Ed. note: This post was originally published on the Community site.

Women and minorities who face workplace discrimination or harassment ordinarily receive vital legal services from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). But in 2012, the EEOC cut this support in half without an adequate explanation. This unexplained drop-off hurts the most vulnerable employees; a large chunk of EEOC complaints deal with sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and other gender discrimination issues. The drop-off especially affects low-income women who are less able to afford lawyers and more likely to turn to the EEOC for help when they’re mistreated at work.