Posts Written by Legal
By Legal Momentum • 13 years ago

Workplaces Respond to Sexual and Domestic Violence: A National Resource Center

(Originally posted at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

On October 27, 2010 the White House and U.S. Department of Justice announced the launch of Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence: A National Resource Center. The Resource Center was created and funded as a result of Legal Momentum’s advocacy during and after the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2005.

The Resource Center provides tools for employers to obtain information and assistance in creating workplace policies addressing domestic, sexual and dating violence and stalking. It explains what employers can do to help their employees, and contains model policies designed to address the realities of domestic, sexual and dating violence and stalking in the workplace. Employers can obtain information on safety planning and find the resources that best fit their needs.

The Resource Center is the result of a collaboration among Legal Momentum and six other organizations, including the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and its National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the Resource Sharing Project of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the American ...
By Legal Momentum • 13 years ago

Don’t Cheer the U.S. for Gender Equity Yet

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2010 Global Gender Gap Index, released Tuesday, the United States’ gender gap has narrowed. We jumped from 31st place in 2009 to 19th place in 2010, a cheerful indication of our progress in education and literacy equality.

But the leap from 31 to 19 obscures a systematic workplace problem: gender wage inequality. The U.S. ranked 64th in wage equality for similar work, behind such countries as Kenya, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.

The World Economic Forum attributes the U.S.’s ratings jump to gender equity in literacy and primary, secondary, and high education. Indeed, much

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2010 Global Gender Gap Index, released Tuesday, the United States’ gender gap has narrowed. We jumped from 31st place in 2009 to 19th ...
By Legal Momentum • 13 years ago

Historical Accuracy, Marital Rape, and “Mad Men”

(Originally posted at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

Sunday’s Washington Post featured a thought-provoking piece by historian Stephanie Coontz concerning television’s critically-acclaimed “Mad Men.” Coontz explains that while historians usually deride historical fiction for its inaccuracies, most historians Coontz knows (herself included) adore “Mad Men,” particularly for its attention to historical accuracy, down to the smallest 1960s details.

Recently, however, a few non-historian “Mad Men” critics have complained that the show exaggerates 1960s American sexism and the narrow range of choices available to women because of it. Joan Harris’s decision to marry her fiancé after ...

(Originally posted at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

Sunday’s Washington Post featured a thought-provoking piece by historian Stephanie Coontz ...
By Legal Momentum • 13 years ago

Poverty Rates Rise to All Time High, Women Hardest Hit

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

The Census Bureau recently released data showing that poverty in the U.S. is at an all time high. More Americans now live in poverty than during the 51 years in which poverty has been measured. 43.6 million Americans lived below the poverty level of $22,000 for a family of four in 2009. More than one in five children lived in poverty, and one in three for African American children. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, these rates would be even more alarming if it were not for unemployment benefits. Without unemployment benefits, the number of people in poverty would have been higher by 3.3 million.

Poverty ...

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

The Census Bureau recently released data showing that poverty in the U.S. is at an all time high. More Americans now live in poverty than ...
By Legal Momentum • 13 years ago

Wal-Mart’s Female Employees Deserve Their Day in Court

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

In 2001, several female Wal-Mart employees discovered that their male counterparts were paid more for comparable jobs and were promoted more often. The female employees decided to sue their employer collectively under Title VII, the federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on sex – but the case has never been heard on its merits. For almost ten years Wal-Mart has insisted that its one million female employees do not constitute a class suffering from pay discrimination.

The federal district court judge who heard the case in 2004 ruled that they did. In April 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ...

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

In 2001, several female Wal-Mart employees discovered that their male counterparts were paid more for comparable jobs and were promoted more often. The ...
By Legal Momentum • 13 years ago

Sexual Abuse Within Immigration Detention Must Be Addressed Immediately

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

Human Rights Watch’s new report, “Detained and at Risk: Sexual Abuse and Harassment in United States Immigration Detention,” demonstrates the critical need for protection from sexual abuse within immigration detention.  The report details various incidents and allegations of abuse, the frequency of which is largely unknown. One of these incidents occurred in 2007, when a trafficking victim was sexually assaulted in a Florida jail with which ICE had a contract to rent bed space for immigration detainees.  Women detained on criminal charges who were housed in the same dormitory assaulted the victim while she was partially incapacitated by prescribed sedatives. In 2008, ...

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

Human Rights Watch’s new report, “Detained and at Risk: Sexual Abuse and Harassment in United States Immigration Detention,” demonstrates ...
By Legal Momentum • 13 years ago

TANF Sanctions Result in Undeserved Hardships for Poor Families

(Originally posted at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

A new report by Legal Momentum, “The Sanction Epidemic in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program,” examines the serious harm financial sanctions cause recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Our report demonstrates that the sanctions are commonly utilized and imposed erroneously for extremely minor violations, resulting in undeserved hardships for families. Indeed, sanctioned TANF families often report maternal or child hunger, eviction or homelessness, and lack of medical care.

Some sanctions are “partial,” meaning a withholding of some (but not all) of the aid that a family would otherwise receive. Some sanctions are “full family” ...

(Originally posted at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

A new report by Legal Momentum, “The Sanction Epidemic in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program,” examines the serious harm ...