

           We want to create a virtual community where we can raise awareness and educate women on current gender discrimination issues, such as the Hobby Lobby case, and create a space where they will have an opportunity to share their discrimination experiences in their own lives. We will do this by establishing an online message board, with the purpose of uniting women across the country to have them fight for women’s rights in a joined effort with the hope of pushing for the ratification of CEDAW to ensure and protect women’s rights in this country.

           Due to the advances in technology, we hope to reach as many women as possible. An online message board will certainly allow us to accommodate an infinite amount of users. Creating a virtual community will also facilitate participation, since it is managed at the convenience of the user. We intend to use the internet to form a virtual community through an online message board. We will attempt to reach out to as many women as possible by advertising about the message board on social networks, through ads that share brief stories of women who have experienced discrimination, hopefully sparking the interest of women with common experiences. The idea is for women to access the message board, read other women’s stories, raise awareness and educate them on current gender discrimination issues. We would also want them to subscribe to the board so they can get weekly updates on current issues, and what they can do to make a difference.